Rock, Paper, Scissors -Game Theory in Everyday Life

[Author: Len Fisher; Publisher: Hay House; Hardcover: 288 pages ]

Game theory is the study of strategic decision making. 
It has been extensively used to explain many behavioral patterns in 
economics, political science, psychology and biology.
Even in our day to day life game theory can guide us towards effective strategies to use in situations of competition and conflict.

But this book explores the other side of the game theory that concerns  cooperation rather than conflicts, collaboration rather than competition.

Len Fisher, the author discusses how game theory can help us develop 

fresh strategies for cooperation.

The book begins with a chapter that explains Nash equilibrium concepts. 
Nash equilibrium is a situation created during  interaction among two or more parties where at least one party fares worse but from which it can't escape without faring  still worse. This happens when every party acts out of self-interest leading to many serious social dilemmas and problems. 

The next chapter discusses the ways to divide resources fairly using strategies as I Cut and You Choose and shows that we can't rely on external authorities or on our own sense of fairness to produce lasting cooperation. Rather we need to explore how  our own self-interest can be used to make the cooperation self-enforcing.

The third chapter uses game theory to examine how social dilemmas actually arise. Seven social dilemmas are discussed viz;  The Prisoner's Dilemma, The Tragedy of Commons, The Free Rider, Chicken, The Volunteer's Dilemma, The Battle of the Sexes and the Stag Hunt. 

The next four chapters deal with  strategies  for cooperation that include a variant of Rock, Paper, Scissors game, new methods of cooperative bargaining, methods for eliciting trust, and the use of tit-for-tat strategies. The author discusses how such strategies emerge and how to use them to promote cooperation rather than confrontation in the society. 

Then follows a chapter that investigates the possibility of  avoiding  social dilemmas by changing the game itself, either by introducing new players or by applying quantum theory concepts. 

In the last chapter author presents his personal top ten list of tips for effective strategies in different situations which are as follows.

1. Stay if you win, shift if you loose
2. Bring an extra player in
3. Set up some form of reciprocity
4. Restrict your own future options so that you will lose out if you defect on cooperation.
5. Offer trust
6. Create a situation that neither party can independently escape from without loss
7. Use side payments to create and maintain cooperative conditions
8. Be aware of the seven deadly dilemmas, and try to reorganize the benefits and costs to different players so that the dilemma disappears
9. Divide goods, responsibilities, jobs, and penalties so that the result is envy-free
10. Divide large groups into smaller ones 

I really liked the writing style of the author which is easy to understand, humorous and autobiographical (since many game theory examples are drawn from his personal life).

 

Some  alternate titles for this book could be "Game Theory for Dummies" or "Game Theory Without Tears"

 

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to know the basics of game theory in a quick and interesting manner.

 

 Links 

• Author's Website
• Goodreads Ratings and Reviews -  Average Rating 3.33 / 5;  437 ratings; 73 reviews

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Organisation Culture - Getting it Right

Author:         Naomi Stanford 
Published:   2010
Publisher:    Profile Books Ltd.
Paperback:  288 pages
This book on corporate culture is intended for managers and business people who are struggling to: 
a) Understand the culture of their organization
b) Get a grip on why it matters 
c) Get their culture right for their business strategy 
d) Avoid the common mistakes of "culture change" 
e) Keep their culture from getting stuck
This book provides a very common-sense, practical, realistic and pragmatic approach towards understanding and working with organization culture. An excellent and enlightening read. Highly recommend it as "the first book one should read about Organization Culture" ! 
Read more about this book in my business blog.
  

People Analytics - How Social Sensing Technology Will Transform Business and What It Tells Us about the Future of Work

Author:       Ben Waber
Publisher:   FT Press ;
Hardcover: 240 pages.
People Analytics involves measuring, collecting and analyzing the data which characterizes the people's behavioral patterns.
While the traditional methods of collecting such data has been through direct observations or through surveys, the emerging trend is the use of social sensors like company ID badges, cell phones etc.
This has a huge potential to enable an organization to understand in a better manner, how their people work and collaborate. This will provide them with actionable insights for improving the effectiveness and productiveness of the work force.
Ben Waber, an expert on organizational dynamics and social sensing technologies shows in this book how this is possible.
 A very well written and interesting book to read !
Read more details about this book on my business blog..
  

