I read books for many reasons, chief among which I'd describe, rather oversimplistically as: 1. They allow us to compress our otherwise short lives, allowing us to relive in others' footsteps. 2. They allow us to increase our perspectives, in the process making us 'powerful' (in lack of a better word) human beings.
I have been reading a plethora of books recently that, I feel, is really doing just that wonderfully well, i.e., broadening the horizons of my mind. I did not read them in the order described here, rather, mixed among many other books I constantly read and opt out of. But these books especially, in the last 12 month period, has had a strong effect on me. I have expressed here my opinions on those books, and, to do better justice, have attached a high quality review of the book.
1. COSMOS
It started with Cosmos, Carl Sagan's masterpiece. Thanks to Muaz bhai for lending me the book. This is a book that got me *excited* to finish it. Cosmos starts out wide open and then narrows down to give readers tremendous perspective mixed with an urge for focusing on the micro level.
Featured Review:
"As one of the great astronomer-writers of the Twentieth Century, Carl Sagan was extraordinarily communicative with the non-scientific public, able and willing to take the time and trouble to break down the mysteries of the universe into comprehensible fragments. The purpose of this book, which can be considered a companion to the acclaimed television series, is to explain what we know about the universe from a cosmological perspective and why we need to know more about it.
Physicists often talk of the unity of the branches of physics: the interrelation and application of mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and optics to the motion of everything from galaxies to subatomic particles. Similarly, Sagan's major theme is the unity of cosmology with the natural and physical sciences that define what we know about the Earth. Does the stifling, carbon dioxide-choked atmosphere of Venus imply anything about the greenhouse effect on Earth? Was a nearby cosmic explosion called a supernova indirectly responsible for the disappearance of the dinosaurs? What would be the biological consequences for the survivors of a global nuclear war? The answers to these questions are vital to the continuation of life as we know it.
Sagan also identifies cosmology with its own history. He lavishes reverent detail on the ancient Greek and Alexandrian study of the stars and planetary motions, the pioneering work by the Renaissance scientists Brahe, Kepler, Copernicus, Huygens, and others, and the men who revolutionized science with the formulation of laws of motion, Newton and Einstein.
The scope of "Cosmos" is tremendous, from the farthest expanses of the universe containing a hundred billion galaxies in addition to our own Milky Way, at the end of a spiraling arm of which our solar system is located; down to the lone electron circling the nucleus of a hydrogen atom, the most plentiful single entity in the cosmos and the source of everything we know, love, and are. In between there is discussion of the unmanned spacecraft expeditions to investigate "our" planets: Mars with its boulder-strewn, desert-like terrain; the gaseous giant Jupiter; Io, a Jovian moon of incredible redness, spotted with volcanic orifices and resembling an unappealing sauce-covered meatball; Saturn with its ice rings. Would these worlds contain life? Using what we know about the evolution of life on Earth, Sagan hypothesizes how different types of lifeforms might develop on worlds with different environments.
Even a casual interest in cosmology requires a fascination with astronomical distances and unthinkably long spans of time in which a human lifetime is but a blink of an eye. However, Sagan seems to write also for those who would rather relate cosmic arcana to familiar terms, and in this sense he is a grand entertainer: A thought experiment that provides a simple but fanciful illustration of the concept of black holes uses the tea party scene in "Alice in Wonderland" as a setting. "Cosmos" neither complicates unnecessarily nor insults your intelligence; very few "popular" science books will capture your imagination so well." (A. J.)
2. A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING
Bill Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' is book similar to Cosmos, at least in nature, if not is scope; a book to appreciate Newton's comments about pebbles in the beach. The book is especially valuable in giving you leads to many exciting paths and disciplines.
Featured Review:
"Bill Bryson is an excellent writer, no question. He's at once friend and informative, chummy without being condescending. The problem is that Bill Bryson is not a terribly well informed writer.
I read an interview with Bryson in New Scientist not long ago in which he admitted that he really didn't understand a lot of what all these scientists were telling him, and unfortunately that's all too clear in reading this book. As a consequence Bryson gives you a good deal of infomation peppered with some really horrid misunderstandings and errors. I'm reminded in reading "A Short History" of Bryson's book on language, in which he either repeats or invents any number of terribly inaccurate folk etymologies. Also a very readble but terribly inaccurate tome. He's great fun to read on personalities (although the accuracy of some of his characterizations is suspect) and he does have an ear for fascinating trivia, but science takes a back seat to all of this. All too often we get the beginning of an explanation that trails off into a "and anyways it's all very complicated but it's it just fascinating" sort of gee-whiz summary. One suspect that we've just reached the point where Bryson has either lost the thread of understanding or perhaps just decided that he doesn't care to understand something any further.
As enjoyable as Bryson can be to read, I only wish he'd had his manuscript vetted by editors with a solid science background, or better yet, collaboraated with a scientist on the writing. As it is, I can't really recommend this book. The reader interested in how science has shaped the world would do far better to read James Burke's justly well-regarded "Connections"." (Michael J. Edelman)
3. GOD'S DEBRIS
Scott Adams' Gods Debris gets an honorable mention here for providing a twist on perspective.
Featured Review:
"For those who love Dilbert, please realize that this book has nothing to do with that enjoyable character. There's also no humor here. Instead, you will find a fable that presents a unified theory of cosmology, religion, and knowledge. Before you get excited about all that you can learn, realize that this unified theory is deliberately flawed by Mr. Adams to provide you with a thought experiment to locate what is wrong with the argument. So the book is actually a brain teaser in its primary intent. It is a brain teaser that most people will find exceeds their knowledge of probability, physics, religion, philosophy, evolution, psychology and logic. So, to pick it apart you will probably need to assemble a team of people with deep knowledge in those areas. As a result, God's Debris is perfect for a serious book club. After understanding what's wrong with the arguments in the book, many will probably begin to see more unity in everything that happens based on a better platform of knowledge. That's well worthwhile.
I found this book fascinating as a puzzle, and enjoyed picking the arguments and misstatements apart. It reminded me of a question on the bar exam from many years ago where I had to write about what the law was in regard to a will written by an illiterate person. Great fun!
Mr. Adams warns that this book is for "people who enjoy having their brains spun around inside their skulls." He also says that it is "a view about God that you've probably never heard before." I certainly agree with both of those points. He also warns that what's in the book "isn't true . . . but it's oddly compelling." He also notes that people under the age of 14 should not read it. Although he doesn't say why, anyone who reads this book without a foundation in the subjects described may actually believe what's proposed by the Avatar. The world has enough false beliefs in it. I applaud Mr. Adams for helping to avoid creating any more.
After this book has honed your knowledge and critical thinking skills, I suggest that you take arguments that you read in other books and practice seeing what is wrong with them. All nonfiction books provide thought experiments of that sort!
I do hope Mr. Adams will write another of these thought experiments.
Overcome the appeal of simplicity to see through to the dynamic reality!" (Donald Mitchell)
4. THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey is a book for organizing our vanishingly small, but supremely important 'real life' among all these super-macro level perspectives. Thanks for Wasim for recommending this book to me. This is probably one of the most useful books, along with Kurzweil's one, for organizing our micro level lives, that is, if we so desire.
Featured Review:
"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change was a groundbreaker when it was first published in 1990, and it continues to be a business bestseller with more than 10 million copies sold. Stephen Covey, an internationally respected leadership authority, realizes that true success encompasses a balance of personal and professional effectiveness, so this book is a manual for performing better in both arenas. His anecdotes are as frequently from family situations as from business challenges.
Before you can adopt the seven habits, you'll need to accomplish what Covey calls a "paradigm shift"--a change in perception and interpretation of how the world works. Covey takes you through this change, which affects how you perceive and act regarding productivity, time management, positive thinking, developing your "proactive muscles" (acting with initiative rather than reacting), and much more.
