Other Nonfiction Books

Brian Clegg in his book on infinity attempts to elucidate how infinity came to exist in its various forms, such as, in calculus, set theory, or series. He gives a historical context in which infinity was used in one way or another. For example, he discusses the fluxion wars, which refers to Newton's and Leibniz's invention of calculus and understanding of how infinity looks like. Overall, Infinity is a book that attempts to bind the understanding of infinity from various mathematical perspectives.

Zack Scott presents an infographic book that delineates various aspects of the Apollo mission by the usage of drawings. I found this book fascinating because it is filled with various facts about the Apollo mission such as a graphic representing the orbital paths during various missions. Additionally, it is a wonderful read because it accomplishes something that other non-fictional books might struggle with, putting things into perspective.

The Hidden Life of Trees is one of my absolute favorites because it presents a whole new perspectives on trees, how they live, and survive. For example, the mycelium network of the trees for me was eye opening because I never would have imagined that trees are capable of communicating and sharing resources. Additionally, trees as carbon sinks was an interesting finding for me because I have never really understood why trees are such an important component in the global carbon cycle apart from its photosynthesis.

Being one of my inspirations for my undergraduate thesis, How We Learn is a tour-de-force in the modern neuroscience of learning. Using currently used computational models of learning, Stanislas expands towards learning in the human brain from the perspective of those models. Then, the author moves towards more specific neuronal examples in the brain that allow learning. For me, one of the most fascinating chapters was Birth of Brain in which Stanislas discusses nature's share in the development of the brain and how it affects learning. This book became my inspiration for thesis because there I first learned about place cells and grid cells which are pivotal in my thesis.

Extremely illuminating, The Book Why discusses the historical and theoretical implications of the Bayes' Theorem in separating the cause from effect. Starting from genetic and family IQ, the guinea pig's fur color, to determining how smoking causes cancer, Pearl builds on the idea of counter-factuals--events that did not happen. He further develops various directed graphs to explain how causality through Bayes' Theorem can be visualized and how through understanding of such graphs scientists can avoid biases such as collider bias. Pearl, additionally, roasts (so to speak) frequentist approaches for their inability to take into account causal effects. The main tool of causal analysis is the d-separation developed by Judea's team.

Reading this book as in high-school was an eye-opening experience because it took a completely new perspective on classical mechanics. Leonard, who was Richard Feynman's friend, and an avid contrarian to Hawking's theory of black holes, starts off by introducing calculus in solving simple mechanical problems in physics. After introducing multivariable calculus, he introduces the idea of Lagrangian Mechanics. He then expands Lagrangian Mechanics into Hamiltonian Mechanics and various symmetrical properties of classical mechanical systems. I love this book so much I have read it three times. Additionally, another aspect that made me love his Susskind's series of books are the practical problems left for the readers to solve.

In his second volume on theoretical physics, Leonard Susskind introduces Quantum Mechanics. He begins by explaining various paradoxes encountered by the physicists, such as double-slit experiment and the measurement of quantum spins. Leonard, then describes how those paradoxes were solved either through a statistical quantum theory (Schrodinger's equation), or Dirac's spin matrices, respectively. He further expands this topics into Dirac's quantum field theory, Feynman's path integral (which is a special case of lagrangian mechanics). He finally, wraps up by presenting the topic of quantum entanglement, why it is commonly misunderstood, and how it can be understood. Solving various exercises on quantum mechanics opened a new perspective for me on particle physics. Additionally, it allowed me to see various connections between statistics and quantum mechanics.

After finishing Quantum Mechanics, I immediately began reading and solving problems from Susskind's third volume on Mechanics. Special Relativity and Classical Field Theory volume was, in fact, the hardest for me. Being used to thinking of space in more than three dimensions was an issue. Nevertheless, when I solved more problems involving various differential equations I began seeing how powerful differential equations combined with Lagrangian Mechanics can be in explaining natural phenomena. These equations were a big mystery to me in high-school because we never studied them. This book, therefore, opened a completely new way of seeing the world through differential equations.

Another physics book which I fell in love with was Fundamentals of Astrodynamics because of its posterity in the way it presented such a difficult topic. Published after the successful Apollo mission, it reveals the formulas used in computing orbits and flight paths of rockets and bodies in space. This book helped me get the first place in the Moldova's state contest, "Work, Talent, and Boldness." I used many of the formulas and topics to present various simulations of in orbital mechanics.

Stiglitz's perspectives on the Euro offer critical insights into its design, implementation, and consequences. Stiglitz argues that the eurozone lacks common fiscal policies, unified banking regulations. Moreover, he argues that the austerity measures imposed on various, then (at the time of writing) struggling economies instead of alleviating, exacerbated economic issues. Another criticism that Stiglitz brings is that the common currency zone lacks democratic governance when implementing policies. He offers various ways to combat these pitfalls.

Sacks' book on various neurological cases he encountered during his practice illuminate the complexity of the brain. I was amazed by various cases he presented such as of the child who could determine whether a number is prime or not, but otherwise incapable to talk. Or the case of a patient who for one week had extremely strong sense of smell but which then receded back to normal. The cases he presents are mysterious but overall highlight the beauty of the neurological machine that each of us possesses.