கொஞ்சம் படிங்க பாஸ்! - பகுதி 7

நூலின் தலைப்பு: தி பெஸ்ட் ஆஃப் தாகூர் (The Best of Tagore)
ஆசிரியர்: ரபீந்த்ரநாத் தாகூர்
ஆங்கில மொழிபெயர்ப்பு: ஜர்னா பாசு
பக்கங்கள்: 88
வெளியீடு: ஸ்கொலாஸ்டிக் இந்தியா
மொழி: ஆங்கிலம்
விலை: ~ ரூ. 80/-
வயது: 10+
பொருள்: சிறுகதைகளின் தொகுப்பு

இந்தியா மற்றும் வங்கதேச நாடுகளின் தேசிய கீதத்தை எழுதியவர், இலக்கியத்துக்கான நோபல் பரிசைப் பெற்ற முதல் ஐரோப்பியரல்லாதவர், இந்தியாவின் முதல் நோபல் பரிசு பெற்றவர் என்று பல்வேறு சிறப்புகளைக் கொண்ட ஒரு மேதை உங்கள் குழந்தைக்கோ ஏன் உங்களுக்கோ கதை சொன்னால் எப்படி இருக்கும்? அந்த அனுபவத்தை பெற இந்த நூல் உதவும். இது தாகூர் என்ற கடலின் ஓரத்தில் நம் போன்ற எளியவர்களும் விளையாடக் கிடைத்த கடற்கரையே!

எளிய ஆங்கிலத்தில், குறைந்த விலையில் கிடைக்கும் இந்த நூலில் பத்துக்கும் மேற்பட்ட கதைகள் உள்ளன. சிறுவர்களுக்கு ஏற்றார் போல ஓவியங்களும் உள்ளன. சிறுவர்களும் புரிந்துகொள்ளும்படியான எளிய உணர்வுகளின் வெளிப்பாடு, நல்லொழுக்கங்கள் மற்றும் தாகூரின் எழுத்தோட்டம் என்று மேலும் பல சிறப்புகள் இந்நூலுக்குண்டு.

English Summary:  

Book Title: The Best of Tagore
Author: Rabindranath Tagore
English Translation: Jharna Basu
Pages: 88
Publisher: Scholastic India
Language: English
Price: ~ Rs. 80/-
Age Group: 10+ 
Category: Short stories collection

கொஞ்சம் படிங்க பாஸ்! - பகுதி 6

நூலின் தலைப்பு: அனைத்தையும் குறித்த சுருக்கமான வரலாறு
ஆசிரியர்: பில் பிரைசன் (தமிழில் மொழிபெயர்த்தவர்: ப்ரவாஹன்)
பக்கங்கள்: தமிழில் 640 / ஆங்கிலத்தில் 560
வெளியீடு: பாரதி புத்தகாலயம் / பிராட்வே புக்ஸ்
மொழி: தமிழ் / ஆங்கிலம்
விலை: ~ ரூ. 450/-
வயது: 16+
பொருள்: அறிவியல், வரலாறு

இந்தப் புத்தகம் முழுமையானதோ, துல்லியமானதோ கிடையாது. அறிவியல் குறித்த ஒரு மசாலா வரலாறு. பொதுவாக இதுபோன்ற புத்தகங்களை நான் விரும்புவதில்லை. ஆனால் இந்தப் புத்தகம் ஒரு விதிவிலக்கு. காரணம், பல்வேறு காலங்களில், பல்வேறு அறிவியல் துறைகளில் நடந்த நிகழ்வுகளை ஒரே புத்தகமாக படிக்க முடிவதே! 500 பக்கங்கள் மேல் இருந்தாலும் வாசிக்க வாசிக்க பக்கங்கள் புரள்வது தெரியாத வண்ணம் பில் பிரைசன் எழுதியுள்ளார்.

நூலின் பெரும்பகுதி வளவளவென்று கதைபோல உள்ளது ஒரு குறையே. ஆனால் அது அறிவியல் நாட்டம் இல்லாதவர்களும் வாசிக்க உதவும்வண்ணம் இருப்பதால் பெரிய குறையாகத் தெரியவில்லை. நான் தமிழ் மற்றும் ஆங்கிலப் பாதிப்புகளைப் படித்துள்ளேன். ஆங்கிலப் பதிப்பு கருத்திலும் நடையிலும் சிறப்பாக உள்ளது. ஆங்கிலத்தில் வாசிக்கவே முடியாதவர்கள் மட்டும் தமிழ் மொழிபெயர்ப்பை நாடலாம்.

English Summary:  

Book Title: A Short History of Nearly Everything
Author: Bill Bryson (Tamil Translation by: Pravaahan)
Pages: 560 (in English) / 640 (in Tamil)
Publisher: Broadway Books / Bharathi Puththagalayam
Language: English / Tamil
Price: ~ Rs. 450/-
Age Group: 16+ 
Category: Science, History

From Volga To Ganga - Book Review

Sometime back I wrote a review on H. G. Wells' Time Machine. Though it was a science fiction, it was filled with politics surrounding the then prevalent socialist and communist thoughts. It was quiet acceptable as the book is a fiction and the author had weaved his political ideologies in a subtle way. But I reviewed a book by Dr. Kalam last year. I was so upset with that book, because it is nothing more than repackaged self-help and motivational placebo as a pop-science book. With this book, I feel more like how I felt with Dr. Kalam's book than with Wells' book. This book repackages communist propaganda and fiction as history.