Geek Nation - How Indian Science is Taking Over the World

[Author: Angela Saini; Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton; Hardcover: 288 pages ]

Who is a Geek ? 
From the author's perspective geek is someone who is very passionate about a scientific, technological or any other intellectual pursuit. She uses this term in a very complimentary manner.
In the western world Indians are perceived as geeks or nerds.
Angela Saini an UK born award winning science journalist of  Indian origin travels widely across India (during 2008-10) to check on the veracity of this perception.

She meets and interviews several scientists, technologists, researchers in premier academic institutions, research institutes, IT companies.
The outcome of this scientific pilgrimage is this book which presents the 
picture of the status of the scientific education and research in India. 

A book of this sort could have easily turned out to be a dry and scholarly compilation of recorded interviews and its readership been confined to academicians and researchers. 
But Saini  very effectively manages to write it in a a fairly enjoyable travelogue style with right blend of information and humor. After all she is a reporter.
"Angela in the Geekland" would have been a more apt title for this book ! 

This book educated me on several facets of scientific and technology research and development  in India which I was unaware of for e.g. OSDD (Open Source Drug Discovery) initiative, Spoken Web project, Lavasa Corporation, e-Courts  etc.

I am not sure whether this book presents a complete scenario of scientific research in India but whatever is presented in this book certainly makes an interesting read.
Therefore I would recommend this book to anyone who is keen on knowing some of the interesting facets of scientific research scenario in India around 2008-2010.

 

 Links 

• Author's Blog
• Goodreads Ratings and Reviews -  Average Rating 3.44 / 5;  82 ratings; 17 reviews

Contents
Underlying themes of various chapters and the people and organizations featured in  them are given below.

Introduction : 

Underlying Theme: Origins of Space Research in India

• Professor U.R. Rao, Vikram Sarabhai Space Research Center, Trivandrum 

Chapter 1 Brain Games

 

Underlying Theme: Engineering & Science  Education

• Professor Vijay Singh, International Science Olympiad Training Center
• Nitin Jain, IIT-JEE 2009 Topper & Winner of several medals in Science Olympiads
• Professor Santanu Chaudhury, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, IIT Delhi
• Professor Ambuj Sagar, IIT Delhi
• Prerit Jain  - Undergraduate student, IIT Delhi
• Rajdeep Sahrawat, VP NASSCOM
• Ravindra Shah, Chief Compliance Officer, Tata Consultancy Services
• Ananth Krishnan, Technologist, Tata Consultancy Services

Chapter 2 Electronics City

Underlying Theme: IT Industry

• Thomas Simon, VP-HR, Tata Consultancy Services
• Narayana Murthy, Founder, Infosys Technologies
• Dr. Manish Gupta, Director, IBM Labs, India
• Yusuf Motiwala & Apul Nahata , Founders, TringMe
• Nishant Ranka - Undergraduate student, IIT Delhi

Chapter 3 The Long-Life Banana

Underlying Theme: Genetically Modified Crops

• Dr  Pravendra Nath, Molecular Biologist, National Botanical Research Institute
• Vijay Jawandhia, a farmers' right activist, Vidharba
• Vandana Shiva, a rural rights activist, New Delhi
• Dr. Ajay Parida, Executive Director, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation

Chapter 4 Chariots of the Gods 


Underlying Theme: Vedic Sciences

• Subbarao Narayana, Academy of Sanskrit Research, Melkote
• Dr. Satyanarayana, Oriental Research Institute, Mysore
• Sanal Edamaruku, President, Indian Rationalist Association, New Delhi
• Meera Nanda, Historian and Researcher, Institute of Advanced Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi
• Sunderaj Chandrashekar, Academy of Sanskrit Research, Melkote
• Professor MRS Narasimha Murthy, Head, Molecular Biophysics, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru 

 Chapter 5 The Mindreading Machine

Underlying Theme: Forensic Sciences

• Dr Sunny Joseph, Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratory, Mumbai
• CR Mukundan, Inventor of Brain Electrical Oscillations Signature (BEOS) software

