Book Review: Hello World: How Algorithms will Define our Future and Why We Should Learn To Live With It by Hannah Fry

What a wonderful book. I picked up a copy after I saw Hannah Fry's talk at EMF discussing algorithms and how they used pigeons to detect breast cancer, so I couldn't wait to read the book once it came out. I read it over two days and it did not disappoint. I loved that the final chapters covered how Bayesian theory is being used to improve AI. The book is well written and easily understood by a lay-person and no background knowledge is needed. 

I loved the book and would highly recommend this for anyone interested in data, statistics or AI. This book would also be well suited for anyone wanted to better understand how we can make better decisions and the benefits and limitations of the use of algorithms.

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Book Review: The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh

This was a fantastic book. Very well written and covered a broad history of codes and cryptography, and also well suited to a lay-audience, as it included worked examples. I found the beginning few chapters a little slow and drier than the rest of the book, and thoroughly enjoyed the chapters on lost languages like ancient Egyptian and the Linear B tablets. The last chapter about the future of cryptography, looking at quantum computing was interesting but hard to imagine how it would work in practice. I liked the inclusion of a competition at the end of the book. 

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would highly recommend it to anyone interested in cryptography, secret codes and also anyone interested in computer security.

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Book Review: The Omnivore's Dilemma By Michael Pollan

I have been meaning to read this book for ages, but initially I was disappointed. The beginning of the book is dry and very focused on corn, in fact the first 60% of the book is focused in the intensive farming industry focused around corn. I found it hard to relate to this part of the book as it seems more specific for the farming industry in the USA. The book then looks at grass farming, which is more interesting, but again, very specific to the US, because Europe mostly still grazes cattle. The last part of the book I certainly enjoyed the most, it looked at hunting wild game and foraging for mushrooms. This last section flowed better and really came alive, but it feels like two books which have merged into one, as the first sections on corn and grass have no relation to the last section which focuses on alternative ways to produce food and make 'the perfect meal'.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in where food comes from or interested in ethical eating.

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Book Review: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty

I loved Caitlin's YouTube channel and was curious to check out her book. It is a fascinating and honest journey of finding yourself and also confronting your own mortality. I cried a lot reading this book, as so many parts touched me. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in taboo topics, death culture in different countries and the death industry. This would also be a great book for trainee doctors or other healthcare professionals, changing the perception of death and make conversations more open.

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Book Review: The Geek Manifesto: Why Science Matters by Mark Henderson

A wonderful book looking at the importance of the geek vote and the difference good science could make to politics if it was organised.

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Book Review: I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life by Ed Yong

This is a fantastic book, I felt like a learned something new on every page. It is well written and very relatable, focusing on human impacts and stories. By the end you feel like you have taken a long journal into a new world of microbes and completely change the way you think of these interactions and symbioses.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in science, biology, medicine, nature or a passing curiosity about the lives of microbes.

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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.

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