“Fear sharpens the senses. Anxiety paralyses them” – Kurt Goldstein. Is anxiety a medical illness or a cognitive mis-wiring, a philosophical or a spiritual problem or a cultural condition explored by poets? Scott Stossel explores how anxiety is a function of all of these. It can be measured physiologically, it can be measured as aContinue reading “My Age of Anxiety”
Category Archives: science
The Order of Time
In this small book filled with giant ideas, Carlo Rovelli gently teases apart everything we take for granted about the concept of time. That it travels in a linear direction from the past to the future, that it exists independent of us, that we are subjected to it and at its mercy. One would notContinue reading “The Order of Time”
The Code Breaker
Never has a science conference sounded so fun and dramatic! This is an accessible and fast-paced biography of Jennifer Doudna, the 2020 Nobel laureate in chemistry, and the army of scientists who uncovered the many steps to make gene editing possible. At its heart, The Code Breaker celebrates how life-changing scientific discoveries come from allContinue reading “The Code Breaker”
Entangled Life
This book took me on a breathtaking, life-affirming and inspired journey into the astounding interconnectedness of fungi and the role they play in the world around us. Sheldrake writes with compassionate understanding and vivid prose, and asks questions that shake the core of our self-centred definitions of intelligence, cognition and sensory perception. We need notContinue reading “Entangled Life”
Seven Brief Lessons on Physics
This book is less than a hundred pages and it packs the biggest ideas in the universe into the most accessible language. In seven short essays addressing space, time, black holes, the fundamental matter that makes up the universe and our own beautiful, dangerous, and fickle existence, Rovelli simultaneously makes you feel like your brainContinue reading “Seven Brief Lessons on Physics”
Pandemic
Shah weaves personal experiences with intense research that reads like a storybook. She takes us all the way from the early cholera epidemics of the 1800s (with far-too-vivid descriptions of shit-lined streets of New York City!) to the wet markets of China and explains exactly how new viruses evolve that otherwise never would if itContinue reading “Pandemic”
The Art of Rest
A light and fun read. Hammond uses a survey of 18,000 people and the forms of rest that they prefer, then explores the psychology and research of the top ten to see how and why they work. She finds it amusing that the ten did not include spending time with friends and family and makesContinue reading “The Art of Rest”
The Epigenetics Revolution
Epigenetics looks at the changes in an organism through the expression of genes rather than the genetic code itself. To try an even simpler take – it explores the intersection between nature and nurture. While large sections are simply too technical to understand, Carey does make the overview accessible and understandable, which is a realContinue reading “The Epigenetics Revolution”
Range
Reading ‘Beginners’ led me to this book. Epstein explores the idea of sampling a wider range of experiences, disciplines and interests both early and later on in life and how that can help one succeed in various circumstances. He tells the stories of individuals from across the spectrum of places, history and disciplines to showContinue reading “Range”
Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain
This book is a cutie. Small, easy to read and with pithy statements such as ‘your brain was not made for thinking.’ It packs ideas worth exploring further, palatable for non-readers as well. I read it in a couple of hours. The book explains evolutionary threads that connect us to other species, looks at theContinue reading “Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain”
Ayesha Anna Ninan 