I, Robot by Isaac Asimov My rating: 0 of 5 stars This book from the 1950s is one of the most respected works of science fiction in the English language. It tells the story of how “robots” (what we’d probably now call computers and artificial intelligence) end up taking over the world. Fortunately, Asimov’s dystopian tale has ended up not becoming true – in the timespans described by the book, at least. Computers are often…
Poems on Slavery. by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow My rating: 4 of 5 stars This collection, published in 1842, vividly describes the predicament of slavery. It makes a case of natural philosophy of why slavery is immoral. Works like Longfellow’s began to sway the northern U.S. towards the the emancipation of slaves and the abolition of slavery (through the bloody carnage of the Civil War, Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, and the Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution). What…
The UNIX Programming Environment by Brian W. Kernighan My rating: 0 of 5 stars This book, copyright 1984, is not one’s typical software read. Typical books on software deal with the latest and greatest that’s coming down the pike. Instead, this book is a reminder of what is great in the UNIX operating system. It harkens back to the days when assembly coding was common and programming in C was considered more cutting edge. So…
Favorite Poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow My rating: 4 of 5 stars I picked up this collection of Longfellow’s poetry because I SHOULD know more about one of America’s all-time greatest poets. I write poetry; I love dissecting poetry; I SHOULD know more about Longfellow. While reading, I came to know his clear and entertaining style. I came to appreciate how he can “spin yarn” (tell stories) effectively and efficiently. Whether he is writing in…
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President by Candice Millard My rating: 4 of 5 stars This nineteenth-century, post-Civil-War story, like almost all stories, intertwines the lives of several people. Key characters include U.S. President James Garfield, Alexander Graham Bell, Garfield’s assassin, Garfield’s chief doctor/surgeon, Bell’s wife and son, Garfield’s wife, and Vice President Chester Arthur. An assassin – clearly mentally ill, probably with bipolar disorder –…
Machine Learning and AI for Healthcare: Big Data for Improved Health Outcomes by Arjun Panesar My rating: 4 of 5 stars After the first chapter of this book, I was ready to put it down and regret the money I spent on it. It seemed to walk over ground that I’ve already covered as a researcher in medical informatics. Fortunately, I continued, for I came to learn a lot from this author. Although not as…
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin My rating: 5 of 5 stars This in-depth look into the lives of Lincoln and his closest advisors meets the hype. It tells the life histories of President Lincoln, his attorney general Bates, his treasury secretary Chase, and his secretary of state Seward. All four had a chance of being nominated as the Republican candidate in Chicago, but Lincoln secured the nod.…
Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is a good, solid, well-written book on time management. Whether you are seeking to improve the management of your own time or empathize with others as they attempt to become better stewards of their own time, this book will say it all – in only 21 short chapters! Its…
Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software by Erich Gamma My rating: 0 of 5 stars A classic in the field of computer science, this book describes how object-oriented software can be used to develop meaningful (and reusable) classes. It is written by the so-called “gang of four” affiliated with a working group at the University of Illinois. It has achieved notoriety for its assistance in helping programmers write code more effectively in languages like…
Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass My rating: 0 of 5 stars Obviously, this work belongs to history rather than to a shelf of recent releases. Nonetheless, it is clearly written, interesting, and provides much insight into the mind of nineteenth-century Americans in the North, in the South, and in slavery. I found Douglass’s writing abundantly lucid and to the point. It’s interesting how American in many ways represented two societies…