This isn't a quick-tips-start-tomorrow kind of book. The concepts are sometimes intricate, and you'll want to study this book, not skim it. When you finish, you'll probably have Post-it notes or hand-written annotations in every chapter, and you'll feel like you've taken a powerful seminar by Covey." (Amazon)
5. THE WORLD IS FLAT
'The World is Flat' by Thomas L. Friedman is a book that makes the effects of globalization crystal clear and makes one want to jump on to it. Alongside, it explores many other useful tangential topics, enlightening one greatly about our modern world.
Featured Review:
"Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim, in his new book, The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime, but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at least--are inevitably prey to.
What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This in itself should not be news to anyone. But the news that Friedman has to deliver is that just when we stopped paying attention to these developments--when the dot-com bust turned interest away from the business and technology pages and when 9/11 and the Iraq War turned all eyes toward the Middle East--is when they actually began to accelerate. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. (He doesn't forget the "mutant supply chains" like Al-Qaeda that let the small act big in more destructive ways.) Friedman tells his eye-opening story with the catchy slogans and globe-hopping anecdotes that readers of his earlier books and his New York Times columns will know well, and also with a stern sort of optimism. He wants to tell you how exciting this new world is, but he also wants you to know you're going to be trampled if you don't keep up with it. His book is an excellent place to begin. (Amazon)
6. GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL
Followed by 'Guns, Germs and Steel' by Jared Diamond, an exposition on human history and our physical environment's effect on it.
Featured Review:
"Diamonds' thesis, as noted by other reviewers, is that the triumph of western culture traces in large measure to accidents of geography and environment. In particular, the east-west orientation of Eurasia and the abundance of usable crop species and animal species in Eurasia in general and the Fertile Crescent in particular. The ability to create domestic crops and domestic animals, by his reasoning, led through a series of steps to the development of larger communities, the development of technology, and the triumph of the West." (James D. DeWitt)
7. THE 10% SOLUTION TO A HEALTHY LIFE
The 10% Solution to a Healthy Life is Raymond Kurzweil's supremely convincing masterpiece about a balanced diet (10% of fat from calories) which intertwines so many other health facts.
Featured Review:
"Standing out from a field of "fad" diet books(The Zone;Sugar Busters;Atkins,etc.) like a pearl in a sea of mud,The 10% Solution is a lucid, intelligently written,well-documented eating plan that really works.(I know--I've been following it for some time now,with fantastic results) Kurzweil is NOT a nutritionist--rather,he's a computer scientist--but he's clearly done his homework,and his writing style and format make it easy for anyone to understand the principles of a healthy diet. Yet he doesn't over-simplify,or insult the reader with emotional pleas and lack of documentation. In a nutshell,the "10% Solution" means that no more than 10% of the calories in your diet should come from fat. Extreme? (After all,the FDA,AHA,and other mainstream entities recommend a diet consisting of 30% of calories from fat) Not at all,as Kurzweil convincingly demonstrates. What's extreme is the eating habits cultivated by "developed" societies like our own ov! er the last century,where undue emphasis is placed on fat. The author compares our typical diet with one from rural Asia,along with respective heart disease and cancer rates. The figures are staggering. Yes--despite what you've heard from the latest fad diet promoters--fat IS the culprit(of course,SOME fat is necessary). A truly low-fat,nutritionally balanced eating program is an enormous factor in attaining good overall health. And,yes,you can(and will,no doubt) lose weight on this regimen--but more importantly, you'll feel better and improve your health immensely. Cutting down to 10% of calories from fat does take some adjustments,but it's not as hard to do as many may think,and Kurzweil makes it easier with a section of recipes. I've read quite a few books on diet and nutrition,and this is clearly the best-written one I've personally seen. Read it and change your life for the better." (Kent Stallard)
8. ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig, is a spiritual inquiry on the metaphysics of quality (I am yet to get that; haven't finished it yet), but so far Pirsig's elucidations on rational versus classical are wonderful.