Chapter 6 Geek's Rule 

Underlying Theme: e-Governance

• Scot Wrighton, City Manager, Lavasa Corporation
• Vineeta Dixit, Principal Consultant -e-Governance Plan, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, New Delhi
• RK Sharma, Computer Analyst & Programmer, Department of IT, Rajasthan
• Girish Kumar Sharma, Registrar, Delhi High Court

Chapter 7 The Impossible Drug

Underlying Theme: Bio-medical Research

• Professor Virandar Chauhan, International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi
• Dr. Sujatha Narayanan, Deputy Director, Department of Immunology, Tuberculosis Research Center, Chennai
• Dr. Sridhar Sivasubbu, Researcher, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi
• Dr. Sulagna Banerjee, Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai
• Zakir Thomas, Scientist, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi 

Chapter 8 Brainpower

Underlying Theme: Nuclear Energy

• Dr Ratan Kumar Sinha, Director - Reactor Design and Development Group, Bhaba Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai

 Chapter 9 Rocket Science

Underlying Theme: Space Program 

• Narayana Moorthy, Researcher, Vikram Sarabhai Space Research Center, Trivandrum
• Madhavan Nair, Ex-Chairman, Indian Space Research Organization

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People CMM 2nd Edition

Authors:        Bill Curtis, William E. Hefley , Sally A. Miller 
Published:    2009
Publisher:    Addison-Wesley Professional ; 
Hardcover: 694 pages.

People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM) is a Human Capital Management framework developed by Carnegie Mellon University. 

This book describes the People Capability Maturity Model (P-CMM) in totality and is the single authoritative and valid reference for internal assessments and SCAMPI appraisals based on this model. 
It is a very significant contribution to the Human Capital Management literature. 

Read more details about this book in my business blog.
   

The Immortals

[Author: Amit Chaudhuri; Publisher: Picador; Paperback: 424 pages ]

This novel has three main characters - Nirmalya an adololescent boy, his mother Mallika Sengupta and their music teacher Shyamji.
Set in the backdrop of Mumbai of 1980s and Hindustani classical music as the underlying theme the book explores the relationship between these characters in a very laid-back leisurely manner as the story unfolds.
The Immortals has  several awards to its credit and was also shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book 2009.
The story does not have a conventional plot . Reading experience was more like watching a documentary film. The ending was rather abrupt. In fact the author could have chosen to end the story at any point of time in the narration and it would not have made any difference.
However the poetic style interspersed with subtle humor employed by the author while he sketches the characters and describes the city of  Mumbai (then Bombay) of thirty years back in time kept me fully engrossed till the end.
Readers used to fast paced novels with twists and turns may not appreciate this book.
But definitely a good read as far as I am concerned.

 
Links 

•  Author's website
• Goodreads Ratings and Reviews -  Average Rating 2.98 / 5;  97 ratings; 23 reviews

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Science - A Four Thousand Year History

[Author: Patricia Fara; Publisher: Oxford University Press; Paperback: 512 pages ]

 
First I will let the author Patricia Fara  to introduce her book.
(Play the embedded video below. In case of any problem view it on the YouTube site)

This book:

• Does not portray scientists and inventors as ideal heroes but as  real people who needed to earn their living, who made mistakes, who trampled down their rivals, or even sometimes got bored and did something else.
• Argues that for a scientific idea to prevail it being right is not always enough. People should accept the fact that the idea is right.
• Challenges the notion of European superiority in science,  by showing how science has been built up from knowledge and skills developed in other parts of the world like China and Islamic world.
• Instead of focusing on  abstract theories proposed and esoteric experiments conducted by scientists , it explains how science belongs to the real world of war, politics, and business.
• Describes the works of many individuals who were not scientists in conventional sense, but who developed a variety of skills - navigating by the stars, smelting ores, preparing herbal medicines, building ships, designing cannon - the contributed to the global scientific enterprises of today.
• Explains why the following questions are important and suggests ways of tackling them:
• Does religion inhibit or encourage science?
• Are alchemy and magic completely divorced from science?
• Were there really so few women or have historians the picture by telling too many exciting adventure stories about intrepid men exploring the female nature of world?
• Is it possible to have different types of science that are all valid?
• If there were indeed different sciences in different places, then how are they related to each other and modern science?
• Investigates the financial interests, imperial ambitions, and academic enterprises that made science global.
• Shows that what counts as a scientific fact depends not only on the natural world but also on who is doing research and where and when.
• Argues that scientific knowledge as it travels from one environment to another, is constantly adapted and absorbed in different ways and such transformation is still continuing.
• Challenges assumptions that appear natural yet have been created artificially - it aims to provoke thought and argument, not just provide information.
• Looks at past in order to find out how we've arrived at the present in order to improve the future.

