Book Review – Naked Economics : Undressing the Dismal Science.

A wonderful read! Who could have thought that economics can be made easy. Apparently it can be and Charles Wheelan shows us how! Here is a book that explains some of the most dry topics of the world like GDP, CAGR etc. in such a lucid manner that you may wonder why economics textbooks are qualified as the next best thing to sleeping pill in school.

Charles explains each and every concept with the assistance of practical examples and day-to-day happenings thus adding flesh and blood to the ideas and making them easier to understand. For example the situation where he compares the grapefruit and ice cream fad diet with get-rich-quick schemes while explaining financial markets really drives home the point.

It definitely helps that Wheelan has been a trained economics journalist. His correlation with day-to-day events around the world and their tie-up with economics stands out throughout the book and really establishes the importance of economics in world in today’s era.

Overall, an informed read that will allow the readers to understand the dismal science that is economics

The Feeling Buddha

I recently read a wonderful book on buddhism titled ‘The Feeling Buddha’.  An amazing book which is only around  200 pages long and yet explores and explains so much about a philosophy so old and deep in such a simple and elegant way that you got to pause and think! And this book does make you think.

There were numerous moments where I just had to dog collar the page I was on, close my eyes and ponder on what the author was communicating. David Brazier is a gifted author but this book is more than simply a work of intellect. It is a labor of love. There is a certain honesty about the words which can only come when someone truly and absolutely believes in what he is communicating.

This book is deep and yet so simply written that for anyone uninitiated on Buddhism (I was one), there won’t be any difficulty in understanding the concepts; be it four noble truths or eight folded path.

And there is another theme running throughout the book where the author attempts to explain what Buddha really meant.  What is most impressive about David’s writing is that he presents Gautama as a normal person with normal problems but who had developed heightened awareness which led to his becoming of Buddha. In his attempt, David succeeds in demystifying both Buddha and Buddhism.

In a nutshell a wonderful book that should be read with both mind and heart and not just mind alone.

17 Words of Architectural Inspiration

Consider these thoughts -

• Architecture is not based on concrete or steel, it is based on wonder….
• Architecture is in confrontation with our own senses…..
• Notion that Architecture should be just explicit reduces it to banality….
• Can we make computers which respond to our hands rather forcing hand to respond to computers?….
• We are sold on the propaganda that Simple is good….

If these sounds audacious that is because they are. Daniel Libeskind shares some interesting insights about what constitues Architecture for him. He has squeezed the architectual dictionary to 17 words which in his opinion attribute Architecture. So what are those fabled 17 words? If you have to believe Daniel Libeskind, the list goes something like below:

1. Unexpected                                 2. Risky                                  3. Memorable

4. Communicative                         5. Optimism                          6. Raw

7. Hand                                            8. Inexplicable                     9. Expressive

10. Space                                         11. Pointed                            12. Real

13. Democratic                              14. Emotional                       15. Complex

16. Political                                    17. Radical

You may not agree with Dan but he definitely has a very pursuasive point of view which can only come from deep within when you practice something you love. Check out the Ted Talk by Dan. A wonderful and innovative way to define Architecture.