Some Words Before The Review:

I have read the Tamil translation of the book. Since the book has been translated in to many languages, I am writing this review in English. As you can see from my other posts, I myself being a democratic-socialist, read a lot of left-leaning books. I also suggest books written by Marx, Stalin and Lenin for young people so that they can understand that capitalism is not the only system available. But I am not a militant communist who holds whatever is said and written by founding fathers of communism are inerrant and unchangeable truths. I give rational analysis and questioning more importance than blind faith and ideological bias. I don't consider myself a person with good knowledge in history. But still I found many problems with this book. Let me share them here.

The Book:

The book spans 600+ page. Written by Rahul Sankrityayan and translated in  to Tamil by Gana. Muthaiah. The edition I read was a hardcover one. It costs around Rs. 300. With some irrelevant pictures taken from the Internet and printed in black and white, the book has no relevant image like fossils, excavation sites, inscriptions, coins or even maps. I thought that the book will have some, but it didn't. The book is divided in to 20 short stories. The author claims that the book covers history of "Indo-Aryan" people from 6000 BC to 1943 (the time the book was completed). But first 3 stories are pure fiction that has no historical or anthropological basis. The next stories are pseudo-history or historical fictions until the last 4, which are outright Communist propaganda. The Tamil translation I read was bit outdated and had more Sanskritized words. But that's OK!

Problems With The Book:

1. The matriarchal society with some form of proto-communism, which existed in prehistoric times according to Marx and Engels, is exaggeration at best and outright fake at worst. Those theories were proven wrong long back. But the author of this book just takes these claims as facts and had written first few stories.

2. Almost all chapters have reference to breasts and some sexual narratives. The author seems to be good in writing screenplay for masala movies. Why struggle with history then? I don't mind about such references. But if you want to take history to masses through stories, then you should keep in mind that the stories may be read by a wider audience, which includes children.

3. The author repeatedly says that the incoming Aryans were tilted towards "good communism" and it was the native dark skinned people who gave them caste system, priesthood, monarchy etc. For example, the author says that buying and selling people in to slavery and hoarding wealth exploited from workers by rulers were all non-Aryan practices and only dark skinned people of India gave it to Aryans.

4. The destruction of pre-Aryan culture and civilization is blamed on the non-Aryans themselves. Like Mel Gibson attributed the fall of Native Americans on themselves instead of invading Europeans in his movie Apocalypto, the author portrays pre-Aryan civilization as a decaying civilization at its brink of total failure. Thankfully, the author has not written African history. Else salve trade would have been blamed on Black people.

5. Instead of analyzing the historical aspects of governments, society etc, the author bypasses many centuries just by writing extrapolated fictitious histories of some poets and philosophers. "When money was introduced?", "When and how private property came in to picture?" Such important questions are left unanswered with some few confusing passages.

6. Alexander's invasion, Mongol invasion, Islamic conquest, British colonialism etc are obscured in the backdrop of erotic love stories. Also great religious revivals, reforms etc are ignored. Only religion discussed to some extant is Buddhism. But Hinduism, Jainism, Islam and Shikism also contributed a lot to India in various ways. These are ignored.

7. There are many historical and factual errors in the book. The author mentions that Mongolians called Buddhism as Shamanism. Also there is a story in which a couple travels to Florence during late 16th century and explain the city as republic. But Florence's republic ended in 1533 itself! The books romanticizes village Panchayat system and claims that, in its original form, it was egalitarian and just. Another proto-communist myth!

8. The author becomes dogmatic and proclaims that world-wide revolution alone can change things and any other alternate path is invalid, in last few chapters. In this, he just bashes everyone from Gandhi to Ambedkar. Though I accept criticism is good and nobody is beyond criticism, this criticism is not a healthy one. Have you seen religious people who criticize menial things in other religions while keeping silent about shortcomings of their own religion? Similarly the author boldly finds fault with Gandhi and Ambedkar (which is fine). But the question is, how honest will the author do the same with Marx-Engels or Lenin or Stalin?

9. Too much communist propaganda in last few chapters could have been avoided. The author had written other books on socialism and politics. Then why mix that in a book that is supposed to be on history, that too the history of Indo-Aryan people? What does calling for armed revolution, envisioning a borderless communist state, praising communist countries etc have to do with Aryan history, which this book claims to narrate?

10. The author in preface claims that he has references for all the things mentioned in the book and that itself will amount for a book and hence he had not included it. If anyone who posses such reference for this book, I like to have a look at it. Hope it might had got "lost" (things that never exist always get lost!)

Well, we are dealing with Communists here. They are no better than religious bigots who never accept mistakes in their religion/ideology even in face of evidence. Communists rejected genetics only because it was from a religious man Gregor Mendel and instead adapted neo-Lamarckism and suffered crop failure and famine in USSR. They still believe in stateless Communism and other such Utopian dreams. They have equivalent of everything that Medieval Catholic Church did. Inquisition, torture, deportation, censorship, excommunication, accusing other opinions as heresy, anathema, slavery, forced labor, being anti-science, what else? Name a thing that Catholic church did in medieval times, you can get a parallel in 20th century communism. Can we expect an unbiased history from such people?

A book that is much similar to this (which claims to talk about history but fails miserably) is "Vanthargal Vendrargal" by Cartoonist Mathan. I have read that one, which was full of fiction, pseudo-history, apocryphal accounts and homophobia, but claiming to be a honest narrative on Moghul rule. But if you are really interested in a comprehensive and extensive work on history, get a copy of "Glimpses of World History" by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. The book not only covers Indian or Aryans or Moghul history. It covers the history of entire world. The book is mostly unbiased, factually correct and Nehru separates his ideological commentaries from actual narratives clearly.

