Book Review: Dead Meat by Ankush Saikia

Ankush Saikia is an Indian author hailing from the North East who has already authored a couple of books, which I have read and enjoyed. So, it was with some expectation that I started reading his latest offering 'Dead Meat', released early this year. And I was not disappointed. Saikia has written an absolutely delightful book which will keep readers hooked till the very end.

Book Review: Half Girlfriend by Chetan Bhagat

I have read all the previous novels of Chetan Bhagat and to some extend I enjoyed them. I understand that his stories are not the ones where you can find the meaning of life or are the ones like the classics of yore. So, it was with not much expectation that I started reading his latest book 'Half Girlfriend' published last year. The title seemed to suggest a soft romantic story and I was right. The feeling you get when you read his novels is like watching a movie. That is understandable as nowadays basically he writes his books in a way so that a big Bollywood blockbuster can be made out of it. In a sense, he reminds me of the novels of Sidney Sheldon which I used to love when I was a teenager.
 

Nicolas Bourbaki: A secret mathematician

I had first heard the name of Nicolas Bourbaki when I was at school and developed an interest in mathematics. From what little I read about him, he seemed to be a mysterious secret mathematician, who was keen on transforming the mathematics education scenario at an upper university level. I knew that the books he wrote would be too much for me at that time, and so I forgot all about him. When I entered university and took a course in general topology, I chanced upon a book written by Bourbaki. Out of interest in what the man had to offer, I took a look at the book and it was an exhilarating experience for me. I had never seen a mathematics book like Bourbaki's before. It was terse and laconic. It motivated the subject much better than the book I was then reading. I glanced a bit on the first few sections and left the book as I had little time in that semester left.

Steven Weinberg's list of best general science books

Steven Weinberg is one of the world's pre-eminent theoretical physicists having won the Nobel Prize (shared with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Glashow) for their work on the standard model, which till date remains the best experimentally proved model of our universe. I had the pleasure of listening to him speak via video conferencing at last year's 50th anniversary celebration of The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy where I am a student at present.

The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician by Andre Weil

Great men write great books. Andre Weil was a great man, and he wrote many great books. The Apprenticeship of a Mathematician is one such book which I had the pleasure of reading recently. And I was very much moved by this book, which is a memoir of his early life from the time of his birth till the end of the World War II. Weil's standing as a mathematician extraordinaire is without question and I can hardly add anything of value about his work, being myself just a beginner. But his life itself was also extraordinary to say the least.

The Immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot: A book review

When I first heard about this book, it seemed like any other biography of a woman apparently unheard of. A chance look at the blurb caught my attention and I suddenly remembered where I had come by that name. Henrietta Lacks was the woman behind the famous “HeLa” cells.