The Man Who Knew Infinity: A Life of the Genius Ramanujan -- Robert Kanigel

I have wanted to read a book on Ramanujan ever since I heard the basic details of his life story. This book is everything I could have asked for. A complete account of the man's life, as well as everything else one might want to know about the times and places he lived. By this I mean, the book details the lives of those closest to Ramanujan as well as the culture in India and England at the time. It is written for the mathematically unsophisticated and is thus accessible to everyone. Even the layman can appreciate the amazing formulas that are presented and explained very well by the author.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. It gives insight into the workings of professional mathematicians which is something that I think non-mathematicians should be informed of. Further, to the mathematically oriented, this book gives insight into one of the most original and brilliant minds of the 20th century and possibly ever. Furthermore, this book is a wealth of information on the cultural aspects that affect academic achievement from the mid-19th century through to the present.

Ninety-Three -- Victor Hugo

I have been wanting to read nearly all of Hugo's books and this is my first one. I can safely say that it will not be my last. This was truly a great piece of literature. I want to start with saying that I really did enjoy the book and I thought it was executed (no pun intended) very well. However, I do have some minor complaints. I think that it is sometimes over looked that this book goes into some unnecessary detail about the people and places involved. Yes it is interesting to hear, but sometimes it goes on for full pages about the names of people who are only mentioned that one time and have little to do with the story. I understand why he does this when he does, however the book does drag at certain points. The only reason I really say this is because anyone looking to read this book might get bogged down near the beginning and even in the middle with some of these details and might possibly set the book aside. It is really worth slogging through the extra verbiage.

The book weaves a fantastic story during an incredibly interesting point in history. I have studied the French revolution from a historical non-fiction point of view as well as from the many novels that are set in this time. I can not get enough of the incredible characters and stories from that time period. This book actually has Danton, Marat and Robspierre as characters. This is possibly the only book I know of that does this. Hence, I recommend this book fully to anyone interested in reading a well developed and engaging story. Especially to those who have a pre-existing interest in the French revolution.

One fact that should actually be pointed out in addition, is the fact that Hugo has some of the best lines I have ever read. I mean that he uses language so well that nearly every sentence is one you want to write down on a post-it and stick to your wall. If I had actually written down every quote that I thought was powerful, beautiful and/or just plain cool, I could have filled a notebook. I ended up writing down page numbers but then had to stop doing that because I had too many written down. I decided at one point that the whole book is quotable and hence reading it is sort of a gift that keeps on giving.

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! -- Richard P. Feynman

So I guess I am reading biographies right now, but this was a really good one. I had always been meaning to read it, but I am glad in one sense that I waited until now. At least when he was talking about the ants in his Princeton room during grad school I could look at the ants in my Princeton room during grad school and it was kind of cool.

The first few chapters had me somewhat disappointed. I was not laughing out loud. His writing style was not at all what I expected. The stories didn't really grab me too much. But I am really glad I kept reading. As the book went on, I was thoroughly delighted with what I found. His stories are actually very funny at times but also gave insight into someone I think I could have really gotten along with. For example, when he talks about how he talked to Bohr and about why he stayed at Caltech, I could relate in my own way. Obviously in a much more limited and smaller way, but still it felt good. Even though I have not accomplished what he has nor do I feel I am at the same level intelligence right now, it is still refreshing to read the thoughts and anecdotes of someone you relate to on many levels.

I highly recommend this book for several reasons. To the scientist, this is a rare opportunity into the mind of a great one. To the non-scientist, this is a chance to see what science is about and that not all scientists are hiding in labs with thick glasses and no personality. The book is informative as much as it is funny, and it gets funnier as you go on. Additionally, it reads very quickly and because it gets harder and harder to put down as you go along, you find yourself very quickly on the last section and not wanting it to end.

American Prometheus -- Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the history of 20th century physics as well as the life of Robert Oppenheimer. This book also gives great insight into many of the interesting themes in America during the cold war. This reaches a climax with Dr. Oppenheimer's security hearing in 1954. It is actually difficult to talk about this book besides that it was highly informative and entertaining.

The fact that this man actually lived the life detailed in this book is amazing. His life reads more like some fantastic movie that is too improbable to be believable. I mean he was quintessential in the creation of the atomic bomb and the creation of one of the greatest theoretical physics departments in the world; and all the while the FBI had him under illegal surveillance. Just the names who he worked with are in themselves impressive: Bohr, Heisenberg, Feynman, Lawrence, Einstein, von Neumann, and the list goes on and on.

This book does not simply derive its value from the incredible highs and lows of Oppenheimer's life. Additionally, the extremely detailed and thorough scholarship and research that was put into this book makes history truly come alive. As objective as a biography can be and as well written as one could hope for. Once again, highly recommended.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra -- Friedrich Nietzsche

This book has been on my list of books that I should read for a long time. I am not entirely sure why, but I guess there was something in my mind that I could not quite put my finger on that told me that I should read this book. I am glad that I read it when I did and not when I was much younger.

It is an interesting work in philosophy, I disagree with a lot of his points, others he comes very close to what I think is correct and then takes massive right turns. Sometimes he does explicate what I personally believe and thus the entire book was interesting to read. It is always beneficial to broaden your knowledge and that is what I see this book doing. I am now more aware of certain classes of existentialist thought and I feel I understand how some people view the world much better.