So don't waste your money and time on this book unless you are a dogmatic and bigoted communist.

Time Machine - More Politics Than Science

H. G. Wells' Time Machine was the first novel to talk about a time "machine". Time travel already appeared in various mythologies, stories and fantasies. But a machine that can travel through time first appears in this novel. We have to give H. G. Wells the due credit for his idea and materialistic approach towards an imagination which stayed in the realms of mysticism, fantasy and spirituality. But on a closer look, except for few narratives here and there about the appearance of sky when the time travels faster, evolution of humans in to two different races and fate of solar system in distant future, the novel is almost about the social and moral aspects of human race.

At the first sight of the future world in 802,701 CE, the Time Traveler remarks "Communism". This is because he sees no individual houses but collective shelters that resemble apartments. Second, he observes that there is no competition for food, no health problems, reduced growth of population (almost constant) and so on, which he again relates to product of an ideal Socialist state. On seeing the frailty and meekness of the Eloi (surface living fruit-eating people), he reckons that they are like this because of lack of struggle as there is no necessity to struggle for anything at all. He also assumes that struggle against nature and necessity are the driving forces for development, culture, language, science and so on. He sees the future Eloi species as a dormant socially self-controlled species that has nothing else to do than to eat, live and reproduce.

Image Credit: Wikimedia

After the shocking discovery of the subterranean cannibalistic species, he concludes that it is due to the extraordinary class segregation of rich and the working class. He briefly relates the condition of late 19th century workers with the Morlocks (underground living carnivorous species that consumes Eloi for food). How the ever widening gap between classes might drive the evolution of mankind in to a predator prey speciation is beautifully(?) captured in the Eloi - Morlock relationship. Even after becoming the predator, the Morlocks "serve" their Eloi "masters" (read prey) with fine clothing and the likes. Today the capitalistic system may find pleasure in subjugating the working class. Today the roles may be reversed. But in the future, the prey is the one that is fattened for the predator. And we all know who is getting fattened.

Wells, like Orwell and Einstein was a non-Maxist Socialist. It seems almost all remarkable minds of the 20th century were discontent with both the imperialistic capitalism and the totalitarian communism. They wanted people themselves to realize that cut-throat capitalism will not work and embrace a form of democratic socialism. In India too, many leaders like Nehru, Kamraj, Periyar and Annadurai wanted both democracy and socialism to co-exist. They can co-exist given there is no pressure from outside (on either way). But with growing economic pressure, lobby and black-ops by capitalist nations, soon this democratic-socialism fell out of favor. Currently the most happiest and least problematic societies are those that have, in some or other form, democratic-socialist governments.

It is not too late now. If we want our future generation neither to become prey nor to be predators of our own species, we have to act. So instead of traveling faster through time and just observe the future, it is up to us to engineer the future itself! The power is ours!

கொஞ்சம் படிங்க பாஸ்! - பகுதி 1

நூலின் தலைப்பு: Animal Farm (பண்ணை)
ஆசிரியர்: ஜார்ஜ் ஆர்வெல் (George Orwell)
பக்கங்கள்: 104 
வெளியீடு: பென்குயின் இந்தியா
மொழி: ஆங்கிலம்
விலை: < ரூ. 100/-
வயது: 10+
பொருள்: சிறுவர் கதை, அரசியல், சமூகம்

ஜார்ஜ் ஆர்வெல், பிரிட்டன் நாட்டைச் சேர்ந்த 20ஆம் நூற்றாண்டின் தலைசிறந்த எழுத்தாளர்களில் ஒருவர். அவர் ரஷ்யாவில் நிகழ்ந்த கம்யூனிச புரட்சியை அடிப்படையாக வைத்து ஒரு சிறுவர்களுக்கான கற்பனைக் கதையாக இந்த நூலை எழுதியுள்ளார். எளிய ஆங்கிலத்தில் இருந்தாலும் ஒரு நல்ல ஆங்கில அகராதியைத் துணைக்கு வைத்துக்கொள்வது நல்லது.

கதைச் சுருக்கம்:

விலங்குகள் மனிதர்களின் அடக்குமுறைக்கு எதிராக புரட்சி செய்து ஒரு பண்ணையைக் கைப்பற்றுகின்றன. ஆரம்பத்தில் ஆர்வத்துடன் ஒன்றுபட்டு உழைத்து முன்னேற்றம் காண்கின்றன. பின் தலைமைப் பொறுப்பில் இருக்கும் பன்றி இனம் மெதுவாக அடக்குமுறையைக் கையாள்கிறது. நாளடைவில், புரட்சியின் பொருள் மறந்து, பன்றிகளுக்கும் மனிதர்களுக்கும் வேறுபாடில்லாத நிலை ஏற்படுகிறது!

கருத்து:

தனியாக வாசித்தால் இது ஒரு நல்ல சிறுவர்களுக்கான கற்பனைக் கதை. அனால், ரஷ்யப் புரட்சியை மனதில்கொண்டு வாசித்தால், எப்படி அரசியல் அதிகாரம் சீரழிவிற்கு வழிவகுக்கிறது என்று சொல்லும் ஒரு சிறந்த அரசியல்/சமூக நூலாகவும் இது உள்ளது. இளைய தலைமுறையினர் அரசியல் அறிவு பெறவும், அவர்களின் சமூக சிந்தனையைத் தூண்டவும் இந்நூல் உதவும்.

