Category: Books

  • The Gene : An Intimate History

    Siddhartha Mukherjee

    “As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance.” probably best describes this book for me. My understanding of the subject grew manifold after reading this book, but I also realised how little we know!

    Perhaps the one question we all seek an answer to is “Why are we here?”. There probably is no universal answer to that question, as science and religion like to approach it in different ways. Personally, I think that purpose is either just a narrative in hindsight, or a story we build to create meaning in our lives.

    Meanwhile, science has raced ahead of religion in explaining “how are we here?” In terms of the two building blocks that have existed before us – atoms and genes – as well as the influence of the one we created – byte. This book is the story of what the author describes as “one of the most powerful and dangerous ideas in the history of science: the gene, the fundamental unit of heredity, and the basic unit of all biological information.” Indeed, it is the history of this unit – from its presence in a human’s mind as an abstract idea to the human attempts to write and rewrite it – that makes up this book. (more…)

  • Cometh the Hour

    Jeffrey Archer

    This is what I’d call a publisher’s book on at least a couple of counts. One, the slow movement of the different plots suggest that this could have been the book to finish the series, but we will have to wait for the next. Two, the ethnicity of the characters – while it could be argued that this is a reflection of the changing times (as per the plot’s timeframe, late 70s) it could also be an indication of the markets the publisher wants to specially address – the US, India and Turkey.

    While the first and the last were natural progressions from the previous books, the presence has been greatly enhanced. The second, I found to be an unnecessary detour that added nothing to the overall plots, unless that somehow happens in the next book. Add to that, the deceptive cover that almost implies there is a significant India play in the book, and we have my reasons to believe that the publisher dictated the proceedings. (more…)

  • Heartificial Intelligence

    John C. Havens

    The title might seem like a bit of a corny wordplay, but I think you’d find it hard to come up with an alternative that best describes the premise of the book. Artificial Intelligence is slowly but surely becoming an inherent part of our lives, and I’d say that our situation is a bit like the ‘frog in boiling water’ scenario. That’s not to say that we will be ‘cooked’ but our sensitivity to the challenge is not really at the levels it should be at. Most of the discussions are around two themes – the extermination of our species by malevolent robots, and the increasing automation of jobs and the economic and societal repercussions. Both usually end up with polarising stances.

    One of the reasons I liked this book is that the author is not on either of the extremes – doomsday or paradise – his approach is very pragmatic. The first six chapters take the reader through the process of understanding the lay of the land – from describing how our happiness is slowly getting defined by tracking algorithms, and the complete lack of transparency and accountability in those who have access to this data, to the economics and purpose of a human life and how it’s changing, to the (seeming) limits of artificial intelligence, and finally the need to have an ethics/value system in place as we go faster in our journey of designing increasingly complex AI. (more…)

  • Mightier than the Sword

    Jeffrey Archer
    I must admit to a bit of a grumbling before I started the book, the reason being that Archer was supposed to finish the series in five books, but has now stretched it to seven! And since I have read the others, I would have to finish this. Add to this that it’s been a while since I read Book 4, I had to do a bit of online reading to catch up on the various plot lines. But all of that, I realised, is similar to a friend who irritates you by being habitually late, but once you start talking, all is forgiven.
    The story of the Clifton extended family and enemies continues predictably with the existing narratives – Emma’s board room battles, Harry’s literary success, Giles’ politics, and Sebastian’s career progression. Arch enemies Virginia Fenwick and Alex Fisher also continue to be a thorns on collective sides. The narratives are furthered by the introduction of a new set of adversaries for Emma, Sebastian’s challenges on personal and professional fronts, and complications in Harry’s life largely owing to his support of a Russian author.
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  • The Monk and The Philosopher

    Jean-François Revel, Matthieu Ricard

    A biologist turned Buddhist in conversation with a philosopher about the meaning of life. If that isn’t interesting by itself, they happen to be son and father. (respectively) World views separated by time and distance. What really works is that Matthieu Ricard and Jean-François Revel have absolute clarity on the points of view they represent, and yet, are not in the discussion to force their perspectives on the other.

    The scope of the discussion includes scientific research, metaphysics, politics, psychoanalysis, and obviously religion as both share their perspectives on these topics. In many cases, they seem to arrive at the same destination, but via different paths.  (more…)