Book 1

So, finally realised that I was way off my resolution to read 10 books for the year(or was it 20? hehe...recalculating it to 10 I think would be better to reach the target :D)

Anyways, So,thanks to Mohsin, I picked up this book "The meaning of it all" which is a collection of 3 speeches by Richard Feynman. I had previously read "Surely, you're joking Mr. Feynman" which was I guess a biography of the maverick scientist. I had liked it and hence had high expectations from this one too. The book almost didn't let me down. Its truly amazing how Feynman handles sensitive issues related to Science and Religion by taking a truly objective viewpoint. His way of rationazing and treating everything from a logical point of view is worth learning. In the first lecture, he talks about the need for an "open channel" in Science, the need for expressing and maybe rewarding 'doubts', the need for an area of uncertainity to actually make any progress. The second lecture deals with the dilemma of the choice between Science and Religion. I enjoyed reading it since I could relate to it. My initial expectations were that Feynman would voice his opinion if both could co-exist together and he does start off on that. But in the later part, the topic changes to if Science can define values. So, it was a kind of let down. But, I really appreciated the balanced,objective viewpoint. The last lecture is the most unstructured and a bit impromptu i feel. It is just a collection of Feynman's thoughts on a wide variety of topics ranging from Communism to Astrology to Advertisements. Some of his prejudices, hatred are well evident esp. when he talks about the whole US-Russian, Communism-Capitalism debate. This one was interesting in bits and pieces. Overall, a weekend well spent....9 to go or is it 19? well, who cares...:)