Book Reviwed: Decoding Reality: The Universe as Quantum Information by Vlatko Vedral

Information in the cosmic design The author of this book suggests that the physical reality we observe and experience in everyday life may be explained by the processing of information. Information is more fundamental than the laws of physics, which explains the behavior of matter and energy in spacetime, and entropy and the second law of thermodynamics play an important role. Disorder (physical entropy) increases with time according to the second law of thermodynamics. And this is closely related to Shannon’s entropy (self-information). The increasing complexity of life is driven by the overall increase in disorder in the universe. Systems that exploit disorder are called Maxwell demons. All living systems are Maxwell demons and so are some non-living systems like computers. Computers do calculations using electricity (to do work) and then produce heat. All Maxwell demons work this way, they collect information, and they use information to do work. That is why a living system can live, grow, and reproduce where in a significant amount of order is required to maintain a living cell. Entropy of a system is proportional to the surface area of that system which is known as the holographic universe. According to this, the information of our universe (that has three-dimensional space) is encoded in a two-dimensional space, a black hole serves as a good example to illustrate holographic principle. This is a small book of 225 pages that reads flawlessly, and the subject matter is very well explained. Highly recommended.

Book Reviewed: Celebrating Hanukkah: History, Traditions, and Activities – A Holiday Book for Kids by Stacia Deutsch

The story of Hannukah Hanukkah is a great time to enjoy traditional games and food with family. And it is also the celebration of an ancient miracle. The book offers a simple outline of the holiday's origins, lighting the menorah, playing dreidel, and eating latkes and other traditional delicacies. The story should have emphasized more about the messages about friendship, kindness, tolerance, and inclusiveness. This book briefly touches upon the holiday practices in a few countries but does not make connections about inclusiveness of other races and cultures specifically in Asia and Africa.

Book reviewed: The Life and Letters of the Right Honorable Friedrich Max Müller by F. Max Müller, Georgina Adelaide Grenfell Muller

The real Max Muller is revealed Max Muller was one of the leading servants of the English Royal Family. His main responsibility at Oxford University was to find evidence in the vast ancient Hindu literature to prove that English occupation of India is justified since the “native people,” as Muller refers to Indians, are heathens and must be converted to the civilization of New Testament. The letters written by Muller to his wife Georgina speaks volumes of a man, his bigotry, intolerance, and racial prejudice. In his letter to the Duke of Argyle, the then acting Secretary of State for India, “The ancient religion of India is doomed. And if Christianity does not take its place, whose fault will it be?” According to the Biblical Creation Theory that the world was created with all its life forms on October 23, 4004 BC. But the date of the Rig Veda, Ramayana and Mahabharata are quite ancient and may be older. Since this would not suit the book of Genesis of Bible, he arbitrarily concluded that the date of Rig-Veda is about 1200 BCE without any scientific merit. He also formulated the Aryan (Germanic people) Invasion Theory to show that the vast Vedic literature came from Europeans, and he expresses regrets that they blended with “native people.” The distortion of Vedic scriptures created a false claim that the Hinduism consists of blind superstitions that includes meat eating, horse killing, animal sacrifice, caste system, polytheism, and idolatry. He also claimed that Rig-Veda did not have any philosophy despite the fact it contained creation hymns (Nasadiya Sukta), and some of the early thoughts about One Creating Entity and One Supreme Godhead. Upanishads were written after the end of the Rig-Vedic period. Then how and where did the preceptors of Upanishads produced highly metaphysical ideas long before Greek philosophy was ever born? In another letter to the Duke of Argyll, Max Muller wrote, * ... As for more than twenty years my principal work has been devoted to the ancient literature of India, I cannot but feel a deep and real sympathy for all that concerns the higher interests of the people of that country. Though I have never been in India.” He continues to say, “My curiosity to see India is not very great.” “I can see more of India from reading books, newspapers, and letters.” Then how is that this man can interpret Vedic religion and its traditions? In another letter, he notes, “India has been conquered once, but India must be conquered again, and that second conquest should be a conquest by education” to convert them to Christianity. Once, he argued with Sir Charles Darwin that his theory of organic evolution ignored the role of languages that was important in the evolution of Humans from primates. Once, a leading newspaper from United States the “New York Nation,” published an article that claimed that Max Muller’s work on Rig-Veda was done by a German scholar and a group of European Sanskrit professors were his helpers. He claimed that his work is his own, and diminished the role of Vedic scholars from India. This is a tradition he established that still plays a role in South Asian Studies and Hindu Studies programs where Europeans wield more power on scholarship that Hindus from India.