Featured Review:
"In this monumental 1974 work, Robert Pirsig has achieved what few others have managed before him and, to the best of my knowledge, nobody else has accomplished since: a perfect unification of philosophy, adventure and mystery. His "Chautauqua," or traveling tale, takes the reader on a profound tour of ancient Greek philosophy, the steppes of Montana, and even a little bit of Zen Buddhism, with endless surprises and much original if not truly inspired thought along the way. Through his self-portrayal by means of the unforgettable and eerily enigmatic character Phaedrus, Mr. Pirsig shares his far-reaching search for the meaning of life, and himself. His fundamental concern is with the following seemingly simple but in effect infinitely complex question: "How can one distinguish "good" from "bad?" The question is posed and addressed in many different forms throughout the book, and in the process the concepts of truth, value and quality are dissected, reassembled, and again dissected and reassembled many times. Mr. Pirsig has an uncanny sense of timing, and he never allows the heavier passages to labor on too long. This is avoided by craftily interspersing his philosophical discourse amongst very down-to-earth and charming observations made during a motorcycle trip that takes the narrator and his seemingly troubled son Chris from the American Prairies to the Pacific, and forms the prevalent background for the entire "Chautauqua." "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is a totally unique creation. Not being one to lend himself easily to corny clichés, I nevertheless believe that this is one book that definitely could dramatically change your life, whether or not you believe in Zen or have ever sat on a motorcycle. If you love somebody, buy them this book." (Walter V. Cicha)
If you have read through till here, I hope you have found one or two books to your liking here. Do feel free to recommend me any book you thought might be useful.
I have been reading a plethora of books recently that, I feel, is really doing just that wonderfully well, i.e., broadening the horizons of my mind. I did not read them in the order described here, rather, mixed among many other books I constantly read and opt out of. But these books especially, in the last 12 month period, has had a strong effect on me. I have expressed here my opinions on those books, and, to do better justice, have attached a high quality review of the book.
1. COSMOS
It started with Cosmos, Carl Sagan's masterpiece. Thanks to Muaz bhai for lending me the book. This is a book that got me *excited* to finish it. Cosmos starts out wide open and then narrows down to give readers tremendous perspective mixed with an urge for focusing on the micro level.
Featured Review:
"As one of the great astronomer-writers of the Twentieth Century, Carl Sagan was extraordinarily communicative with the non-scientific public, able and willing to take the time and trouble to break down the mysteries of the universe into comprehensible fragments. The purpose of this book, which can be considered a companion to the acclaimed television series, is to explain what we know about the universe from a cosmological perspective and why we need to know more about it.
Physicists often talk of the unity of the branches of physics: the interrelation and application of mechanics, thermodynamics, electricity and magnetism, and optics to the motion of everything from galaxies to subatomic particles. Similarly, Sagan's major theme is the unity of cosmology with the natural and physical sciences that define what we know about the Earth. Does the stifling, carbon dioxide-choked atmosphere of Venus imply anything about the greenhouse effect on Earth? Was a nearby cosmic explosion called a supernova indirectly responsible for the disappearance of the dinosaurs? What would be the biological consequences for the survivors of a global nuclear war? The answers to these questions are vital to the continuation of life as we know it.
Sagan also identifies cosmology with its own history. He lavishes reverent detail on the ancient Greek and Alexandrian study of the stars and planetary motions, the pioneering work by the Renaissance scientists Brahe, Kepler, Copernicus, Huygens, and others, and the men who revolutionized science with the formulation of laws of motion, Newton and Einstein.
The scope of "Cosmos" is tremendous, from the farthest expanses of the universe containing a hundred billion galaxies in addition to our own Milky Way, at the end of a spiraling arm of which our solar system is located; down to the lone electron circling the nucleus of a hydrogen atom, the most plentiful single entity in the cosmos and the source of everything we know, love, and are. In between there is discussion of the unmanned spacecraft expeditions to investigate "our" planets: Mars with its boulder-strewn, desert-like terrain; the gaseous giant Jupiter; Io, a Jovian moon of incredible redness, spotted with volcanic orifices and resembling an unappealing sauce-covered meatball; Saturn with its ice rings. Would these worlds contain life? Using what we know about the evolution of life on Earth, Sagan hypothesizes how different types of lifeforms might develop on worlds with different environments.