English Summary:

Book Title: Animal Farm
Author: George Orwell
Pages: 104
Publisher: Penguin India
Language: English
Price: < Rs. 100/-
Age Group: 10+
Category: Children's Novel, Politics, Society

கொஞ்சம் படிங்க பாஸ்! - புதிய பகுதி ஆரம்பம்

வாசிக்கும் சிறுமி, ஃபிரிட்ச் வோன் யுதே [நன்றி: விக்கிமீடியா]

நூல்கள் வாசிக்கும் பழக்கம் நாளுக்குநாள் குறைவதும், தொலைகாட்சி மற்றும் கைபேசிகள் நம் ஓய்வு நேரத்தின் பெரும் பகுதியை வீணடிப்பதும் இன்று நாம் அனைவரும் அறிந்த உண்மை. "கொஞ்சம் படிங்க பாஸ்!" என்னும் இந்த புதிய பகுதி வாசிக்கும் பழக்கத்தை ஊக்குவிக்கும் விதமாக சில எளிய மற்றும் சுவாரசியமான நூல்களை உங்களுக்கு அறிமுகம் செய்யும். தமிழ் மற்றும் ஆங்கிலத்தில் வெளிவந்துள்ள சிறிய மற்றும் நடுத்தர அளவிலான, மலிவான, தரமான, சுவையான மற்றும் அறிவை வளர்க்கக்கூடிய புத்தகங்களை அறிமுகப் படுத்துவதே இந்தப் பகுதியின் நோக்கம்.

அனைத்து வயதினருக்கும் பொருந்துமென்றலும், இது குறிப்பாக இளம் வயதினரை மனதில் வைத்து எழுதப்படும் பகுதியாகும். இதில் ஏதாவது மாற்றங்கள், மேம்படுத்துதல்கள், குறை நிறைகள் இருக்குமாயின், எனக்குத் தெரிவிக்கவும். தொடர்ந்து வரும் பதிவுகளில் அவை சரிசெய்யப்படும்.

"கொஞ்சம் படிங்க பாஸ்" என்னும் தேடு சொல் (label) மூலமாக இந்த வரிசையில் வரும் பதிவுகளை நீங்கள் பார்க்கலாம். நூல்களை வாசித்து, அறிவைப் பெருக்கி, வளமான எதிர்காலத்தை வசமாக்குவோம்!

Book Review: Net Force - CyberNation

Written by Tom Clancy around 2001, the book is set in early 2010s. The book is not worth a review per se, but I am writing this because it confuses free as in freedom with free as in free lunch. Even 10 years after the dissolution of USSR, the author was still afraid of Communism and Socialism. This book is nothing but a knee-jerk reaction towards the presumed threat of deprived "intellectual property rights" or "intellectual communism"!

Long, Boring Story Short: 

CyberNation is a group or a corporate, you can say, consisting of management, hackers, PROs, lobbyists, lawyers etc. Their aim is to replace all the ISPs and fill their space with their own version of Internet, where there is no "Intellectual Property" i.e. people only need to subscribe to the CyberNation to get all their music, movies, books, porn, scientific journals and whatever else that can be downloaded. CyberNation will make money by advertising. So to press the people to make the switch from their regular ISPs to CyberNation, they do all the dirty tricks from DDoS attacks to blowing up hardware using bombs! A special task force called Net Force, tries to identify and stop CyberNation. There are lots of useless diversions like too much of description about martial arts training on both sides (but no martial art fight in the climax!), virtual reality, bashing Russians and commies, New Age bullshit and incorrect futuristic predictions. At last, the "good" guys win.

A Look into CyberNation:

Have you heard about Free Basics by Facebook? CyberNation sounds more like this. It runs ads and campaigns to entice people to support them, just like what Facebook did with Internet.org/Free Basics. It has lobbyists placed in many countries to convince politicians and authorities to make changes in laws exactly like what Facebook did by asking us to send support letters to TRAI. CyberNation has all the money and means to do it exactly like Facebook. Their aim is to loop in more people so that they can earn more by advertising to their user base, again exactly like Facebook. I can feel the ennui here. But I couldn't help.

But CyberNation is against "Intellectual property", the meaningless umbrella term that clubs together various different and uncorrelated concepts like copyright, trademark, patents etc. Instead of me struggling with my half-baked knowledge to explain it, you can hear from Dr. Stallman himself (http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/not-ipr.en.html). People who really care for freedom of knowledge and information won't accept invasion of privacy and anything that disturbs net-neutrality. That is why FSF and other like-minded people are vehemently against Facebook's Free Basics and other such schemes that can disturb the net-neutrality. But CyberNation is pro-freedom and anti-freedom at the same time. Like a typical Right-wing person who fights against abortion in public life and forces his daughter to undergo one on her teenage pregnancy to save the "family honor", Tom Clancy can envision such organization without a problem!

CyberNation is much like Mark Zuckerberg running the Pirate Bay. One thing the book got correct is the character of Jasmine Chance. What a person will become when educated in management and shaped by the corporates, a ruthless, self-worshiping person who cares the least about others in achieving their selfish goals. She is much like the so called role models of this generation namely Steve Jobs, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Ambanis, Tatas etc. Bribing, killing, cheating all are fine provided you get what you want. This is what today's "business" has boiled down to. Everyone else is labelled as losers or considered running charities.

