Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Touch the Top of the World - Erik Weihenmayer

This autobiography of Erik Weihenmayer is simply amazing and truly inspiring. Having lost his sight in his early teens he never gave into settling into a life for the blind but has challenged himself at every step - much more than a lot of us who can see would dare or dream to do. He could be the Howard Roark of mountain climbing if there was such a thing! Having climbed the tallest peaks on all continents in the world he has done a great job at putting it all together in this book as well. It is simply exhilarating to read his description of the various climbs and the views as described to him atop the various peaks. At times the book gets too deep down into the climbing details and might be a little laborious to work through but overall a very inspiring read. The book has it's funny moments as well esp with 'positive pessimism'.

The best and the most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched. They must be felt with the heart. - Helen Keller

The Meaning Of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientist - Richard P. Feynman

I recently came across this interesting set of short lectures that Feynman gave at UWash in 1963. It definitely made a dent in my unquestioning belief in religion and god and has me thinking more about it than ever before. This unusual set of lecture series has little to do with Physics. Curiously enough it tries to understand the tension between religion and science and brings out some very thought provoking questions. A very good short read.

Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

I'm definitely a latecomer to this book - most people having read this in their freshman years and there is little that I can write about it which hasn't been written before. This 700 page novel is one of the most engrossing and intellectually possessing books I've read thus far. Ayn Rand does a great job at building an almost mythical cast of characters which display amazing strength, courage and commitment. It definitely has me wanting to pick up some of the traits of Howard Roark :)

Man's ego is the fountainhead of human progress.

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.