Love Letter To My Library

a tribute to great non-fiction books across multiple genres

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“Breakthrough”

Thea Cooper and Arthur Ainsberg’s book Breakthrough: Elizabeth Hughes, the Discovery of Insulin, and the Making of a Medical Miracle is about medical science’s triumph over insulin-dependent diabetes.   Breakthrough follows one of America’s first recipients of insulin, Elizabeth Hughes, but the book is only partly about her personal story. The book takes you on […]

Posted in "PopSci", Biological Science, History, History of Science, Medical Science, Memoirs, Science Tagged Allen Treatment, Banting and Best Institute, Banting Lectures, Canadian medicine, Charles Best, Charles Evans Hughes, Charles Hughes, cure, diabetes, diabetes mellitus, diet, Elizabeth Hughes, Elizabeth Hughes Gossett, Frederick Allen, Frederick Banting, insulin, insulin shot, Insulin-dependent diabetes, John James Rickard Macleod, Juvinile diabetes, medicine, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, science, starvation, the Physiatric Institute, Type I diabetes Leave a comment

“Charlatan”

Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock is an engaging historical tale about medical quackery from the early 20th century.  I enjoyed the brief mention this story had received in Mary Roach’s Bonk, but it was great to read the whole tale. The book […]

Posted in American History, Biography, Biological Science, Crime, History, Medical Science, Modern History, Political, Science Tagged alt med, alternative medicine, blaster radio, charlatan, con artist, goat testicles, impotence, John Brinkley, malpractice, medical quakery, Medical Question Box, Mexican border blaster, Morris Fishbein, Pope Brock, quack, transplantation, woo, xenotransplantation Leave a comment

“The Great Influenza”

The Great Influenza by John M. Barry is a fascinating look at the influenza pandemic that rocked the world in 1918.  This terrifying virus killed between 3-6% of the world’s population between June 1918 and December 1920, and infected almost 30%.  It is a history book, but it is heavy in the science. It is […]

Posted in », American History, Biological Science, History, History of Science, Medical Science, Military / Warfare, Modern History, Political, Science Tagged 1918, American, government, h1n1, historical, influenza, John M. Barry, medicine, outbreak, pandemic, science, science history, science research, spanish flu, the Great War, viral, virus, WWI Leave a comment

“Bonk”

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach is typical of her other books: it’s full of fun, interesting science, and is a little bit of crazy and a lot of hilarity. Having already traveled to the morgue and outer space with Roach, I was more than enthusiastic to follow her into […]

Posted in "PopSci", », Biological Science, History of Science, Medical Science, Pop Culture, Science Tagged Alfred Kinsey, anatomy, fertility, gender issues, hormones, impotence, Mary Roach, Masters & Johnson, medicine, porn star, psychology, science, science history, scientific research, scientist, sex, sexual dysfunction, sexuality, sociology Leave a comment

“Deadly Choices”

My latest read was Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All. This is a short book, written for the layman, about the anti-vaccination movement that has seen growing media attention in recent years. The book is written by a Dr. Paul Offit, a well-known pediatrician who specialises in infectious diseases and has worked […]

Posted in "PopSci", », Biological Science, Medical Science, Pop Culture, Science Tagged alt med, alternative medicine, Andrew Wakefield, anti-vaccination, autism, Barbara Loe Fisher, big pharma, Brian Deer, chicken pox, communicable disease, controversial, diseases, doctor, DPT, immunization, immunology, inoculation, Jenny McCarthy, medicine, MMR, Paul Offit, pediatrics, pertussis, polio, quarantine, rubella, smallpox, The Lancet, thiomersal, vaccination, vaccine, VICP, virology, virus, woo Leave a comment

Good Books: Science

There are a lot of great books that I’ve read in the past that I want to give a quick nod to. Eventually, I may go back and write a dedicated entry for any I re-read them. In the meantime, I feel I owe them a few words here: The Poisoner’s Handbook by Deborah Blum […]

Posted in "PopSci", », African-American Studies, Biography, Biological Science, Chemistry, Cognitive Science, Crime, History of Science, Medical Science, Science, Technology Tagged abnormalities, Apache, autopsy, blindness, brain, brain mapping, cadaver, cadaver research, cancer, cognitive science, computers, CSI, Deborah Blum, DNA, Eric Raymond, ethics, evolution, exploration, forensics, free software foundation, genes, genetics, Glyn Moody, GNU, hacker, Haiti, HeLa, Henrietta Lacks, infectious disease, Linus Torvolds, Linux, Mars, Mary Roach, medical care, medicine, MIT, murder, NASA, neo-darwinian, Netscape, neurology, neuroplasticity, neuroscience, Oliver Sacks, open source, origin of life, pain, patient consent, patient rights, Paul Farmer, Perl, phantom limb, photography, poison, prohibition, radium, Ramachandran, Rebecca Skloot, research, Richard Dawkins, Richard Stallman, Rwanda, sex, software, space, Stanley Burns, Tracy Kidder, tuberculosis, V.S. Ramachandran Leave a comment

    I LOVE NON-FICTION!

    I am always looking for good non-fiction books to read! Please leave me suggestions in the comments here.

    Recent Reviews

    • “Moonwalking with Einstein”
    • “On the Warrior’s Path”
    • “Breakthrough”
    • “The Rebbe’s Army”
    • “Charlatan”

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