The book says that the "Intellectual Property Rights" is very important for innovation and without the motivation of monetary benefits it is impossible for new inventions and researches happening. Yeah! We have seen that in the case of Daraprim! Who invented that drug? But the novel idea of "Intellectual Property Rights" allowed a retard like Martin Shkreli to exploit people using a drug that was invented decades before he was born! Similarly the book confuses resale of used book and making unauthorized copies of a book and selling it in market. Coming back to the drugs, what type of drug will get more funds today? Is it the one that will prevent millions of deaths or the one that can amass trillions of Dollars? We all know the answer.

 The greedy, cut-throat completion of the laissez faire economy won't address the "needs" of the people more than the "wants" of the rich any day! For Tom Clancy, putting needs of the general public before wants of the rich is communism. He can call it whatever he wants, but for me this is the very definition of human nature. A monkey never feels guilty for snatching a banana from another monkey. And a group of monkey watching this won't condemn it. But we humans do. If we sit back and allow corporates to exploit labor and resources of the poor for the luxury of the rich, we will be no better than monkeys!

Conclusion:

So sad that Tom Clancy is no more. I am pretty much sure that he will use the exact same arguments like "private property", "individual freedom and rights", "free market" etc. to support whatever Facebook is doing. He will be with the people who are arguing for paid fast-lanes in Internet. All that mattered to him is the rich to win over the poor. He wants the strong to trample the weak with the help of governments holding the poor down with their laws and regulations. That is what democracy is in Clancy's view. But surely a true CyberNation will rise. It will be rule of people. It will fight for freedom of and freedom for ideas, arts, science and knowledge. It will fight for the people's privacy, freedoms and rights. It will shatter the evil monopolies built with the backing of inhuman laws. On that day, NSA or Clancy's Net Force will be silent spectators who will watch the giant force of people marching towards true equality!

Book Review: Reignited – Scientific Pathways to A Brighter Future

Disclaimer:  

First let me make it clear that I am an admirer of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam. As a human, as an Indian, as a president, as a scientist, and as a Tamilian, he gave his best. No question on that. This review is solely on the book and not about the person. So Dr. Kalam's fans/followers please don't mistake this review for some anti-Kalam slander and bombard me with comments. If you wish to counter this review, just counter the points I have mentioned about the book. Thanks.

Introduction:

Shortly after the unexpected demise of Dr. Kalam, I was looking at the list of books he had authored. As most of the books are of self-development or motivational types (either in personal or national or global scales), one autobiography, one about his spiritual experience, one text book on fluid machanics and one book which talked about “scientific pathways”. What a wonder? From a scientist, it is the only book that seems to bring science for masses. Compare this with Dr. Hawking or Dr. Dawkins! You may understand why I feel sad about the numbers.

I ordered the book on an online store hoping that the book will introduce science to young people as well as have some good deal of information for a scientific novice like me. The book came in few days. It is around 250 pages and in two sittings I finished it off. I felt that “The book is kind of OK”, when I started to read and “Why this book is like this?” when I finished. I will list down the reasons why I am upset with the book. With all humility, I again say, I am not so good in science or language or anything. But whatever I express here are what made me unhappy about the book.

1. Book Organization

The book has an “Introduction”. The section doesn't introduce us to the content or intent of the book instead talks about an incident in the authors' life and moves on to talk about some incidents in Einstein's life. Then with a subtitle for each, it talks about Sir C. V. Raman, Michael Faraday and Alexander Graham Bell. Nothing much about the science behind their inventions but the “self-development” kind of “inspiring stories”. OK, forgiven for the introduction!

Then comes a Prologue. This is some kind of a science fiction short story mainly about Robots. As the first topic is Robotics, I thought that every topic will have such story. But this prologue without any reason appears only once and only for Robotics. I couldn't consider this as a prologue to the entire book as it is not talking about Pathology or Paleontology. So I still can't get the point of having a sci-fi short story as a prologue. OK. Lets move on!

The book has 7 different scientific topics, spread across 225 pages, apart from Introduction, Prologue, Acknowledgments. It has eight unnumbered pages of color photographs mostly from Getty Images. Don't look for some scientific diagrams or charts. You can expect few photos of Marie Curie, Galileo, robots, virus etc. The are some monochromatic pictures/diagrams sprinkled here and there. Some of them are informational while others are “Faraday sitting on his desk” or “Raman standing on a ship”.

Each section has something about the topic for 2 to 5 pages, another 2 to 5 pages about the future of the topic. Then a Q&A section titled “Conversation With A Science Teacher” and another Q&A with an Expert (Expert for 3 out of 7 topics is none other than Dr. Kalam himself). This is followed by “Note To Parents”, a section that ensures that the topic will surely land their kids in a good job and there are foreign opportunities for study and work. There is an “Oath” section for the kids to write down their oath. And some topics have an “Exercise” section while some topics lack the same.

2. Too Much for Too Little

This is something subjective. But still, the book gives too much importance, space and coverage to things of little importance. I like to highlight few of such cases below.

a) The book has 7 pages on Michael Faraday's personal struggles. It seems like a perfect plot for a self-motivation short-film. The introduction section itself is 16 pages long out of which Faraday takes a good share of 7 pages. The reason seems to me, is to create a mind-set among the young that they should not question the existing system or status quo. Just they have to work hard, should not complain and will become what they want one day. Sadly that is not true for many and I am not a fan of such new-age motivational stories. Ultimately, page 15 has something like what you hear from Deepak Chopra or Rhonda Byrne “...in face of their determination the universe came together to enable them to succeed”. Yuk!

