I return to my natal city Rome whenever I
can. Fast forward...
MD (Brown, '81), Internal Medicine,
fellowship in Clinical Pharmacology, boarded in both
specialties. Assistant Professor of Medicine, Brown
University School of Medicine - where I also became
co-Director of the Substance Abuse Treatment Center.
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and
Alcoholism (NIAAA) at the National Institutes of Health
(NIH) from 1996 to 2004. I was recruited by the late
V.
Markku Linnoila, MD, PhD., Scientific Director of NIAAA
and remained there from '96 - '04. His untimely death was a
huge loss for the field. His mentorship and critiques
shaped my personal and professional development.
I'm now running a successful business
cycle forecast research firm. And I'm keeping it small. I
have finally learned that particular lesson. I have changed
a lot over the past five years. My temperament is now much
less compatible with careers in academia or clinical
practice. I still read a lot of medicine and pharmacology.
Had we universal health coverage in the US, my life might
have taken a different path.
Unordered sample of books which influenced
my thinking.
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life
(P.S.)
( Barbara Kingsolver) This is beautifully written
tale about food. The diary of a year where she and
her family decided to eat only locally grown and
raised food. Some they grew themselves, and some was
obtained from locoal farmers. Her observations about
our life out of balance are kindly and firmly
delivered.
Ecclesiastes
- And you thought Camus gave birth to
Existentialism?
Lankavatara Sutra Hours to read and lifetimes to
understand. Made easier to comprehend by D.T. Suzuki's
commentary, I am still working at it. It has been
decades. I'm too attached to give it up.
Fractals: Form, chance, and dimension
(Benoit Mandelbrot) Waiting for his Nobel prize. The
book that defined the subject. It is hard not to be
influenced no matter what field of research - from
social studies to the structure of RNA complexes. I
first saw the review in good ol' WER. The same place
that detailed an amusing conferencing system called
the Well back in 1985.
The Art of War
(Sun Tzu) - A book of strategy. Excellent if you are
raising adolescents or wonder how Hillary got so
popular. Probably also handy if you have to face
thirty thousand fully armed Han archers. Modern
generals ignore these precepts at their peril.
First principles
(Herbert Spencer) - An American gnostic philosopher
who melded spiritualism and science, and came up
with the basis of evolutionary theory concurrent
with Darwin. If integrating science and spirituality
interests you, this is the man. A few years before
de Chardin.
The Society of the Spectacle
(Guy Debord) If you think you are a student of 60's
counter-culture, and you have not read this little
work, you are a poseur. I'm sorry for being so
blunt.
The Periodic Table
(Primo Levi) An account of life in Fascist Italy,
from the perspective of an Italian Jew. The
spiritual alchemy of surviving soul murder. He
almost made it.
Resampling: The new statistics
(Julian Simon) - This lucid tome allowed me to
progress from an abstract and tenuous understanding
of basic statistics to finally grokking the concepts
from hands-on experience. I finally "got" the
concept of the classic families of probability
distributions by running resampling routines. I plan
on putting all the statistical genetic Matlab
resampling routines I wrote and use here as soon as
I get the proverbial Round-Tu-It.
Sexual Personae : Art & Decadence from Nefertiti to
Emily Dickinson
(Camille Paglia) - Like it or not, and I do, she is
in the top five list of American literary critics
and intellectuals. This probably explains why she is
much more famous in Europe than in the States. If
the best scholarly outline of Western sexual
semiotics in the history of the Western Canon
doesn't turn you on, never mind. If it does and
you're in Philly, you might go listen to some of her
lectures. If you can't be in Philly, buy this
book!
Human Action: A Treatise on Economics
(Ludwig von Mises) - Forget bafflegabbing
econometric mathematical models. Von Mises details
the human psychology behind economic actions and
builds a predictive system around those premises.
Functionally, it seems to work pretty well. Applying
the same principles to the current economy, we are
living through interesting times. Don't know about
"crack-up booms"? Read all about it.
Interpersonal Diagnosis of Personality: A Functional
Theory and Methodology for Personality
Evaluation
(Timothy Leary) Published in 1957. Discount, forget
and ignore Prof. Leary's media hologram later in his
life, and the fact that I am not a psychologist.
Spending time with animal behaviorists who
developed, validated, and used ethograms in their
research, and studying a bit on the history of
psychology, I came away with a deep sense of
appreciation for the level of creativity and
persistence it takes to do this kind of science.
With these dubious credentials, I'll venture that
this is one of the foundational books on human
behavior following the path of Mary Calkins and
Gordon Allport. If you are majoring and/or doing
graduate work in psychology/personality you need
this book. If it is not in your library, buy it for
yourself. You will be amazed at how much modern
personality research owes this creative mind, and
how many times either the wheel was re-invented, or
his work was used and not acknowledged.
Neuromancer
(William Gibson) The Matrix Foundation.
Economic and Social History of Medieval
Europe
(Henri Pirenne) Why the "Dark Ages" is a misnomer.
