Welcome to Litsy!

Interesting, informative, and even entertaining.

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Another day of training, another lovely selection!

Finished this one the other day. Really enjoyed it. Had a lot of thought provoking ethical dilemmas to ponder.

#HousePanther 🦞 making himself cozy on his brother

Watching Luchasaurus while reading the chapter entitled “Bone Wars” … seems pretty fitting :) 🦖🦕 #AEW

Enjoying this one while we watch wrestling 🤼‍♂️ #AEW

Fascinating and messed up. Some of the things I knew about, but a lot I had no clue. People are messed up.

The Jurassic Park quote really is most fitting here “Scientists were so preoccupied whether or not they could, they didn‘t stop to think if they should.”

🎧 I was a captive audience. Each chapter is a new story of somewhat horrific oddness!

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I really enjoyed this one! Also, I think it's cool that my #nonfiction reading is starting to overlap bc I actually had prev knowledge abt a few of the cases he talked about. But also others sort of 🤯 bc they were little things I'd never considered but that were obvious. The book ends with some questions for the future that I thought were v interesting and sort of sound like a scifi novel but that are grounded in our reality #history #science

Next up on the list of books to read is this one, also my Oct ALCs included Cursed and IM SO EXCITEDDDDDD #scarathlon2022 #teamMonsterMash #pointsathon #scaracoffee22 #bookspin #bookspinbingo

#scarathlondailyprompt for killer

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Picture a group of bookstore-hopping #NashvilleLittens. It was time to leave #Parnassus, and I couldn‘t make a decision, so I panicked-grabbed this for the incredible cover. A solid decision. What an intriguing premise! Some stories were a bit lengthy and dry, but overall, this is a fascinating look into what compels humans to venture into ethical gray areas, and sometimes criminal territory, in the name of science.

Spent two lovely kidless hours at the pool this afternoon. Even treated myself to lunch from the poolside grille. Wish this could be every day! 😂

Can we just admire this book cover. Brilliant a 200 / 10 and the story inside? I bet it will be right up my alley.

I love dark science and curious death stories like this. I predict a 5 star listen.

I need to order a copy for my shelf!

My boys are at a trampoline park birthday party which means I get a couple of hours with this beauty. Super interesting so far! #coverlove

The Icepick Surgeon is an interesting look at the ways in which science has been used for nefarious purposes or gone off the ethical rails. Overall, I enjoyed this, though I would have liked a little more of each story and the author is a tad too willing to promote himself (he references his podcast way too many times).

Kean looks into cases of misdeeds, crimes, and unethical behavior committed in the name of scientific advancement. Some stories were familiar while others were unknown to me. Overall, the book was interesting, but the audiobook frequently interrupted the narrative with references to the author‘s podcast and website. Perhaps these interruptions are unobtrusive footnotes in the print version, but they were clunky in the audiobook.

3.5 ⭐
I know some bad things have been done in the name of science. But most know them in a periphery, a side view that may not be accurate. Mangala, bad scientist. Tuskegee, bad science, etc. But this book gives the readers a bit more in depth knowledge of these and many more events without overloading on any one topic. Plus the stories the author decided to tell were sometimes known, other times not, and some were downright shocking. ⬇

Sam Kean is easily my favorite science writer. This book is witty, entertaining, informative, gross, sad and infuriating. The animal cruelty chapter is hard to listen to, but for me the chapter on lobotomy was the worst. How we allowed such a barbaric practice is beyond me, I'm just glad they stopped. Being held down, awake, while someone drove an icepick into my eye is my definition of Hell. 4 🤯🤯🤯🤯 1/2

A new Sam Kean book is always a good thing. I will warn readers that there is a chapter about animal cruelty that makes for hard reading (skip it if you need to) and the icepick surgery chapter may cause squeamish people like me to feel rather faint. This chapter includes a photo of surgery in progress 😖 But overall a good read.

“[Tesla would] get physically ill if he saw a peach or pearl. No one knew why.”
Me, who has played way too much Stardew Valley: “Ah, those would definitely be his hated gifts!” 😂😂
https://stardewvalleywiki.com/Friendship

(Image description: Nikola Tesla with a scribble speech bubble over his head to denote anger, and pixel art of a peach and a pearl from Stardew Valley)

Saw this in the On Order section of my library catalogue and practically drilled a hole in the Place Hold button 🤣 Looking forward to this!

A horrifying yet fascinating look at the crimes that have been comitted in the name of science. Wildly ranging in topics from the more fun--buccaneer naturalist William Dampier--to the purely deplorable--Nazi "experiments," lobotomies, and Tuskegee syphilis study. I learned a lot and found the book really interesting but the sheer horror of many of the topics made it hard for me to rate it more than 3.5 stars

Between a pick and a so-so.

Are you into weird medical history? I am and wrote a blog post about some of the best of the genre over on Unassigned Reading:

unassignedreadingpod.com/horrifying-history-of-medical-mistakes/

Lazy Saturday with the snow melting which means it's the perfect reading conditions

"As the judge banged the gavel, William Dampier hung his head in disgrace. One of the most celebrated scientists of his age was now a convicted felon."

#FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl