The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons  (2014) Sam Kean

What happens when you get a rod of iron exploding  through your brain?  Do you believe there are people that can see smells and taste sounds?  What happens when you the corpus callosum is intentionally severed breaking the main connection between the two halves of the brain?

Sam Kean weaves the answers to these questions along with the history of neuroscience and an interesting series of strange cases that illustrate each chapter. 

Same Kean is terrific and bringing dry science to life.  I highly recommend this as well as Caesar’s Last Breath.

Dark Sky (2017). Mike Brooks

Dark Sky(2017)   Mike Brooks

Ichabod Drift and his zany crew of miscreants are back for another story.  They are offered a sum to go to a mining planet and collect information about the productivity and bring it back before the big storm hits the mining planet and seals off all communication.   The client can then make a highly specific investment knowing the data before any one else.  Sounds sort of like Trading Places without the gorilla   (oh wait there is Apriana).   Surprise surprise.  Things do not go as expected.   Not only do they meet their archenemy in port there is the start of a revolution of the workers.   Of all the luck.   Tamara teams up with the revolutionaries and Ichabod with the police.   Jenna plays a key role.   Apriana (A) gets the chance to be integrated into the tech cult but turns them down (why?).   Jenna and A finally start something up.   All in all a fun book.  More please.

Book Review: Dark Run (2015) Mike Brooks

Dark Run (2015)    Mike Brooks

Icabod Drift is a blue-haired Mexican Captain of the Keiko.  His crew of misfits includes Jenna McIllroy, a stow-away-turned-ship computer tech; Apirana Wahawaha, a massive Māori fighter; Micah van Schaken, a former mercenary; Jai and Kuia Chang, respectively the Keiko’s pilot and mechanic; and Tamara Rourke, Drift’s second.

Icabod is blackmailed into dropping off a package at a certain place and certain time that ends up being a nuke.  Then the fun begins.  How does Icabod get revenge for this? This book one of a series.  Book 2 is Dark Sky -  A good sequel and a guilty pleasure.  

Book Review: The Drug Hunters (2017) Donald R. Kirsch and Ogi Ogas

The Drug Hunters(2017)  Donald R. Kirsch and Ogi Ogas

While not quite as exciting as Island of the Lost this book is very interesting in its own way. Have you ever wondered how something as common as an Aspirin was developed?  What about morphine, heroin, penicillin, and quinine?  When did we first start putting people to sleep to do their surgery?  How were treatments for mental health problems like schizophrenia and depression developed?   

There is one chapter dedicated to the development of the oral contraceptive.

A great book if you like this sort of thing -  I do!

Island of the Lost. (2007) Joan Druett

Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World

(2007)  Joan Druett

This book is riveting.  Along the lines of Endurance and the story of Shackleton and his crew.  In 1864 the Grafton and it’s crew of five are returning from a prospecting trip from Australia to Campbell Island in the sub-Antarctic.   They did not find the silver they were looking for so they stopped at Auckland Island to see if there are any seals that could at least come back with something. Unfortunately for them they become shipwrecked on this desolate island with endless freezing rain and wind.  The only food is the seals and some roots.  How do they survive?   Joan Druett would have us believe that it is the teamwork of the group led by Capt. Thomas Musgraves and prospector Francois Raynal.  There seem to be a lot of facts backing this up.  For instance they had a free election to decide their own leader (Musgraves).  The ingenuity of Raynal is amazing.  A true Mcgyver!   Together they rebuild their small boat and save themselves.  Meanwhile there is a group of 19 other sailors who were marooned on the other side of the island who did not fair as well.   All but three died.  Of course they did not have any seals to eat. 

This is a great adventure story!