Even a casual interest in cosmology requires a fascination with astronomical distances and unthinkably long spans of time in which a human lifetime is but a blink of an eye. However, Sagan seems to write also for those who would rather relate cosmic arcana to familiar terms, and in this sense he is a grand entertainer: A thought experiment that provides a simple but fanciful illustration of the concept of black holes uses the tea party scene in "Alice in Wonderland" as a setting. "Cosmos" neither complicates unnecessarily nor insults your intelligence; very few "popular" science books will capture your imagination so well." (A. J.)
2. A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING
Bill Bryson's 'A Short History of Nearly Everything' is book similar to Cosmos, at least in nature, if not is scope; a book to appreciate Newton's comments about pebbles in the beach. The book is especially valuable in giving you leads to many exciting paths and disciplines.
Featured Review:
"Bill Bryson is an excellent writer, no question. He's at once friend and informative, chummy without being condescending. The problem is that Bill Bryson is not a terribly well informed writer.
I read an interview with Bryson in New Scientist not long ago in which he admitted that he really didn't understand a lot of what all these scientists were telling him, and unfortunately that's all too clear in reading this book. As a consequence Bryson gives you a good deal of infomation peppered with some really horrid misunderstandings and errors. I'm reminded in reading "A Short History" of Bryson's book on language, in which he either repeats or invents any number of terribly inaccurate folk etymologies. Also a very readble but terribly inaccurate tome. He's great fun to read on personalities (although the accuracy of some of his characterizations is suspect) and he does have an ear for fascinating trivia, but science takes a back seat to all of this. All too often we get the beginning of an explanation that trails off into a "and anyways it's all very complicated but it's it just fascinating" sort of gee-whiz summary. One suspect that we've just reached the point where Bryson has either lost the thread of understanding or perhaps just decided that he doesn't care to understand something any further.
As enjoyable as Bryson can be to read, I only wish he'd had his manuscript vetted by editors with a solid science background, or better yet, collaboraated with a scientist on the writing. As it is, I can't really recommend this book. The reader interested in how science has shaped the world would do far better to read James Burke's justly well-regarded "Connections"." (Michael J. Edelman)
3. GOD'S DEBRIS
Scott Adams' Gods Debris gets an honorable mention here for providing a twist on perspective.
Featured Review:
"For those who love Dilbert, please realize that this book has nothing to do with that enjoyable character. There's also no humor here. Instead, you will find a fable that presents a unified theory of cosmology, religion, and knowledge. Before you get excited about all that you can learn, realize that this unified theory is deliberately flawed by Mr. Adams to provide you with a thought experiment to locate what is wrong with the argument. So the book is actually a brain teaser in its primary intent. It is a brain teaser that most people will find exceeds their knowledge of probability, physics, religion, philosophy, evolution, psychology and logic. So, to pick it apart you will probably need to assemble a team of people with deep knowledge in those areas. As a result, God's Debris is perfect for a serious book club. After understanding what's wrong with the arguments in the book, many will probably begin to see more unity in everything that happens based on a better platform of knowledge. That's well worthwhile.
I found this book fascinating as a puzzle, and enjoyed picking the arguments and misstatements apart. It reminded me of a question on the bar exam from many years ago where I had to write about what the law was in regard to a will written by an illiterate person. Great fun!
Mr. Adams warns that this book is for "people who enjoy having their brains spun around inside their skulls." He also says that it is "a view about God that you've probably never heard before." I certainly agree with both of those points. He also warns that what's in the book "isn't true . . . but it's oddly compelling." He also notes that people under the age of 14 should not read it. Although he doesn't say why, anyone who reads this book without a foundation in the subjects described may actually believe what's proposed by the Avatar. The world has enough false beliefs in it. I applaud Mr. Adams for helping to avoid creating any more.
