Books I read in March 2022

I got lucky in March 2022. I happened to be in Bhopal for two weeks. Specifically, I was at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal with my wife. She was wrapping up some work at the TrEE lab in the Biology department. She successfully defended her PhD thesis in 2021 but she needed to go back to wrap up some loose ends. I went along with her and I got to meet her labmates.

That's how I came across Improbable destinies by Jonathan Losos. As far as I can remember, it's the first biology/ecology book that I have read. It's technically a popular science book but it's not something that a school student can read and understand. But, it's damn good. I would definitely recommend it to biology and science undergraduates who are yet to understand and decide where their interests lie in. Preeti likes the fact that I can atleast know of and can use some of the vocabulary she works with on a day-to-day basis. The book introduces the reader to convergent evolution and contrasts it with the theory of punctuated equilibrium. The book is chock full of examples, which I loved. The next time I read it, and I liked it enough to want to read it again, I will take my sweet time with it and look things up while I read it. 

On the trip to Bhopal, I carried Liftoff by Eric Berger and Chasing New Horizons by Alan Stern and David Grinspoon with me, which I also got through in March. These two are also popular science and definitely more approachable for school kids than Improbable destinies is. In fact, I loved them enough to buy both to two nephews of mine.

Liftoff is a story of SpaceX but it's not a story that revolves around Elon Musk. Instead, the book focus on the early team at SpaceX, focusing on individuals and talking about their contributions to the company as it was just starting up. I like Eric Bergers work in ArsTechnica, which I think is how I came across this book in the first place. I loved it and I think it's inspiring to read for any kid who wants to study engineering.

Chasing New Horizons has been on my to-read list since it came out in 2019. The book documents the New Horizons mission to Pluto, all the way from when it was conceived by Alan Stern to when the probe finally reached Pluto. I followed the mission when it was actually happening and I was excited to finally read it. I loved it too and this I think is inspirational for anyone interested in studying physics and/or astronomy. There's also a good chunk of engineering sprinkled throughout the book, talking about the technical challenges involved in putting creating the probe and putting together a mission within the technical and financial constraints set out by NASA.

That's all for March. Until next time.

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