The book has seven parts each consisting of seven short (8-10 pages) chapters. Discussions are well supported by illustrations, anecdotes. Author's sense of humor and sarcasm.also surfaces at several places.

One drawback in this book is , barring a few stray references here and their the contribution of  India towards the development of science is not given due credit. In fact decimal arithmetic and the concept of zero was  discovered in India before it spread elsewhere.

Though the readers looking for something more technical will be disappointed, overall this book is quite a light and entertaining read on the sociological history of science for a layman.





Key Points from the Book

Part I: Origins
Key Points : Science's origin is traced to ancient Babylonia & Greece. Ideas and discoveries pertained to projects like finding auspicious time for religious festivals, winning wars, vindicating biblical prophecies, divining the future, explaining the cosmos. Science's very foundation lie in techniques and concepts now often designated as magical or pseudo-scientific.
Chapter Titles : Sevens, Babylon, Heroes, Cosmos, Life, Matter, Technology

Part II: Interactions
Key Points: What counts as science depends on where and when you are looking. Information, skills and objects constantly travel from one place to another, gets passed on through generations and get adapted to local needs and taste. Scientific knowledge resulted from many centuries of communications and interactions between different peoples and places especially China, the Islamic world and the mediaeval  Europe.

Chapter Titles: Eurocentrism, China, Islam, Scholarship, Europe, Aristotle, Alchemy

Part III: Experiments

Key Points: Experimental approach towards the world that characterizes modern science developed only gradually and intermittently. Many innovations arose from reformulating traditional expertise rather than from inspired insights. Ancient ideas coexisted with ones now belonging to modern science. For e.g. coexistence of  -  both Aristotle's theory and Copernican theory of the Universe; magic, alchemy and mathematics.

Chapter Titles: Exploration, Magic, Astronomy, Bodies, Machines, Instruments, Gravity

Part IV: Institutions
 Key Points: Science is an integral component of the society, interwoven with industry, business, warfare, government, and medicine. Eighteenth century was the vital transition phase from private experiments of a select few who were wealthy to the public laboratories, state funding of institutions and industrialization. Institutions though lacking the charisma of heroics of individual discoverers and inventors were vital for advertising scientific achievements and for attracting financial backing for research projects.

Chapter Titles: Societies, Systems, Careers, Industries, Revolutions, Rationality, Disciplines

Part V: Laws
 Key Points: The nineteenth-century scientists' proposed  laws governing human as well as physical world  arrived through supposedly objective reasoning and precise recording of  facts as detached observers. But personal biases and subjective assessments of recorded results were not uncommon among these scientists. The viewpoint of German Romantic philosophers of this era who stressed a unified cosmos in which human beings are integrated within natural world resonates more with modern environmental attitudes.

Chapter Titles: Progress, Globalization, Objectivity, God, Evolution, Power, Time

Part VI: Invisibles 
Key Points: Despite development of increasingly precise instruments in the nineteenth and twentieth century it remained impossible for the atomic scientists to know everything about every natural phenomena  both theoretically and practically due to the uncertainty permeating in every aspect of the Universe. Many politically and commercially motivated research programs claiming to further science and improve humanity, launched triggered deep ethical reservations.

Chapter Titles: Life, Disease, Rays, Particles, Genes, Chemicals, Uncertainties

Part VII:
Key Points:  Modern scientists know much, much more than the ancient Babylonians about the structure of the Universe and mechanisms of the living organisms. But they are still unable to answer some of the basic questions about human existence asked by the people several thousand years ago.Massive investments in science, technology, and medicine yielded great achievements. Yet these achievements are like a double-edged sword. Political decisions needs to be made about how to take advantage of scientific discoveries.

Chapter Titles: Warfare, Heredity, Cosmology, Information, Rivalry, Environment, Futures




Links 

• Goodreads Ratings and Reviews -  Average Rating 3.78 / 5;  73 ratings; 15 reviews

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