Thursday 28 June 2018

Book Review: Inferior



This was a fascinating book exploring the scientific misconceptions and flawed research around gender and women. The book tracks the different research around women from birth, fertility to old age. 
I was shocked to learn that Darwin thought that all women had evolved to have inferior intelligence, I understand he lived in a different era but it's disappointing to learn he had such primitive ideas around women. I also thought it was interesting that research is now recognizing that the brain is plastic and changeable, and not fixed like previously thought. I did feel frustrated that so many scientists believed that men have larger brains because they are more intelligent, rather than brains are proportional to body size, which is more obvious. 

Overall, this was a wonderful and well researcher book, pulling apart flawed research relating to gender. I would recommend this book to all scientists, STEM students, feminists, and anyone who wants the facts to dismiss scientific claims used to support sexism.
Share:

Monday 25 June 2018

Book Review: Catching Breath: The Making and Unmaking of Tuberculosis by Kathryn Lougheed



This was a fascinating book, and I had no idea the history and current state of TB was so complex. I, like many people, think of TB as a disease of the past, something in a Dickens novel. I was also amazed to learn about the interplay between diabetes and TB, and HIV and TB. I found this book an interesting look at an often overlooked disease, and it really helped bring to light some of the challenges in eradicating this disease. 

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in infectious diseases, tropical diseases, poverty and development work, biologists, trainee doctors and anyone else interested in infections like TB.
Share:

Friday 8 June 2018

Book Review: Butterfly Isles a Summer in Search of Our Emperors and Admirals by Patrick Barkham



This was a beautiful and well-written book, capturing the highs and lows of searching for elusive butterflies throughout the UK. It was fascinating to understand how each butterfly prefers a specific time of year and specific weather conditions and plants, and all these factors make it a huge challenge to try and plan to find them. Before this book, I thought butterflies were pretty but I had not appreciated their lives and distinct habits. Another impact this book had was to show the distinct habitats and plants the butterflies rely on, and how these unique habitats need to be maintained if we want to prevent these butterflies from becoming extinct.
 
Reading this book I realised how little I knew about butterflies and their fascinating lives, I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in nature and wildlife, conservation or butterflies in general. 
Share: