Book Reports

If you want to know more about the Indian Mutiny through the eyes of a self-dealing, cowardly, rake, national hero... read this book. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Once you get used to the period language, the book is a page turner.

For the first time in history, an empire voluntarily gave up its most important possession, its jewel in the crown. How this came about, as relayed in "Freedom at Midnight" makes for a wonderful and exciting read.

What are the moral implications of an earth effort to encounter another species and through ignorance destroying it?

Douglas Adams is not a well-known figure today. But if Musk's dream of humanity becoming sustainably multiplanetary is realized, credit Douglas Adams as the energy source for mankind's second stage progression into the universe. Whether one reads the book as a spoof on the power fantasies of the globalists... or as a philosophical pivot point for mankind's exploration of the stars, it can be appreciated on both levels.

For me this was a sobering, eye-opening read. The book helps me imagine what might be the fate, either risk or opportunity, of my progeny with respect to AI. I don't know whether to be fearful for their future or awestruck at the potential for their lives being better in some way that I can't now understand. This was an essential book to set the stage for me for a better understanding of scientific progress and it's coming radically transformational effects on mankind. Meanwhile, buckle up!

This novel is not just a thriller. It contains great insights on the global political scene and posits a much-changed future world in international relations as AI, synthetic biology, and autonomous war fare emerge in the future. Recommend!

Double, double toil and trouble,
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Ender's Game is not only a fast paced, page turner of a science fiction story, but also a thought-provoking exploration of complex moral and ethical issues.

There are ghosts in Pompeii. Robert Harris's "Pompeii" brings them to life.

Elon Musk is one of the leading positive influencers for continued human progress in a world where human advancement seems to have slowed. Elon Musk is one of today's few eminent humans having the capacity to lead a rebirth of optimism about humanity's future. Musk's vision focuses on a commitment to assure human liberty, on celebrating the expansion of human consciousness, and on increasing the odds of humanity's long-term survival. Isaacson's book may not be the only way to build an understanding of Elon Musk. But understand him you must if you want to better comprehend how an Elon led burst of human progress impacts you and your family and how you might get on the bandwagon yourself. Isaacson's book is a good start to building such understanding.

I enjoyed the novel as a riveting page turner, as a compelling study into the nature of invention, as a cogent review of the intricacies of patent law, as a comprehensible tutorial on electricity, for raising the question in my mind about the role of skullduggery and subterfuge in business, and for fostering vigorous reflection on the nature of technological progress.

In the book he declares that the government response to coronavirus was the worst failure of public policy since World War I.