Get to know your genome

I once had to go to the eye doctor for a check-up because my brother was prescribed glasses. Yes, my twin brother got glasses and it didn’t matter that I could see the blackboard just fine in class; since I was the twin I would soon need glasses too, so said the doc. Funny thing the human body!



…which brings me to this interesting find that elaborates on the world of genetics and the race to crack the human genome…


Genome: the Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters is an entertaining yet informative read. However if you can remember all the facts presented in the book by the end of it then you have earned half your degree in microbiology. Read it to discover the surprisingly pleasant and bubbly personality of the author Matt Ridley who looks every part the scientist (look at his picture only after you read the book), but writes about biology as if it’s the latest juicy rumor in town (all personal details about the geneticists included, including the fact that Mendelev was an Edwardian Friar before he was a famous Chemist and father of the Periodic Table. You would want to turn the next page in this book, only to forget the million or so facts in that page by the time you read the next. All in all I think it gives the reader an adequate picture of how scientists are solving the labrynth of the human genome. I’d give it an 8 on 10.

Philosophy for the Entrepreneur

Name of the book:

(1) Atlas Shrugged

(2)The  Fountainhead

Author: Ayn Rand

Arguably one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century, Ayn Rand is known for her two books—Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead—because these books make you think.....a lot! Although long-winded (each books exceeds 1000 pages in small print), they provide a vivid and prolific snapshot of the politics of life in the mid 1900s in the US. So convincing are the ideas in this book that very few people, i.e. only the Obama-like orators, can dare to challenge Rand’s point of view.

Her books created simultaneously a branch of Philosophy and a movement known as Objectivism (more about Objectivism here). Read the book to get a feel of the typical American hero of the 1950s—a winner in the corporate world who battles tough government thugs to make a neat profit.

An entrepreneur’s manifesto, the book is at once teaching us and entertaining us. It asks you the reader to dare to follow your ego, dare to disagree with altruists and defiantly turn a profit and finally dare to dream big dreams and fight every battle with everyone who is in your way. It is a bold, brave and liberating piece of prose. Pity that there is no account of Rand as an entrepreneur herself because she would have done one heck of a job.

So set aside a few months to finish these mammoths—they deserve that kind of time.

How to feel deeply peaceful

Name of the Book: The Power of Now
Author: Eckhart Tolle


Are there things in your life that make you stressed? Has paranoia taken over your life? Has anyone ever told you to "just relax"? Well, if so then you are reading the right blog entry because the book I'm introducing here will help you do just that -- relax! We all feel that stress is an unavoidable part of our lives but this book says "not true". From the beginning to the end you feel as if you're on some anti-caffeine pill because it just takes away your burden for the day. Expertly written but admittedly repetitive (as confessed by the author), this is a self-help book on steroids because it dares to explain to you that you and anyone else who is reading it is dysfunctional, incomplete, lacking and in need of an education; and the book offers just the kind of education that you need to live a deeply serene and peaceful life. From high  blood pressure to anger management--this book takes care of it all. It is your best education yet in the art of living without the lofty philosophy or religious idealism--all it does is reveal to you your inner demon and that's it: no need to convert to Buddhism and live in a monastery all your life.

Worth-the-price-tag-iness Score: 8/10

How Starbucks Saved My Life

Name of the Book: How Starbucks Saved My Life
Worth-the-price-tag-iness Score: 7/10
Read right after: Howard Schultz' "Pour Your Heart into It"

OK, not my life, Michael Gates Gill's life... Here's this son of a rich man who (confessedly) has never associated with black folk save for his nanny back when he was 10 years old. He hangs around with such historic figures like Ernest Hemingway, Queen Elizabeth, T. S. Eliot, and Jackie Onassis (he can drop names better than the guest list at a pricey restaurant)… And then he finds himself (almost) homeless and out of a job with no savings to buy his daily bread. How did that happen, you ask… Well read the book, I say! It’s interesting (specially if you've read Howard Schultz' book on Starbucks before-hand), honest (although I question some of the meetings with celebrities) and short! You can finish it in a day! It’s not a work of art but it’s worth about a movie ticket and a half ($15.14)… Go ahead and entertain yourself…

Here's an example of a Good Man

Name of the Book: Pour Your Heart into It
Worth-the-price-tag-iness Score: 10/10
Follow-up with: Michael Gill's "How Starbucks Saved My Life"

My perception of CEO's is this--either he's on an ego trip that's (somehow) politically correct or he's that shy but studious guy in the corner who's life begins and ends with an excel spreadsheet. This is not the impression I get about this CEO of a major coffee business.... Yes, I'm talking about Howard Schultz and the omnipresent Starbucks! Here a young sales guy from NYC finds inspiration in coffee beans and earns a fortune. While reading I got a sense of Mr. Schultz's passion, his sincerity and his determination with taking Starbucks from a guy-next-door-owns-it store to a global mega-company (or like we Indians like to call it company-ka-baap hehe!)... Read it and that's an order!

For the religious and athiests alike

Name of the book: The Evolution of God
Worth-the-price-tag-iness Score: 8/10

Let's play Q and A.... Why do human beings care about God? Is he/it/she/(or else) are they a construct of the human imagination, created for the sole purpose of easing our over-taxed mind? What was the religion of early humans (the hunter-gatherers) like? Considering that we descended from them, why aren't our gods more like theirs? Why don't we (today) cure evil spirits by beating the body of the man that they possess?

I have the answer to the last one: because it's illegal, for one, and also because it is against our sensibilities and finally most religions of today (I'm hoping) would prohibit it. For answers to the rest of the above questions I suggest you read (between the lines of) Robert Wright's newest book "The Evolution of God", which is on the NYT's list of 100 best books of 2009. It's a long and arduous read but worth it if you want fodder to throw around at folks at a cocktail party. I personally stopped halfway through it due to sheer exhaustion... :)

Also from the same author: Non Zero Sum: The Logic of Human Destiny (apparently recommended reading by Bill Clinton)

Life in the year 79

Name of the Book: The Complete Pompeii
Worth-the-price-tag-iness Score: 9/10

If you have ever wondered what things were like a thousand or two thousand years back in time, you most definitely must read this book published by Thames and Hudson and written by Joanne Berry. It describes the life in the city of Pompeii, a Roman colony in Italy that got burried under ash from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Its spectacular architecture, mosaics and wall paintings surpass the expectatios of the average man. Yet it is surprisingly like societies today:-

• money mixed with politics--check
• rich folks that try to get richer by practicing illicit activities--check
• a court of law that suppresses the already destitute slaves--we had it till the 1960s--check
• your own local laundromat--check!

An egaging read for the curious, I recommend this book for the simple fact that each page's surface area has more pictures than paragraphs. Or maybe I shouldn't say "read" because it's more like watching a slideshow with subtitles...Enjoy this journey to the past!