b) In Space Science topic, 5 pages document about the Galileo Affair. It is good to point out the friction between science and religion in Medieval Europe. But those 5 pages can be utilized to cover from Plato to Aryabhatta of the old and from Galileo to Hawking of our very own time covering various stages and progresses in the field. First manned mission, journey to moon, developments in Mars etc are left to footnote propotions.

c) In the same topic's (Space Science) expert section, there are only two questions. One is about what inspired Dr. Kalam to take up space science. The second is about the land acquisition made for Thumba Space Research Center. This second question takes up 4 pages and it is all about a Bishop of a Church giving up the land of Church, his house and the houses of the villagers for the space center. OK, what does this story have to do with the “scientific pathway” for space science? Is this for preparing young minds to support land acquisition bill or what? The section ends like this “Professor Vikram Sarabhai and Rev. Peter Bernard Pereira may not be with us anymore, but their work, which has been instrumental in the birth of India's space missions, truly lives on.” giving equal credit to the scientist who worked for the founding of the research center and the Bishop who gave the land which is not his personal property! So the moral seems to be this: "If you give up your land for some project, you will be counted as a person who made a “scientific pathway” along with the scientists who worked on the project!"

So, instead of discussing on actual science of technology, the book deviates largely in to self-help style “experiences” and “stories”, which is nothing else but disappointing.

3. Errors and Typos

Even though the book is on science, there are error and typos which may be quiet misleading. As a novice in science, I myself have found some of them. I am presenting few of them I could remember when I glance back the pages now.

a) The book confuses a computer bug with virus. Bugs are human errors in programming which results in unexpected behavior of the program. Viruses are developed with intention to harm the system. But the book says that bugs can be sorted out just like anti-virus software cleans the computer in page 35. In medical sense you can call a virus as a bug. But not so in computer science.

b) The book mentions that nicotine is a carcinogen (page 101). But the current understanding is that nicotine is not carcinogen (at least in the doses humans consume and that is why nicotine gums are safer) but other chemicals in tobacco or tobacco smoke are. This is a pardonable mistake for non-science books. But for a scientific book? Also the book has some confusion about cancer. The books states that cancer can not be induced by bacteria or virus which is not exactly true. Some viruses increase the risk of cancer like the same way smoking or pollution increases the risk. One example is HPV.

c) On page 240, the book says that the Holocene Epoch started 1.25 mya (million years ago) i.e. 1,250,000 years ago, which is wrong. Holocene epoch had begun just 11,700 years ago. The book has the same error on the same page for the end date of Pleistocene epoch too!

d) On page 96, the size of a Red blood cell is given as 12 micrometer, which is actually 6 to 8 micrometer in diameter or 20 to 25 micrometer in circumference or 2 to 2.5 micrometer of thickness. I don't know what size this 12 micrometer represents.

e) On page 237, it is mentioned that the evolution from single celled prokaryotes to modern life forms like humans took 2000 billion years! It should be 2000 million years or just 2 billion years. Typo? Forgiven! 

f) On Page 142, the distance traveled by light in one year (light year) is given as 95 followed by 11 zeros in words (which is correct) and 9,50,00,00,00,00,000 km in numbers (which is actually 95 followed by 12 zeros and hence wrong. Again in words, it is mentioned as 95 trillion which is wrong. It should be 9.5 trillion kilometers.

These are few of the mistakes/errors I have come across. I may be wrong in some or there may be more such which a knowledgeable person can find out!

4. East vs West?

There is an East vs West problem in the book. No! Not between people. But between the number system. The book in most places use Western names for numbers (millions, billions) in words and use Indian comma system in figures which is quiet confusing. The errors like the one in light year's distance could have been avoided to sticking to any one system properly! I think this will confuse young readers a bit as this problem runs throughout the book.

Not only the numbers, even titles of people are confused between West and East. In Acknowledgments, almost all the people are addressed Mr or Ms but in the last paragraph three persons are addressed with Shri! Though this is irrelevant, there is a striking similarity between numbers and people in the East-West confusion aspect!

Conclusion:

So this book seems to be more of a self-help/motivation book than a popular science book. Actually it is a dangerous mixture of both, as I consider both scientific errors and self-help dangerous, especially for young readers. As I have pointed out in my earlier blog post about MBA, it seems the co-author, who is a person from management stream may be a contributing factor for the sorry state of the book. So, if you are looking at this book as a popular science book for young readers, like me, think again!

Animal Farm - Book Review

Do you want to know why Russia and West are fighting over Ukraine? Do you think communism can save the world? Do you like children's fantasy? If you answer 'yes' to any of the above questions, then ”Animal Farm” by George Orwell is a good choice for you. Counting just less than 100 pages, the book tells the story of a farm in England. But wait! Are you wondering how a farm in England can explain current political mayhem surrounding Ukraine? Written in early1940s, the book is much of a prophecy that can even belittle blabbering of Nostradamus.

Most of us would have read or at least heard about ”Gulliver's Travel”. The story about Lilliput's! You got it? But many of us are not aware that Jonathan Swift wrote the story not only as children's fantasy, but also as a political and philosophical satire. Swift ridiculed the Imperial French and British as well as the struggle between fading archaism and emerging modernity in Gulliver's Travel. Orwell on the other hand encapsulates the raise, progress and fall of USSR (Soviet Russia) inside children's fantasy, with clever parodies. The wow factor is, Orwell wrote about events happening today 70 years before.