After this book has honed your knowledge and critical thinking skills, I suggest that you take arguments that you read in other books and practice seeing what is wrong with them. All nonfiction books provide thought experiments of that sort!
I do hope Mr. Adams will write another of these thought experiments.
Overcome the appeal of simplicity to see through to the dynamic reality!" (Donald Mitchell)
4. THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey is a book for organizing our vanishingly small, but supremely important 'real life' among all these super-macro level perspectives. Thanks for Wasim for recommending this book to me. This is probably one of the most useful books, along with Kurzweil's one, for organizing our micro level lives, that is, if we so desire.
Featured Review:
"The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change was a groundbreaker when it was first published in 1990, and it continues to be a business bestseller with more than 10 million copies sold. Stephen Covey, an internationally respected leadership authority, realizes that true success encompasses a balance of personal and professional effectiveness, so this book is a manual for performing better in both arenas. His anecdotes are as frequently from family situations as from business challenges.
Before you can adopt the seven habits, you'll need to accomplish what Covey calls a "paradigm shift"--a change in perception and interpretation of how the world works. Covey takes you through this change, which affects how you perceive and act regarding productivity, time management, positive thinking, developing your "proactive muscles" (acting with initiative rather than reacting), and much more.
This isn't a quick-tips-start-tomorrow kind of book. The concepts are sometimes intricate, and you'll want to study this book, not skim it. When you finish, you'll probably have Post-it notes or hand-written annotations in every chapter, and you'll feel like you've taken a powerful seminar by Covey." (Amazon)
5. THE WORLD IS FLAT
'The World is Flat' by Thomas L. Friedman is a book that makes the effects of globalization crystal clear and makes one want to jump on to it. Alongside, it explores many other useful tangential topics, enlightening one greatly about our modern world.
Featured Review:
"Thomas L. Friedman is not so much a futurist, which he is sometimes called, as a presentist. His aim, in his new book, The World Is Flat, as in his earlier, influential Lexus and the Olive Tree, is not to give you a speculative preview of the wonders that are sure to come in your lifetime, but rather to get you caught up on the wonders that are already here. The world isn't going to be flat, it is flat, which gives Friedman's breathless narrative much of its urgency, and which also saves it from the Epcot-style polyester sheen that futurists--the optimistic ones at least--are inevitably prey to.
What Friedman means by "flat" is "connected": the lowering of trade and political barriers and the exponential technical advances of the digital revolution have made it possible to do business, or almost anything else, instantaneously with billions of other people across the planet. This in itself should not be news to anyone. But the news that Friedman has to deliver is that just when we stopped paying attention to these developments--when the dot-com bust turned interest away from the business and technology pages and when 9/11 and the Iraq War turned all eyes toward the Middle East--is when they actually began to accelerate. Globalization 3.0, as he calls it, is driven not by major corporations or giant trade organizations like the World Bank, but by individuals: desktop freelancers and innovative startups all over the world (but especially in India and China) who can compete--and win--not just for low-wage manufacturing and information labor but, increasingly, for the highest-end research and design work as well. (He doesn't forget the "mutant supply chains" like Al-Qaeda that let the small act big in more destructive ways.) Friedman tells his eye-opening story with the catchy slogans and globe-hopping anecdotes that readers of his earlier books and his New York Times columns will know well, and also with a stern sort of optimism. He wants to tell you how exciting this new world is, but he also wants you to know you're going to be trampled if you don't keep up with it. His book is an excellent place to begin. (Amazon)
6. GUNS, GERMS AND STEEL
Followed by 'Guns, Germs and Steel' by Jared Diamond, an exposition on human history and our physical environment's effect on it.