The book is lyrical throughout and thus not entirely that easy to read unless you are focused. For example, here are some interesting quotes from throughout the book.

"It is terrible to be alone with the judge and avenger of one's own law. Thus does a star get thrown out into desolate space and into the icy breath of solitary being" (46).

"Indeed, not in satiety shall his yearning keep silent and submerge, but in beauty! Grace belongs to the graciousness of the great-minded" (92).

"Whoever has heart knows fear, but conquers fear; sees the abyss but with pride. Whoever sees the abyss, but with eagle's eyes, whoever grasps the abyss with eagle's talons: he has courage" (233).

The book is better than most philosophical books in that Nietzsche is actually a pretty good writer. He writes in a way that you can read if you put your mind into it. However, I would recommend to be constantly critical of all philosophy and to see it merely as his point of view and to determine logically from it what you actually find truth and value in. In sum, I would advise people to read this, but beware that it is not light and it can be odd at times.

Nanoconvergence: The Unity of Nanoscience, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science -- William Sims Bainbridge

I actually wrote a review of this on Amazon.com. That is how disgusted I was with this book. The problem is that the title was very enticing to me. I am extremely interested in the convergence of cognitive science, information technology and biotechnology. I suppose the concept of "nanoscience" interests me too, but the term is just so broad that I have trouble saying it without the quotes. I agree with many of the ideas in the book, although I could have written the entire intellectually interesting parts of this book in about 5 pages. The rest was fluff by a sociologist who really wishes he was smart enough to do real science. To the popular reader, he might seem like he actually knows what he is talking about, which is partially scary. The scariest part is that he is up near the top of the NSF, which basically shows how idiotic some of the people making political decisions are. Do not read this book if you can help it even though the title and the pretty cover picture make it seem so appealing. I hope to find some better book on the subject to recommend for this area of interest, but as of yet I do not know of one.

A Tale of Two Cities -- Charles Dickens

One of those classics that I have always meant to read but just never did. Well, I finally did and I am only slightly sad that it took me so long. I have always loved the history of the French revolution and I did not realize how well this book portrayed this period of history. I highly recommend this book to anyone. The story is very engaging, with many interesting characters and a sufficiently interesting plot. The fact that this could be entirely true adds to the luster although it invariable is fiction. What I mean is that many of the events that seem so unlikely and implausible are but tame versions of the truth. Truly, history is stranger than fiction, but Dickens does a great job of mixing the history of this turbulent time with a brilliantly executed love story.

Lieutenant Hornblower -- C.S. Forester

The second installment of the Horatio Hornblower series. I read the first one nearly 3 years ago and for some reason waited to read the next one. I really liked the first one but just never seemed to get around to reading the rest of the books in the series. This one did not disappoint either. It is a very quick read and quite simple in terms of language. The only difficulty comes from the use of 18th century nautical terms, however that is what makes it an interesting read. This book introduces the other character that I have heard is a recurring persona throughout the series, this is Lieutenant Bush.

I forgot how much I liked Horatio's character and personality. The contrast with Bush really brings this out. We see that Bush does not really want much responsibility and is much more content taking care of the mundane tasks that he has been ordered to do. On the other hand, Hornblower is ambitious and capable. I highly recommend this book along with all of the other Hornblower books. I have only read the first one, but I plan to finish the series at some point. Hopefully it just doesn't take another 3 years before I pick up number 3.

Economic Theory and Cognitive Science: Microexplanation -- Don Ross

I finally finished this book. This was by far the most technical philosophy book I have ever read. I spent half my time looking words up that were not even in the dictionary, words that I had to use Wikipedia to understand. The read was definitely arduous, however there was a good deal of substance to this book. I have been looking for someone to lay out philosophical issues related to economics and the interface between economics and cognitive science. This book performs this task quite well. Furthermore, the author puts forth his own hypothesis for what is happening inside our brain and mind. My take on his point of view is that human brains are composed of groups of neurons; these groups can be modeled as straightforward economic agents. These modules of neurons play coordination games in order to arrive at a specific utility structure to implement at a given time for the human as a whole. Over time however, as these games play out, the human as a whole can not be represented as your average rational agent, in the pure economic sense of this term. Moreover, we use public language and external pressures to scaffold our knowledge to overcome the computational challenges that such a paradigm presents.

I personally find this hypothesis appealing and ultimately close to the truth. I would only recommend this book to a trained philosopher or someone who is willing to look up words in every other sentence. The author does not define words, he rather attempts to give them meaning through context, but this does not work well. The economics is actually rather light, meaning the formal structure is not necessarily there. I liked this book for its overall theme and the way it reviews many other areas of thought pertaining to this subject.

Decisions, Uncertainty, and the Brain: The Science of Neuroeconomics -- Paul W. Glimcher

A fascinating book about the relatively new science known as neuroeconomics. The main thesis of the book is "that the fundamental limitation which neurobiology faces today is a failure to adequately incorporate probability theory into the approaches we use to understand the brain." The book basically begins with a ground up explanation of the history of neuroscience and mathematics (extremely abridged). The examples throughout the book make the ideas from the past and the hypothesis proposed by the author quite easy to understand. The book even includes some interesting pictures that illustrate certain experimental situations.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in the brain, decision making, history of science or who just wants to expand their knowledge of how the world works. It is written at a level accessible to almost anyone, but is very illuminating to one with a bit of formal training.