The story opens with a farm run by one Mr. Jones in England. The animals of the farm, fed up with the mistreatment at the hands of human masters, plot and execute a rebellion successfully and take over the farm after expelling Jones. Soon, they create certain rules and orders for themselves and start running the farm all by themselves. But as time passes, the power at the hands of pigs start to corrupt them. Soon the farm is attacked by neighboring humans but the attack is successfully thwarted but with great losses too. But the pigs start changing the laws to suit their desires and gradually collaborate with humans and start imitating them in everything. They go so far that even the animals can't identify pigs from humans. At last all other animals go back to the state which they were when humans ran the farm.

The story narrates how power corrupts people who rule(pigs), how religion is used to keep people under ignorance(raven), how army and police forces are used to suppress free thought and speech(dogs), how media is used to promote personality cult(Minimus and the black cockerel) and at the same time brainwash people and spread false news(Squealer), how even after all these things some people blindly support ruling class(sheep) and finally how bad the sufferings of people can go unchanged whatever way they choose(other animals, especially horses and hens)!

In the last chapter, there is a scene when the pigs fight with humans. But this time, it is not about the ownership of the farm or welfare of animals but about the card game they are playing. This is what happening now between West and Russia. As Orwell predicted 47 years before fall of USSR, they even renamed the nation! Communism in theory is good. It can be practical in short run too. But sooner or later power will corrupt the rulers and thing will end no better or even worse than before. George Orwell, came to this conclusion long back. I still admire USSR, their rational culture and their radically new political and economic structure, their raise from a poor nation of peasants to first nation to put a man in space within few decades, their books, their bold stance against capitalist West etc. But alas... It all fell apart for just one reason. It too was run by humans.

So read the book, not only as a fantasy. The power is all yours to corrupt your mind with truth :-)

Guitar Books for Beginners

In my previous post, I have mentioned that it is important to learn to read and write music notations. Now, I am here with a suggestion of three guitar books/series with notations which are suitable for beginners.

1. Guitar Playing Made Easy for Everyone 1-5 by Joseph M Estella & George Roberts

This series is a collection of very simple and easy to learn songs. Step by step, they introduce you to chords too. Every book contains around 30 pages and each book costs around Rs. 120. So if you want to have some fun by learning old songs with accompaniment this book is best bet! This book won't cover many scales and advanced concepts, but it can give you a good start.

2. Mel Bay - You Can Teach Yourself Guitar

From the house of Mel Bay comes this gem. It is a single book with 110+ pages. It starts from explaining types of guitar, how to buy a guitar, how to hold it etc. So this book is like a music master with you. If you don't even know what is guitar, then you should buy this book. But don't underestimate this book due to the way it begins. This book has a collection of classic songs with chords. It also contains TAB notation. Though I am not  a great fan of TAB notation, some guitarists prefer it. Even the TAB notation used here goes with timing notations, so you won't miss anything. It also teaches advanced concepts like arpeggios (broken chords), bending, hammer, alternate picking etc.

3. A Modern Method for Guitar 1,2 & 3 by William Leavitt

This is a hybrid book. It starts very simple and builds complexity with every lesson. When you enter the third volume, you will be a well known guitarist in your friends circle. More than 400 pages of lessons will squeeze every drop of music within you out! This book is full of advanced concepts, music theory and various scales. So this book will make you an expert. This is a must have if you are really serious about guitar playing

Conclusion:

These books are in no way a replacement to a music master. You still need to join a good class if you want to learn everything correctly. These books can serve as extra learning for you during leisure. Also don't waste your time on these books if your music class is following a different syllabus. Just practice what is taught by your music school first and as an "extra-curricular" activity, use these books. If your class follows any of these books as syllabus, don't try to look in to lessons ahead of time. That will do more damage than good. So wait till your master giving you a green signal for next lesson. Try to manually copy the lessons in to a staff paper. That will improve your music writing ability and register the notes to your mind too. Happy learning!

Book Review: 20000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

Get your self ready to dive in to the ocean with Captain Nemo and his electrical submarine Nautilus. It is a wonderful science fiction novel by French author Jules Verne. The story was narrated to me by my dad when I was a child. Later I got a paperback of the book. It was awesome and at one point, I was saying everyone that one day I will become a marine engineer [that didn't happen ;-) ].

The book opens with widespread fear about a sea monster. Professor Aronnax and his companions take up the task to solve the mystery. But they are captured by the crew of an electrical submarine (which was mistaken for a monster) headed by captain Nemo. The story is packed with adventures under the sea. From south pole to Mannar gulf near Tamil Nadu, the travel covers wide variety of locations and events.

Electric submarine may sound so common and you may wonder why this is called a science fiction. But this book was released even before electric bulbs became common. Written in 1870, the book has references to lot of technical advances which were still under research or not yet invented back then.

 There are hints in the book that point that Captain Nemo may be an Indian. But his crew consists of men from many other nationalities, who all are against oppressive regimes all over the world. In this aspect, Jules Verne touches the colonial oppression and imperialistic occupation prevalent those days.

In today's context, we can match this to corporates conquering our life and trying to control every aspect of our life. So, it is still relevant and you will surely love it.

The book is in public domain as the copyright has expired. So usually it is available for lesser price. You can also read it in Wikisource website for free, but I prefer printed books so that I can collect them after reading. Moreover, you can read them laying down, sitting at dining table or during travel without much strain.

State of Fear - Book Review

Introduction

I am a fan of Michael Crichton's work from my college days. That was when one of my senior in college said that I should read Michael Crichton's books. I asked him who was that. He said, the guy who wrote Jurassic Park and gave me his book. WOW! That was awesome and I read that in just 3 days. Then I started to read his works. The latest book of his I read was "State of Fear". It is an awesome novel and it is a good mix of science, skepticism, action, detective, sex & violence and information. No wonder anyone who starts reading this book gets lost inside it and couldn't be found by friends and family until he/she finishes it!

About The Book

The book is a 600+ page paperback edition and come with Author's Message, an Appendix and Bibliography of extensive references about the sources of data and quotations used in the book. The book also has lot of graphs and foot notes to enhance the readers insight on the details given. You don't need to worry about yout lack of knowledge in "climate science", because if a climate n00b like me can understant it, then you too can! The novel is organized not as chapters but as Place/Date/Time chronological logs of events. That was really cool. The book is published by HarperCollins. I bought the Indian Subcontinet version, which is cheap indeed!

Plot Overview

A rich philanthropist funds an environmental organization. There are murders and other doubtful purchases of exotic weapons and machines in various places. An NSIA agent and his assistant with the help of the philanthropist's lawyers try to unravel the mystery. Ultimately they find that the fear-mongering tactics used by the environmental organization to create the "state of fear" among people to milk their cash! (Hint: You can get the full plot from Wikipedia or many other sites. But if you read such plots, you are losing the chance to read one of the best novels of Crichton.)

The Moral

I myself, being a hardcore anti-corporate and anti-pollution guy, don't exactly believe in what media say about man-made global warming, but I fully accept that humans are contributing to ongoing global warming. I have some reservations in both sides and my opinions is mixed on that. But where I agree with Michael Crichton is, when he opposes the fear-mongering tactics used by these eco-friendly gangs to milk the cash from people as well as corporates and to lobby governments to accept their unruly demands without a second thought. For example, you can see Greenpeace guys standing in railway stations and IT parks in India handing out tracts and forcing you to sign-up for a monthly donation through credit card. People who are brainwashed by their scaremongering tactics opt in to donate. But they seldom care about that blind old man selling peanut burfee or that poor old man without leg begging in trains.

From PeTA to Greenpeace, these organizations are founded and run by wealthy nations which have a higher share in polluting the environment. But these organizations try to steal the money of people all over the world and try to impose crippling laws in developing nations that can slow-down or stop or reverse their progress. People are fed with fear and distracted with dubious facts and are made to believe that they have done some thing terribly bad. At this point they will show their membership form and the gullible person will sign. I have been told absurd stories like Kit-Kat is manufactured using Orangutan finger bone, Indian cities will drown in another 20 years (this they told me in 2004) and so on. When I confronted them with some facts, they will say I have been brainwashed by corporate media!

This is what Michael Crichton explores in his novel. Most of these organizations are themselves funded by corporates. They demand people to submit to their views without asking question, much like the religious leaders force their followers to submit without doubting. Moreover, like fake religions which demand money or favors for atonement of sins, these organizations seldom talk about population control, reducing car usage etc but they always ask you to donate. One day, I was walking out of an IT park. There was a bank stall offering car loans and a car company stall displaying their new model car and giving test-drive. The Greenpeace guys were there giving out tracts. I called them to join me to tell the bank people and the car company people to stop selling cars and automobile loans so that we can cut back carbon emission. But the Greenpeace guys were asking me to leave. As I insisted and more people joined me in that request, they just left the place and started giving tracts in some other corner! This is their real face. They are not here for nature. They are here for business.

Conclusion

If you want to read a good story and also know how these organizations cheat people, this is a very good book. I am not asking you to deny global warming or increase pollution. I am just asking you to stop believing blindly and start asking questions. In the long run, we can expect the unaltered truth to surface.

Book Review: Kurunthogai Portrait (குறுந்தொகை ஓவியம்)

In this busy life we seldom pause and appreciate the beauty of small things around us like a flower's bloom at our backyard or a bird's song in the morning. Then how can we explore the marvels of literature written hundreds, if not thousands of years ago? Unless wrapped with religion or made compulsory in curriculum, we ignore these gems for cheap arts like cinema and TV serials. If you love reading, especially good old literary works, please continue reading...

Kurunthogai (குறுந்தொகை) is one of the books in Ettuthogai (எட்டுத்தொகை), which means "Collection of Eight books".  ”Kuru” means short and ”Thogai” means consolidation or compilation. The songs in Kurunthogai were written by numerous authors. The themes involve love and romance and hence classified as ”agam” (அகம்) literature, a literary genre that discusses love while maintaining anonymity of the parties involved. Tamils gave importance to privacy even centuries before.

Scholars estimate that the compilation happened in 7 century AD. It is one of the so called ”Sangam literature” (சங்க இலக்கியம்).  Whatever! I don't mind how old the literature is, but how good matters a lot for me.

Now, coming to this book, ”Kurunthogai Portrait”. It is an English paraphrase (I feel translation is not the right word) of the Tamil literature. It contains the Tamil songs in Tamil script immediately followed by English paraphrase. As you have Tamil songs in their original form, you can enjoy its beauty fully. The English paraphrase provides easy access to the meaning of the songs.

The English used by the writer is lucid. The sentences are deliberately made small in order to avoid confusion. The book has a list of Tamil words used within the paraphrase and their meaning for easy reference of readers. So if you are a person without in depth Tamil knowledge to understand the meaning of Tamil songs, then you can also benefit from this book.

This book is also suitable for readers who don't know Tamil at all. They can just leave the Tamil songs and read the paraphrase alone. So it is a win-win for everyone from hardcore Tamil literature freaks to those who don't even know what Tamil is. So this book is a must have even if you have slightest interest in Tamil literature!