Book reviewed: Academic Hinduphobia by Rajiv Malhotra

The lapdogs are pillaging the Hindu traditions This book is a collection of essays by the author on American scholarship of Hinduism. There are numerous errors in the interpretation of the Hindu sacred texts by leading academics such as the University of Chicago Professor Wendy Doniger, Jeffery Kripal, Paul Courtright and Sarah Caldwell. The one in particular is the use of Freudian psychoanalysis in hermeneutics of Vedic Dharma. Because Wendy Doniger does not have any credentials to make “psychoanalysis” of Hindu theological and metaphysical structure. In the current cancel culture and wokism, Sanatan Dharma is reduced to drinking cows’ urine, idol worshipping, and active practicing of the caste system in India and here in the Western hemisphere. The work of many Western scholars is not gracious towards Hindu culture. This is not only offensive to the practitioners of the faith across the globe but also to ancient Indian traditions. In American academia the teaching of Hinduism and Indian literature is being supervised by Western scholars, and the Indian faculty member, in order to fit in become marginal member of the Western scholarship, and then taunt at Indian culture in the same manner as the English colonialists. This has radicalized the Muslim and Christian populations in India. The cultural appropriation occurs by first a Westerner approaches an Indian guru with some contempt, then studies under him, acquires the knowledge. Once the transfer of knowledge is complete, the former disciple progressively erases the original source, such as omission of the Sanskrit terms and their original meaning. The knowledge gets repackaged as the idea of their own thought and may even proceed to denigrate the Indian tradition. The traditional Indian knowledge is decontextualized and Christianized. In the final stage, the ideas are exported back to India by the former disciple and/or his followers for consumption as Western science or as 'superior' thought. The modern day reimportation of Christian Yoga into India serves as a good example. American academia is consumed with Eurocentric perspective that evaluates the Indian culture to reflect on colonial domination. Their studies are based on the model of Abrahamic traditions which is disrespectful to ancient Indian traditions. The Hindu epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata are lot more interesting than Old Testament or New Testament or any work of Greek literature. They describe the complexity, a range of the metaphysical and theological ideas. The author is open and honest in evaluating the bias of Western scholarship that has demonized and disrespected Hindu traditions while ignoring the weakness of the Abrahamic texts and its practices.

Book Reviewed: Probable Impossibilities: Musings on Beginnings and Endings by Alan Lightman.

Reflections on the fundamentals of cosmos What is the Big Bang, which caused the origin of our universe? What came before the Big Bang? What is infinity and nothingness in cosmos? How do we account for everything that is between nothingness and infinity. Is life special? What exists between the cosmos of ever smaller fundamental particles within the atom, and the unending world of ever larger things, like stars, galaxies, the universe, black holes, and multiverse. There seems to be an infinite space and time where everything imaginable is happening. But between these two extremes of nothingness and infinity, atoms and molecules assemble to form life. From ever smaller single celled organisms to large complex living systems like human beings. How does consciousness of living organisms fit in this cosmic creation? Is it as fundamental as spacetime and matter or does it remain an integral part of evolved life? The author muses about the physical reality we experience to find a connection with cosmos. This sounds like an amazing discussion, but the authors’ examination is a bust since none of the concepts of biology or physics relevant to this discussion is presented in any depth. In fact, this is very disappointing, and we learn very little from this book. The title of the book looks interesting, but after reading this book you will emerge empty-handed, not having learnt much from this interlocution.

Book Reviwed: A Gardener's Guide to Botany: The biology behind the plants you love, how they grow, and what they need by Scott Zona

Not a definitive guide This is a basic manual for gardeners interested in knowing about the biology of plants. This book is by no means illuminating, not very technical but offers some peripheral view of plant life. This is written for gardeners and plant enthusiasts with no college courses to their credit. You will find some basic information about seeds, flowers, roots, and leaves; like what happens to a seed after it is planted? How do plants survive? And how do they reproduce? The author has quite simple answers to complex plant processes. I did not learn anything new than what I already knew. I rated this book three stars for nice photographs, they are very professional and colorful.

Book Reviewed: On Gravity: A Brief Tour of a Weighty Subject by A. Zee

The cosmic origins of gravity According to Newton, an object falling down to the ground experiences gravitational force from earth. This force represents the earth pulling the object, and also the object pulling the earth up. According to Einstein, the force is not “force” perse, but it is due to the curvature of spacetime (space and time are amalgamated into a malleable spacetime.) Spacetime warps around the object, and when it is falling down to earth, it seeks to extremize its action, that is, find the shortest distance to earth, which is also surrounded by curved spacetime. But according to quantum field theory, the curved spacetime is due to gazillions of gravitons (particles of gravity) sweeping around. When an object is falling, gravitons zing back and forth like crazy between the falling object and the earth. This constant exchange of graviton between the two bodies (falling object and earth) produces the observed gravitational force. This is similar to the constant exchange of photons between two charged particles that produces electromagnetic force. These are two of the four fundamental forces observed in the cosmos. Electromagnetic waves are produced by quantum fields such as light. They consist of both waves and particles. Similarly gravitational fields which are also quantum fields have gravitational waves, and particles called gravitons. The author has a unique style of writing to describe gravitational physics that takes us on a tour of general relativity, quantum physics, quantum field theory, spacetime, gravity and black holes. This math-free book is a good introduction to quantum gravity and has a lot of interesting history. He is a good physicist and a great writer. The book simply demonstrates that our knowledge of spacetime at its most fundamental level is inadequate. This is brutally an honest story written with some passion and humor. Highly recommended to anyone interested in gravity, black holes, and the nature of spacetime.