Factfulness by Has Rosling

In the book, Factfulness: Ten Reasons We're Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling we get not an optimistic but a realistic view of the world through data. The world may be bad but in general it is getting better. Hans wrote this book with his daughter and son-in-law as he was dying of pancreatic cancer. It summarizes the life lessons he has learned as a public health professional using facts to evaluate the world. It may be bad, but we are making it better and we can measure our progress.

He makes a strong case for dumping the dichotomy of the developed world and the undeveloped or third world. He instead divides nations into 4 categories, 1- Extreme poverty, 2- low income, 3- moderate income and 4- high income. He also recognizes that within countries there is overlap. In general, as income levels rise birthrates drop. This is why the global population will peak and remain stable at approximately 10 - 12 billion in the year 2100. The population curve is S shaped not J shaped.  He points out that up until 200 years ago most of the world was on level one with families having 6 babies and loosing 4 before they children reach adulthood. He recalls his grandmother in Sweden watching the first load of laundry going in his parents' washing machine. She then told her grandson Hans, the machine is doing the work and now we have time to go to the library.

He polls audiences about the current state of the world offering them three choices. In all but one case the audience does worse than random selections by chimpanzees. The only question audiences do better than the chimps is on the consensus of scientists regarding the trend upwards in global temperature. Hans was pressured by Al Gore to provide graphs of the worse case scenario for climate change but Hans refused to extrapolate beyond the data. Activist are often temped to exaggerate to increase urgency and this may work in the short term but backfires when credibility is lost when the predictions do not come true. 

Why is this? We are fed a steady diet of news that is generally factual and dramatic but provides a distorted view of the world. We are treated to the unusual and atypical. We also have data that is correct for 20 or 30 years ago but has not been updated.

He also cautions about orphan numbers. These are facts that stand alone but have no comparison. He uses the example that 2 million babies in the world died before reaching age 1 at some year in the 21st Century. This is bad but in the 1950's that number was around 16 million. Considering the world's population is much greater now, the death rate per 1,000 people is much lower than it was in the 50's. There is work to be done but we are making progress.

The mindset of factfulness  Hans Rosling- 17 minutes

How to not be ignorant about the world - 19 min. 

This is why the world is getting better Anna Rosling - 24 min.

The Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson

Bill Bryson's offers up childhood reminiscences of his life growing up in Des Moines, Iowa during the 1950's. This book, The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir, follows a similar style to his later works. He describes a childhood memory then adds snippets of historical events to enrich the story. I've notice many parallels to Mark Twain's stories where he borrows from childhood experiences to create a story. The book title comes from a thunderbolt sweater that Bryson finds in the basement.

This is not the story of a genius but a kid who feels that he is the offspring of super hero aliens from another planet. This explains why he doesn't understand his parents.

The author's less than exemplary performance in school and awful attendance record will offer some hope to those students who struggled to graduate.

Bryson's friend Katz makes several memorable appearances towards the later half of the book. Katz's full embrace of hedonist life style a diverts the attention of local authorities from the rest of boys who have better connections. After an extended time away from society Katz joins Bryson to hike the Appalachian Trail in Bryson's book, A Walk in the Woods.  Bryson also gives a where are they now update on the main characters in the book.

Bill Bryson The Thunderbolt Kid - 6 min. 

The origin of the Thunderbolt Kid - 4 min. 

Birds of Minnesota Field Guide by Stan Tekiela

Stan Tekiela's excellent photos complement this well designed guide for the first time casual birder in Minnesota. I recommend both the field guide: Birds of Minnesota Field Guide (Bird Identification Guides) and the audio book: Birds of Minnesota Audio CDs: Companion to the Bird of Minnesota Field Guide. The audio book syncs up with the first edition of the book which you may be able to find used.

The guide organizes the birds by primary colors. It also offers separate entries for male and female birds with distinctly different coloring. The two CD audio set comes with a small insert with photos. I've found learning the bird calls helps me to look for a specific bird often hiding in the trees, bushes, or ground.

These are a couple of videos I made with still photos and distinctive calls recorded on a cell phone. The last three videos are from an entertaining and informative lecture that Stan gave on birds in Minnesota.




Catbird - N. Carlson -  36 seconds

Red Bellied Woodpecker - 22 seconds

Uncommon bird facts #1 with Stan Tekiela - 24 minutes

Uncommon facts Birds #2 with Stan Tekiela - 21 minutes

Uncommon facts Birds #3 with Stan Tekiela - 26 minutes

Medical Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths Great Courses

Be prepared to have many well cherished medical beliefs crushed by mountains of scientific research. Professor Steven Novella, MD from the Yale School of Medicine offers an informative series of lectures on Medical Myths, Lies, and Half-Truths: What We Think We Know May Be Hurting Us from the Great Courses.

Clinicians, epidemiologists, and scientists conduct studies to determine if these medical practices have any benefit. Ineffective treatments include: homeopathy, echinacea (for colds), magnets, and antioxidants.  In other cases an accepted medical practice such as chelation therapy - Web MD is used inappropriately as a treatment outside the approved guidelines. Anti-vaccine advocates are debunked - Public Health because children develop the symptoms before getting the vaccine. The professor notes that the original person attacking the measles vaccine was also attempting to profit from an alternative vaccine.

How to spot a fraud: The treatment is not typically done by standard medical practice. The evidence for the efficacy is mixed. Negative results are followed by special pleading saying that there was something deficient in the study. Evidence for support is by anecdote or testimonial. A standard treatment is being used outside its approved use. The treatment is not offered in the United States but at a convenient location close to the border. New scientific discoveries are monetized before the effects are fully understood (eg: Radithor - Oak Ridge Associated Universities - an over the counter radioactive oral medicine). 

There is a long line of people willing to extract cash for treatments that don't work or may be harmful. This series of lectures can arm the listener with the tools to make better health decisions.  I highly recommend it.

Medical Myths  1 min. 

What used to be fraud is now alternative medicine - 15 min.

Science-based medicine beyond integrated medicine - 22 min.