Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku Summary: This book divides technologies and concepts into three types of impossibilities, type 1 (force fields, ray guns, telekinesis), type 2 (UFOs, telepathy) and type 3 (wormholes, time travel) based on their resonance with scientific knowledge today and energy capabilities (this separates civilization types like ours a type…

  Art and Science .By Strosberg, Eliane (Book – 2001) Summary: A uniquely organized textbook-esque history of art and science, featuring (among others) Leonardo DaVinci, Albrecht Durer and Lois Pasteur. Review: I know that the intersection between art and science has been studied forever, but not by me. I feel really inspired by the idea…

On Photography by Susan Sontag Summary: Sontag talks about photography, its development into the ubiquitous technology it is today. The mentality of the photographer and the photographed, the art and skill of photography documents and expands reality and our sense of what is worth looking at. Review: This book is beautiful. The prose hits hard…

My Booky Wook by Russell Brand Summary: Russell Brand, the British Comedian with a rock ‘n’ roll reputation spills his gutsy wutsies about drug addiction, sex addiction and adventure. He starts at the beginning in this humble memoir, memories of his mom, boarding school, peer pressure and drama class. He delves into his reasons for…

Just Kids by  Patti Smith Summary: Patti writes so intimately the journey of artists in New York. She writes of aesthetic, personal growth and culture. She tells tales. She talks of Robert, her trusted friend, kindred soul, and how they walk through life together. Symbols rise out of the text and cast spells over the…

An American Childhood by Annie Dillard (1987) Summary: Dillard describes her childhood. She is an explorer, a collector, a drawer. Her feelings of living involve tales of snowball fights, sisterhood and the strange antics of her parents. She confides in the reader her most desperate moments of rage and the strange claustrophobia of being a…

The Panda’s Thumb by Stephen Jay Gould (1980) Summary: In this series of essays, Gould talks about evolution. He covers theories about dinosaurs, encephalic quotients and Larmarckian notions of taking your evolution by the horns so to speak. Gould emphasizes that science is quintessentially a human endeavor and there will always be biases towards on…

Ken’s Guide to the Bible by Ken Smith Summary: Smith parses down the bible, The Old Testament, The New Testament and some Gospels and other such ancillary texts, showing the bible’s pastiche nature. It is a book that points out (as it says on its cover) the violence, sex, absurdity and weirdness that Christians so…