Science - Scott J. Pearson’s Book Review

The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine & the New Human

By Scott J. Pearson | March 4, 2023March 4, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

Siddhartha Mukherjee, one of our age’s most brilliant medical writers, is a cancer doctor with research interests in the basic sciences of cell biology and genetics. He is also an engaging writer with a deep knowledge of the history of science. His books, one of which has won a Pulitzer Prize, combine all these crosscurrents to convey a compelling narrative. He’s done it for both genetics and cancer, and here, he hits another home run…

The Chicago Guide to Communicating Science

By Scott J. Pearson | January 7, 2023January 7, 2023 by Scott J. Pearson

A popular impression about science is that scientists do not know how to write well; that is, they only write in highly technical jargon that’s, well, boring. Scientists spend so much of their training, the story goes, learning about facts that they do not master the art and craft of communication. Montgomery, in this work, seeks to counter that argument by teaching scientists how to communicate well. In so doing, he harkens to a centuries-long…

Religion-Philosophy Science

Questions of Truth: Fifty-one Responses to Questions about God, Science & Belief

By Scott J. Pearson | December 31, 2022December 31, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

John Polkinghorne is a Cambridge physicist who decided, mid-career, to become an Anglican priest. Like a good scientist working out a theory, he worked out how his orthodox Christian beliefs were essentially compatible with modern physics. He has won international acclaim and awards for his insights about religion and science. Especially central to his contributions is the idea that both disciplines require a certain amount of belief and faith. This book, compiled with his collaborator…

Biography-Memoir Healthcare Science Society

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing & the Future of the Human Race

By Scott J. Pearson | December 14, 2022December 14, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

In our generation, codes comprise some of the most interesting subjects of study. We code computers to do work for us; we also are beginning to decode the genetic code to propel life forward. The discovery of CRISPR promises to allow us to edit the human genome, and Professor Doudna sits among this innovation’s prime discoverers. Along with another female scientist Professor Charpentier, she won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2020. This biography, written…

Healthcare History Science

The Gene: An Intimate History

By Scott J. Pearson | July 4, 2022July 4, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Genetics is a field of biomedical research that is both in motion and influential over our daily lives. It promises to help millions afflicted with horrific disease, yet it could be poised to change (or unravel?) human life as we seek to write our own destinies in DNA. Real action in this field has only occurred in the last 200 years, starting with Gregor Mendel and accelerating in the early twentieth century. Mukherjee, an oncologist…

Environment Science Society

From Knowledge to Power: The Comprehensive Handbook for Climate Science & Advocacy

By Scott J. Pearson | March 23, 2022March 23, 2022 by Scott J. Pearson

Climate science is a hot topic these days, and many books (like Bill Gates’ How to Avoid a Climate Disaster) provide introductions to the topic for a popular audience. Those books are written to be digested by the masses, but detailed academic work is often lacking in them. Enter Perona’s textbook. (He calls it a “handbook,” but it more resembles an interdisciplinary textbook.) He explains the nitty-gritty of the science and extends the reasoning from…

Religion-Philosophy Science

Belief in God in an Age of Science

By Scott J. Pearson | December 27, 2021December 27, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Religious belief and science are often put at odds with each other in contemporary society and popular culture. One needs only to listen to fundamentalist preachers or read newspapers about anti-vaccine protestors to think that these groups are forever at odds. Further, the histories of religious wars and persecutions turn many educated, reality-based citizens off of the religious path. To this situation, Polkinghorne offers a detente by suggesting that the two fields are cousins in…

Biography-Memoir Science

Madame Curie: A Biography

By Scott J. Pearson | December 12, 2021December 12, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

A pioneer of radioactivity and radiation therapy, Marie Curie has an assured place in scientific history. Untold numbers have benefitted from her discovery – especially cancer patients. Further accolades upon accolades follow her name: two-time winner of a Nobel Prize (jointly in physics and alone in chemistry), first female Nobel laureate, wife and daughter of two other Nobel laureates, tireless supporter of her country in World War I, first female professor at Paris’ elite Sorbonne,…

Science

The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think

By Scott J. Pearson | December 5, 2021December 5, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

I try to respect nature and am honestly curious about how the natural world operates. However, despite an immense appreciation of life, I am no scientific specialist or ornithological hobbyist (i.e., bird-watcher). As such, I cannot judge the academic merits of this text, but I can appreciate the literary merits. Ackerman dramatically brings alive the lives of birds in a way that demonstrates that much more is going on than first meets the eye. The…

Environment Science Society

A Life on Our Planet: My Witness Statement & a Vision for the Future

By Scott J. Pearson | September 8, 2021September 8, 2021 by Scott J. Pearson

Sir David Attenborough is well-known to fans of the BBC in the United Kingdom for his interesting explorations on various topics, especially ones relating to natural history. In this book, he further dives into natural history about how the world has changed during his lifetime. His picture is quite bleak, with much of our wilderness becoming subsumed by humanity’s growth. Still, he manages to propose several hopeful strategies out of this crisis if we begin…