The World's Best Book Summaries
Is Annawadi from Behind the Beautiful Forevers a real place? What is life like in Annawadi? Annawadi is a slum adjacent to the Mumbai International Airport—it was created by the migrant workers that worked there during its construction. Life in the slum is a constant struggle for survival. Residents worked all sorts of odd jobs to make a living. Read on to learn more about the lives of the residents of Annawadi.
Is there an ozone hole over Antarctica? What is the science? What doubts have been raised? People have debated the size, severity, and cause of the ozone hole over Antarctica for years. Historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway claim in their book Merchants of Doubt that some individuals and groups have sought to discredit some of the science because they believe it is a threat to their agenda. Read more to learn about the debate surrounding the ozone hole over Antarctica.
How did generations past use science to “prove” that some races were better than others? What were the three phases of scientific bias? What lasting impacts did racial pseudoscience have on society? In her book Biased, Dr. Jennifer Eberhardt discusses the three phases of historical scientific bias: human hierarchies, polygenesis, and evolutionary IQ. In the past, biased scientists would use pseudoscience and lies to justify inhumane acts such as slavery. Unfortunately, although disproved, many of the ideas are still deeply ingrained in society. Continue reading to learn about the dark history of scientific bias.
What are the causes and effects of ozone depletion? What’s the science? What doubts have been raised? Since the 1970s, the public controversy about the causes and effects of ozone depletion has been fueled by those who believe that certain environmental policies put their agenda at risk. These “merchants of doubt” seek to undermine the credibility of the science behind such policies. Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway discuss this in their book Merchants of Doubt. Read more to learn about the history of the debate surrounding the causes and effects of ozone depletion.
Was Donald Trump a good president? What was the American president like as a leader and as a person? Do you think Trump was fit to be a president? In A Warning, a book about the behind-the-scenes of Trump’s administration, the anonymous author provides their subjective analysis of the 45th American president. They describe his character traits, decodes the meaning behind his public remarks, as well as the motives behind his political decisions. Here is a brief overview of Donald Trump’s analysis from the 2019 bestseller A Warning.
What exactly is the cloud? How has the advent of cloud computing technology changed the world? The cloud is a term for services and software that run on the internet instead of locally on your computer, for example, Netflix, Dropbox, or Microsoft Office 365. Like networking, the cloud is a major player in the acceleration of all the other parts of computing because it allows any type of technology to be constantly updated, improved, or shared. In this article, we’ll discuss how the cloud came to be and its implications for the future of computing.
What are the issues in the debate about the environmental effects of acid rain? What’s the science and what doubts exist? In Merchants of Doubt, historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway discuss how doubt-mongering has affected the debate surrounding the environmental effects of acid rain. It’s a fascinating history of science, economics, and politics. Read more to learn how merchants of doubt impacted the narrative about the environmental effects of acid rain.
Was segregated housing a thing of the past or is it still present today? How can physical spaces be used as tools for bias? Is technology hurting or helping the problem? In her book Biased, Jennifer Eberhardt revealed that although it’s now illegal, de facto segregated housing still persists today. This happens because if a neighborhood is even 30% black, people assume it has high crime rates and low property value and opts not to live in it. Thus, housing segregation still persists. Continue below to read the sad truth about modern segregated housing.
What is the historical connection between the environment and economics? How do economic interests impact environmental policy? In Merchants of Doubt, historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway look at the tense relationship between the environment and economics. They explain why environmental issues are major targets for merchants of doubt—people or organizations who discredit science that threatens their agenda or ideology. Read more to learn about the historic connection between the environment and economics.
How did racism develop on the Nextdoor app? What did the executives do to combat it? Did their efforts succeed or were they just an empty gesture? The Nextdoor app is basically a digital neighborhood bulletin board designed to keep neighborhoods safe and share local news. However, racism on Nextdoor was unchecked and many blacks were being wrongfully flagged as suspicious. Learn how the Nextdoor executives tackled the racism problem and whether it saved their app.