What book are you reading right now?

The Mismeasure of Man.

General history and critique of the science of biological determinism, it's inherent cultural rascism both conscious and unconscious. And a major (famous) critique of the methodology outlined in the infamous Bell Curve (1994). Which in 1994 reiterated the outdated thinking behind biological determinism.

It gets quite statistically dense in the middle, but is a fascinating read, historically (how biological determinism via cranionomy was manipulated to justify black slavery), culturally (standard thinking behind (white) western intelectual superiority) and scientifically (the authors ability to take apart other scientists work or find glaring errors in their methodologies). 

And very interestingly, how the original IQ (intelligence quotient) test, has been bastardised into a linear ranking method and used accordingly. The original purpose of the IQ test was not to measure intelligence but to assess children learning needs, quite different things as outlined by the French creator Alfred Binet in 1899.

Anyway, this subject matter is not without it's controversies, including this book, but culturally and historically fascinating, perhaps scientifically less so depending on your preferences.

Highly recommended.

Jason.

One of his best.

steve

Due to a recent illness I haven't played much golf and my swing is a bit rusty. This is my go-to book to get back on track.

No Tom Clancy readers then? He passed away this week.

R.I.P. Tom.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24362892

30 Years-30 Stories. A selection of thirty Israeli short stories written between the nineteen sixties and the nineties. 

Great read for the daily train ride, starting every morning with a new story.

Excellent. All we have to do is Learn Yiddish I suppose!

Only Hebrew, Tony. I suppose that it will take some time for the collection to be translated into English since the publishers will have to get the consent of all thirty writers.

Personally, I find it refreshing to read once in a while a book written in my mother's tongue.

Great book Dr Mark.

Her newest one, The Empress Dowager Cixi, which I finished reading a couple of weeks ago, is really worth reading - a long-overdue biography of a shadowy but important figure barely known here in the West.

"Why is the Mona Lisa the most famous painting in the world? Why did Facebook succeed when other social networking sites failed? Did the surge in Iraq really lead to less violence? And does higher pay incentivize people to work harder? If you think the answers to these questions are a matter of common sense, think again. As sociologist and network science pioneer Duncan Watts explains in this provocative book, the explanations that we give for the outcomes that we observe in life-explanations that seem obvious once we know the answer-are less useful than they seem. Watts shows how commonsense reasoning and history conspire to mislead us into thinking that we understand more about the world of human behavior than we do; and in turn, why attempts to predict, manage, or manipulate social and economic systems so often go awry. Only by understanding how and when common sense fails can we improve how we plan for the future, as well as understand the present-an argument that has important implications in politics, business, marketing, and even everyday life."

So, Redkev, is it a Classic already?

I wouldn't go that far but it is well written. Only a third of the way through so far.

Rush Of Blood by Mark Billingham.

Just finished.

Now reading this.

"Let him not love the earth too deeply.. For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much."

I've been wondering whether to buy that Haim... is it good?