How Data Happened by Chris Wiggins, Matthew L. Jones

I liked the title of this book and thought this might be an interesting read; I work with databases every day so my life is data.  There is interesting material in the book but it can be dense so sometimes takes a little time to get through. It covers a wide range of topics from Guiness to Bletchley Park to AI. 

The authors do note that data can be manipulated and I wonder sometimes what the authors have done with their work but overall an interesting read.

Three and a half stars
This book comes out March 21, 2023

ARC kindly provided by W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Useful Delusions by Shankar Vedantam, Bill Mesler

I liked the idea of this book. When can self-delusion be helpful in our day-to-day life? Can it EVER be helpful? I have always believed that deluding myself works in wonderful ways and Vendatam and Mesler would agree.

I thought one of the most interesting studies was in wine tasting when people's brain scans actually showed that the pleasure center lit up more when tasting a wine they had been told was $90 even though it was the same as the $10 bottle. Does that mean the people who pay more for wine will always enjoy it more? Maybe. But price isn't the only thing that can "trick" our brain like that. It can also be the story behind  a product or brand.

There are several of these studies interwoven with the story of a letter writing scheme where lonely hearts would write to each other. However, it turned out most of the women in these exchanges were semi or wholly fictitious. Yet many of the men defended the fraudster.  Why? Well, the book explains. If you consider yourself a rationalist, this may not be a good book for you because it will change how you define "rational."

 
Three and a half stars
This book comes out March 2nd

ARC kindly provided by W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? Big Questions from Tiny Mortals About Death by Caitlin Doughty

Doughty hits it out of the park with another readable book that looks at death and makes it understandable.  This particular book answers all of your burning questions including the one from the title as well as what happens to bodies in space and whether people can be too tall for caskets.

Four Stars
This book came out September 10th 2019
Book from Library
Opinions are my own