Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

Coders at Work: Reflections on the Craft of Programming

By Scott J. Pearson | November 26, 2020August 13, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Software developers are typically bright people but possess few social contacts who approach the world like them. Such loneliness is famously parodied by stereotypes. Even the most social among us have a difficult time relating to others what programming is like. In this work, Seibel provides interviews with 15 accomplished programmers and alleviates some of that alone-ness. In so doing, he explains to the English-speaking world how computer programming has grown and is currently practiced.…

I Jonathan: A Charleston Tale of the Rebellion

By Scott J. Pearson | November 26, 2020November 26, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

Recent events remind us that America – especially the South – is still haunted by the oft-unspoken tale of the Civil War. This tale, Scott’s first novel, shows us why. It reminds us of the myriad of lives forever altered by this event and that simple narratives of good-versus-evil fall short. It showcases decency of many Southerners, the hideousness of slavery, and lives caught in a tale of lost-and-found. Apparently, the author received in the…

Biography-Memoir Healthcare History Research-Education

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

By Scott J. Pearson | November 20, 2020November 20, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

This work will stand as one of the most interesting works in the genre of the history of medicine in our era. Not only does it tell the origin in life of a famous cell line (HELA, an abbreviation of the name Henrietta Lacks, taught about in college biology classes). But it also tells the story of a humble family who was seemingly forgotten by science. Skloot tells the story of Deborah Lacks, Henrietta’s daughter,…

Biography-Memoir Fiction-Stories History

My Dear Hamilton: A Novel of Eliza Schuyler Hamilton

By Scott J. Pearson | November 19, 2020November 19, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

Thanks to Ron Chernow’s award-winning biography and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s award-winning musical, interest in the historical figure of Alexander Hamilton has experienced a rebirth in recent years. Many have also fallen in love with his wife Eliza who endured much for the birth of America – a revolutionary war, the country’s first sex scandal, deadly duels impacting her family, whispers and improprieties, a hostile post-revolution political environment, and fifty years of being a widow. However, the…

Healthcare

Coronavirus Updates Heading into Third Surge During the Holidays

By Scott J. Pearson | November 18, 2020November 18, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

I just got off a helpful call with Vanderbilt Medical Center (VUMC) leadership about COVID and the holidays. From a public-health perspective, I feel that I need to pass along the notes that I took. The presenter was Gordon Bernard. He is an Executive Vice President at VUMC and is respected worldwide both as a researcher and as a clinician. He has worked for over forty years as a Critical Care pulmonologist. This information is…

Healthcare History Research-Education

A Change of Heart: How the People of Framingham, Massachusetts, Helped Unravel the Mysteries of Cardiovascular Disease

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

When US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt died from complications of high blood pressure in 1945, the medical community sought to discover the nature and causes of heart disease. Thus was born a multi-generational, decades-long research study into people’s health in Framingham, Massachusetts. This study found scientific evidence about heart disease and changed treatment, research, and culture. This book chronicles this history and preserves this inspiring story for future generations. At the time of writing, Levy…

Management-Business Software-Technology

Guide to Software Projects for Business People

By Scott J. Pearson | November 14, 2020November 14, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

The business of making software is fairly unique. Software does not follow a traditional assembly-line process, but still borrows from many sources of theory to guide its production. Some projects follow a “waterfall” plan, and others follow an “agile” methodology; a wide array of differently named tests populates discussions. Crosby seeks to unify disparate voices such as these in one place and so to inform us of the business-side of software development. The author is…

Biography-Memoir

Jew(ish): A Primer, a Memoir, a Manual, a Plea

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

The author, a British journalist, was born into a Jewish family yet feels somewhat estranged from his Jewish heritage. He spends much of his career chronicling the alleged anti-Semitism of certain leading members of Parliament. He restlessly ponders the depths of whether being Jewish matters in a society where assimilation is easy and where discrimination is looked down upon. Greene is at his best when he probes into how anti-Semitism can take root on the…

Society Software-Technology

The Tangled Web We Weave: Inside The Shadow System that Shapes the Internet

By Scott J. Pearson | November 1, 2020November 1, 2020 by Scott J. Pearson

First, I must confess my biases. I develop software (browser- and mobile-based) for a living. I have committed my career to bettering the US healthcare system, both research and medical. I understand how the Internet works, in highly technical (and boring) detail. I work in a non-profit research university lab but willingly work with for-profit products. I mention this because Ball’s main audience in this work seems to be the general public and not me.…

History Humanities

The History of Jazz

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

As chronicled in this work, jazz is currently experiencing a resurgence as artists all over the world are using its elements to launch new musical sounds. Gioia captures this momentum by updating his celebrated second edition by Oxford University Press into a new third edition. In so doing, he continues to push forward scholarship about jazz while providing a tour de force of its history to interested readers. In nearly 600 packed pages, Gioia analyzes…