The originality and vitality of Europe after the
death of the empire and before the rise of the
modern nation state. In the alternate reality, I
teach Medieval Studies at Oxford.
Aspects of the Feminine (C. G. Jung) It's unfortunate
that the word "feminine" carries so much baggage in
English. I think "Aspects of the Generative Life Force"
would be a better title.
Cosmicomics
(Italo Calvino) The self-absorbed monologue of an
atom wandering around space sounds like dreadful
drivel. Until you read this.
Alcohol Withdrawal Treatment Manual (Alcohol and Drug
Abuse Treatment series)(DePetrillo
& McDonough) - The one and only practical guide
to treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Sure,
go ahead and purchase all the other books on the
subject and get massive headaches trying to figure
out which part of the academic bafflegab will help
you in providing care to real people in the real
world. Need I say
more?
There's a few more..., to be continued. in case you're
wondering, the few pennies a year that come from clicking
on these links go to the Children's Literacy Foundation
(CLiF) I'm an inveterate walker and hiker with a few
close calls in the Southwest deserts of the US. My favorite
place at the moment for quiet inspiration is the C&O
canal tow path by the Potomac River near Great Falls. At
least I know the water will not run out.
( Barbara Kingsolver) This is beautifully written tale about food. The diary of a year where she and her family decided to eat only locally grown and raised food. Some they grew themselves, and some was obtained from locoal farmers. Her observations about our life out of balance are kindly and firmly delivered.
(Benoit Mandelbrot) Waiting for his Nobel prize. The book that defined the subject. It is hard not to be influenced no matter what field of research - from social studies to the structure of RNA complexes. I first saw the review in good ol' WER. The same place that detailed an amusing conferencing system called the Well back in 1985.
(Sun Tzu) - A book of strategy. Excellent if you are raising adolescents or wonder how Hillary got so popular. Probably also handy if you have to face thirty thousand fully armed Han archers. Modern generals ignore these precepts at their peril.
(Herbert Spencer) - An American gnostic philosopher who melded spiritualism and science, and came up with the basis of evolutionary theory concurrent with Darwin. If integrating science and spirituality interests you, this is the man. A few years before de Chardin.
(Guy Debord) If you think you are a student of 60's counter-culture, and you have not read this little work, you are a poseur. I'm sorry for being so blunt.
(Primo Levi) An account of life in Fascist Italy, from the perspective of an Italian Jew. The spiritual alchemy of surviving soul murder. He almost made it.
(Julian Simon) - This lucid tome allowed me to progress from an abstract and tenuous understanding of basic statistics to finally grokking the concepts from hands-on experience. I finally "got" the concept of the classic families of probability distributions by running resampling routines. I plan on putting all the statistical genetic Matlab resampling routines I wrote and use here as soon as I get the proverbial Round-Tu-It.
(Camille Paglia) - Like it or not, and I do, she is in the top five list of American literary critics and intellectuals. This probably explains why she is much more famous in Europe than in the States. If the best scholarly outline of Western sexual semiotics in the history of the Western Canon doesn't turn you on, never mind. If it does and you're in Philly, you might go listen to some of her lectures. If you can't be in Philly, buy this book!
(Ludwig von Mises) - Forget bafflegabbing econometric mathematical models. Von Mises details the human psychology behind economic actions and builds a predictive system around those premises. Functionally, it seems to work pretty well. Applying the same principles to the current economy, we are living through interesting times. Don't know about "crack-up booms"? Read all about it.
(Robert Prechter)
(ed Timothy Kohler and George Gumerman) Playing with Starlogo, I employed some of these concepts to generate very simple market-behavior models. It's a hobby.
(Timothy Leary) Published in 1957. Discount, forget and ignore Prof. Leary's media hologram later in his life, and the fact that I am not a psychologist. Spending time with animal behaviorists who developed, validated, and used ethograms in their research, and studying a bit on the history of psychology, I came away with a deep sense of appreciation for the level of creativity and persistence it takes to do this kind of science. With these dubious credentials, I'll venture that this is one of the foundational books on human behavior following the path of Mary Calkins and Gordon Allport. If you are majoring and/or doing graduate work in psychology/personality you need this book. If it is not in your library, buy it for yourself. You will be amazed at how much modern personality research owes this creative mind, and how many times either the wheel was re-invented, or his work was used and not acknowledged.
(William Gibson) The Matrix Foundation.
[Sei Passegiate Nei Boschi Narrativi] (Umberto Eco) Oh visto quello che non si deve vedere.
(Henri Pirenne) Why the "Dark Ages" is a misnomer. The originality and vitality of Europe after the death of the empire and before the rise of the modern nation state. In the alternate reality, I teach Medieval Studies at Oxford.
(Italo Calvino) The self-absorbed monologue of an atom wandering around space sounds like dreadful drivel. Until you read this.
(DePetrillo & McDonough) - The one and only practical guide to treatment of alcohol withdrawal syndrome. Sure, go ahead and purchase all the other books on the subject and get massive headaches trying to figure out which part of the academic bafflegab will help you in providing care to real people in the real world. Need I say more?
