Prof. Simon Johnson reviews Adam Tooze’s new book, “Crashed: How a Decade of Financial Crises Changed the World” for The Washington Post. Johnson writes that the book, “is an impressive narrative history, weaving together events from around the world with a light touch and a great deal of helpful explanation.”
Prof. Marcia Bartusiak speaks with Radio Boston’s Evan Horowitz about her book, “Dispatches from Planet 3.” Bartusiak explains that she was inspired to “take a new exciting finding and provide the backstory. All of these essays are taking something new - a new idea, a new discovery - and showing that it had an origin or a seed in the past.”
A new book by Deborah Blum, director of the Knight Science Journalism Program, focuses on Harvey Washington Wiley’s “fight for pure food,” explains Joshua Johnson, host of NPR’s 1A. While food safety has improved, Blum believes “it’s not safe enough and that our safety mechanisms have been – as they were in Wiley’s time – weakened over the years.”
Deborah Blum, director of the Knight Science Journalism Program, speaks with Radio Boston’s Deborah Becker about her book on Harvey Washington Wiley’s quest to make food safer in America. “I think we have a long way to go in being really transparent about what’s in food,” says Blum about current food safety protections.
In an article for Quartz about how robots are being used to help care for the elderly, Corinne Purtill highlights Prof. Sherry Turkle’s work on the impact of using machines to satisfy the human need for emotional connection. Putrill cites Turkle’s argument that using machines creates a new relationship where we “feel connected although we are alone.”
Research Scientist Stephanie Woerner speaks with Forbes reporter Joe McKendrick about the best ways for companies to develop digital business models. "Companies have to develop new ways of working, really taking evidence into account when making decisions," Woerner explains.
In an article for The Washington Post, Prof. Alan Lightman writes about the importance of wasting time. “Our hyperconnected lifestyle, without downtime, threatens our ‘inner selves,’” Lightman explains. “My inner self is that part of me that imagines, that dreams, that explores, that is constantly questioning who I am and what is important to me.”
In an article for The Boston Globe, Prof. Thomas Levenson reviews David Quammen’s new book, “The Tangled Tree.” Levenson writes that the book is, “much more than a report on some cool new scientific facts. It is, rather, a source of wonder.”
Prof. Alan Lightman reviews Adam Frank’s new book, “Light of the Stars,” for The New York Times. Lightman writes that Frank suggests, “we can strengthen our resolve to kick our bad environmental habits by viewing our terrestrial civilization from a cosmic perspective.”
MIT graduate student Jonny Sun has illustrated a new book by “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. The book, “Gmorning, Gnight! Little Pep Talks for Me & You,” is a collection of “short, uplifting poems that [Miranda] regularly posts on social media early and late in the day,” writes Kevin Slane for Boston.com.
In an article for The Washington Post, Debra Bruno reviews Prof. Alan Lightman’s new book, “In Praise of Wasting Time,” which makes the case for why we need more downtime. Bruno writes that, “Lightman constructs a careful and well-sourced argument, citing the anecdotes of artists, scientists and writers to build his case methodically and convincingly.”
Michael Shermer reviews Prof. Alan Lightman’s new book on science and spirituality, “Searching for Stars on an Island in Maine,” for The New York Times. Shermer calls the book an “elegant and moving paean to our spiritual quest for meaning in an age of science,” adding that it, “reminds us of the centrality of subjectivity in all human endeavors.”
Visiting Lecturer Irving Wladawsky-Berger writes about Prof. Thomas Malone’s book, Superminds, which examines how machines are becoming increasingly able to complement human intelligence. Wladawsky-Berger writes that Malone shows how, “humans can supply the general intelligence and whatever other skills machines don’t have, and machines can supply the vast information, computational power and other specialized capabilities that people don’t have.”
In an article published by Salon, Prof. Heather Paxson examines the American artisanal cheese industry. Paxson writes that, “food-making traditions in the United States are often animated by personal narratives of innovation rather than, as in Europe, adherence to customary tradition.”
In this PBS NewsHour segment, Prof. Alan Lightman discusses his views on science and spirituality. “I’m still a scientist. I still believe that the world is made of atoms and molecules and nothing more. But I also believe in the power and validity of the spiritual experience.”