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very thorough and useful

Reviewed: 02-20-24

a very useful guide to behavior and decision making in complex social situations. I'm glad I've cone across this book. won't necessarily change my behavior, but at least helps me be wiser, even if only in retrospect.

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Both inspirational and humbling.

Reviewed: 01-23-23

Both inspirational and humbling. Long after finishing the book, I am still thinking about it. Thank you, David McCullough.

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simply Great

Reviewed: 01-13-23

Captivated by the narrative regardless of how familiar I was with the story. recommend for any history buff.

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A bucket of tears and snot, plus a few good bits

Reviewed: 11-17-22

It was my fault that I had failed to figure out before getting the book (and Audible narration) that this was a highly intimate memoir, not a popular science book I expected.

Before listening far enough into the the first chapter I gave my bright daughter a paper copy to encourage her interest in astronomy. "Look, Sara, here's your namesake, a prominent exoplanetary astronomer, discussing her research". And a few days later she came back to me in bewilderment, "this is not about astronomy, this is only about Sara Seager and her tantrums". Oops.

A shockingly shameless memoir of a highly accomplished, extremely intelligent and articulate window of Concord, MA. This is how the book should be advertised. I've suffered through the book I had no intention of reading, and by the end felt quite tired and "morally bedraggled" by the author's incessant lamentation.

One nice tidbit that in a way justified reading the whole book was the passage about the "Star Shade". I had been completely unaware of this project, and it's surprising that this "chantry book" revealed this gem of an idea. Of course, prof Seager makes no attempt to explain to the unworthy lay audience why a flower pattern helps better block bright starlight (diffraction pattern results in a near perfect wave cancelation for the right wavelength) beyond saying "math says so" or "of course it should be a flower". Plus the whole Star Shade narrative is used to put down a colleague. Nevertheless, I've learned something I didn't expect to learn thanks to prof Seager. Still 5 stars from me.

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a great read on the contemporary geopolitics

Reviewed: 11-01-22

Many thanks to the author for the, painstakingly detailed and yet immensely readable (if a little pessimistic) analysis of what might be in store for the world.

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Magnificent

Reviewed: 06-09-19

I highly recommend this for everyone, regardless of their occupation or interest. Whether your job is to sell new ideas or not, this book can help you get people to pay attention.

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Has a point about progressive radicalism

Reviewed: 04-23-19

Mr. Shapiro is right about the dangers to our individual freedoms posed by the modern progressive radicalism. However, he completely ignores the role played by the forebears of the same modern progressives (some of them, such as Bolsheviks and French Communards undoubtedly dangerous and destructive historical forces), as well other cultures (pre-Abrahamic religions, Muslim Renaissance, Persian Empire) in the evolution of the culture and Philosophy that he considers himself a part of. He conveniently forgets about medieval antisemitic "colloquia", the true place of Maimonides in the World cultural heritage, confuses Christian (especially Lutheran and other Protestant) opposition to Judaism with the perception of having a common Judeo-Christian culture (a real but very modern phenomenon); India and China are not even in the footnotes. Modern liberals can be indeed very scary, potentially bringing back the spectre of an all-powerful ideological state that can grind millions of humans into dust. We must resist the takeover of our society by those who do not share the Founding Fathers' ideals of liberty and federalism. However, we also must not forget that had it not been for the ideas, errors, and sacrifices of various anitheists, utopians, and other 'progressives' of every hue and color, had it not been for both the lure and the threat of the Soviet Experiment that goaded Western Oligarchies towards more people-friendly policies, neither Mr. Shapiro would be a leading voice of modern American Conservatives, nor would I, a Turk, be able to venture an opinion about his book on Amazon. Without the continuous struggle and competition between the far right and extreme left, the world would stop evolving.

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informative and entertaining

Reviewed: 03-27-19

informative and quite entertaining, definitely recommend to anyone interested in learning more about machine learning.

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a useful overview of recent developments

Reviewed: 02-22-19

I found this a very useful high-level review of some of the more visible developments in AI. Useful for someone who already has a good grasp of statistics and statistical learning, but can probably reach beyond that audience.

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1 person found this helpful

useful

Reviewed: 12-06-18

While justifiably criticizing other scholars for "narrative fallacies" the author pulls off one himself, and an impressive one at that! The author's bitterness towards the "ivory tower" is a bit excessive and more than a wee personal, but his main point that I interpret as "all computable models are wrong" is well justified, if only conditioned with "but some are useful". Pity this latter point seems absent from this erudite text. I would recommend this book to anyone notwithstanding any such disagreement - this kind of reading, even if nothing drastically new, can still help pull one out of the rut.

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