Featured Review:
"Diamonds' thesis, as noted by other reviewers, is that the triumph of western culture traces in large measure to accidents of geography and environment. In particular, the east-west orientation of Eurasia and the abundance of usable crop species and animal species in Eurasia in general and the Fertile Crescent in particular. The ability to create domestic crops and domestic animals, by his reasoning, led through a series of steps to the development of larger communities, the development of technology, and the triumph of the West." (James D. DeWitt)
7. THE 10% SOLUTION TO A HEALTHY LIFE
The 10% Solution to a Healthy Life is Raymond Kurzweil's supremely convincing masterpiece about a balanced diet (10% of fat from calories) which intertwines so many other health facts.
Featured Review:
"Standing out from a field of "fad" diet books(The Zone;Sugar Busters;Atkins,etc.) like a pearl in a sea of mud,The 10% Solution is a lucid, intelligently written,well-documented eating plan that really works.(I know--I've been following it for some time now,with fantastic results) Kurzweil is NOT a nutritionist--rather,he's a computer scientist--but he's clearly done his homework,and his writing style and format make it easy for anyone to understand the principles of a healthy diet. Yet he doesn't over-simplify,or insult the reader with emotional pleas and lack of documentation. In a nutshell,the "10% Solution" means that no more than 10% of the calories in your diet should come from fat. Extreme? (After all,the FDA,AHA,and other mainstream entities recommend a diet consisting of 30% of calories from fat) Not at all,as Kurzweil convincingly demonstrates. What's extreme is the eating habits cultivated by "developed" societies like our own ov! er the last century,where undue emphasis is placed on fat. The author compares our typical diet with one from rural Asia,along with respective heart disease and cancer rates. The figures are staggering. Yes--despite what you've heard from the latest fad diet promoters--fat IS the culprit(of course,SOME fat is necessary). A truly low-fat,nutritionally balanced eating program is an enormous factor in attaining good overall health. And,yes,you can(and will,no doubt) lose weight on this regimen--but more importantly, you'll feel better and improve your health immensely. Cutting down to 10% of calories from fat does take some adjustments,but it's not as hard to do as many may think,and Kurzweil makes it easier with a section of recipes. I've read quite a few books on diet and nutrition,and this is clearly the best-written one I've personally seen. Read it and change your life for the better." (Kent Stallard)
8. ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, by Robert M. Pirsig, is a spiritual inquiry on the metaphysics of quality (I am yet to get that; haven't finished it yet), but so far Pirsig's elucidations on rational versus classical are wonderful.
Featured Review:
"In this monumental 1974 work, Robert Pirsig has achieved what few others have managed before him and, to the best of my knowledge, nobody else has accomplished since: a perfect unification of philosophy, adventure and mystery. His "Chautauqua," or traveling tale, takes the reader on a profound tour of ancient Greek philosophy, the steppes of Montana, and even a little bit of Zen Buddhism, with endless surprises and much original if not truly inspired thought along the way. Through his self-portrayal by means of the unforgettable and eerily enigmatic character Phaedrus, Mr. Pirsig shares his far-reaching search for the meaning of life, and himself. His fundamental concern is with the following seemingly simple but in effect infinitely complex question: "How can one distinguish "good" from "bad?" The question is posed and addressed in many different forms throughout the book, and in the process the concepts of truth, value and quality are dissected, reassembled, and again dissected and reassembled many times. Mr. Pirsig has an uncanny sense of timing, and he never allows the heavier passages to labor on too long. This is avoided by craftily interspersing his philosophical discourse amongst very down-to-earth and charming observations made during a motorcycle trip that takes the narrator and his seemingly troubled son Chris from the American Prairies to the Pacific, and forms the prevalent background for the entire "Chautauqua." "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" is a totally unique creation. Not being one to lend himself easily to corny clichés, I nevertheless believe that this is one book that definitely could dramatically change your life, whether or not you believe in Zen or have ever sat on a motorcycle. If you love somebody, buy them this book." (Walter V. Cicha)
If you have read through till here, I hope you have found one or two books to your liking here. Do feel free to recommend me any book you thought might be useful.
