Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Leonardo to the Internet: Technology and Culture from the Renaissance to the Present

By Scott J. Pearson | December 17, 2020December 17, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

Many people hold one of two views of technology and culture. Some think that technology determines how society evolve. Others contend that human affairs express themselves in the technologies they produce. Misa contends that technology and culture evolve together in a mixed group; neither determine the other. He makes this case by examining this evolution, as his title promises, from the days of Leonardo until the present. Generally, Misa sees the history of technology moving…

Research-Education

Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches

By Scott J. Pearson | December 16, 2020December 16, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

The academic field of research methods describes how different approaches to research can yield insight and results. Historically, quantitative (i.e., numerical) approaches have dominated. Recently, qualitative (i.e., descriptive in words) approaches have increased. Also recently, mixed methods approaches have combined the two to tell interesting stories more expeditiously. In this work, Creswell and Creswell delineate all three methods and help the reader make the most of their research efforts. The fact that this book is…

Science

Ancient Bones: Unearthing the Astonishing New Story of How We Became Human

By Scott J. Pearson | December 14, 2020January 4, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Though a fan of science in its many forms, I am much more familiar with the early days of Christian Biblical history than with scientific history of the human species. I have studied it, but the ground seems to be slowly shifting in this realm. Böhme details these shifts in this work as he summarizes the evidence over the last 20-30 years. She does so through a lucid, suspenseful, and engaging manner. She questions many…

Family Kids

Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

By Scott J. Pearson | December 13, 2020December 13, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

J.R.R. Tolkien is most well known as the author behind the famed series The Lord of the Rings. He was also an Oxford don (in the field of Anglo-Saxon literature) and a family man who was widely adored for his overactive imagination. He wrote little publicized letters to his children every year at Christmastime by posing as Father Christmas (the equivalent of Santa Claus), replete with this trademark imagination and with drawings and paintings. His…

Fiction-Stories

Your Story, My Story: A Novel

By Scott J. Pearson | December 8, 2020December 8, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

This novel, originally composed in Dutch, profiles two famous English-language poets. Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes romanced, married, and had two children together. While the children were extremely young, Plath committed suicide after Hughes had an affair. This tale, written from Hughes’ perspective (apparently later in life), imagines how his inner life was haunted by her downfall. It accurately captures human nature and the depths of two poets’ struggle with the unfolding of life and…

Biography-Memoir Healthcare History Science

Mr. Humble and Dr. Butcher

By Scott J. Pearson | December 5, 2020December 5, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

The surgery of organ transplantation has taken off in the past fifty years. However, the ability to apply these gains to the nervous system has lagged behind due to the limitations of nerve regeneration. As told in this book, during this time, Robert White, MD/PhD, sought to pioneer head transplantation onto a new body. He was successful in transplanting a monkey’s head onto another’s body. However, he retired and died before his dream could come…

Biography-Memoir

The Year We Disappeared: A True Crime Memoir

By Scott J. Pearson | November 29, 2020November 29, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

This book was billed as a “father-daughter memoir,” and my daughter expressed interest in reading it. Thus, we decided to read it together. Multiple narrators give voice in this work, and authors are cycled in chapters between Cylin (the daughter) and John (the father). This is no normal father-daughter relationship, however. The father John, a police officer in Massachusetts, was targeted in a shooting by a crime family. Over decades, he had his face surgically…

Books

Favorite Books of 2020

By Scott J. Pearson | November 28, 2020November 28, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

Find a book for the holidays for someone else or even yourself! (Links take you to my full review.) Fiction The Silent Patient – A murder mystery that excites to the last page. An impassioned read for those who love psychological thrillers. Kids The Odyssey – A graphic novel on the classic Homeric text. Exposes kids to a classic plot while enhancing their imaginations through pictures. Biography His Truth is Marching On – A biography…

History Society

On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century

By Scott J. Pearson | November 28, 2020November 28, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

“You should read this.” Those simple words ran across my mind as I finished page 126 of this wonderful book. I am no political scientist though I follow current events tightly. This book, written in 2017 in the aftermath of the election of Donald Trump, reminds us how fragile history can be. By looking at the challenges of the present, it looks at how democracy was subverted by tyranny in the twentieth century. Snyder provides…

Religion-Philosophy Society Writing-Communication

The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects

By Scott J. Pearson | November 27, 2020November 27, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

In the 1960s, McLuhan presaged the communications age through his studies of “electronic media.” His thoughts shone light on the way forward and are now standards of understanding today. For instance, he coined the term “global village” in showing the ways of globalization. This work consists of much more than text. Published in black-and-white, it portrays a series of images that move the reader through the contention that media – particularly electronic media – “massages”…