Random House

Origins of the Specious: A book review by Bob Morris

April 11, 2023

Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language Patricia T. O’Connor and Stewart Kellerman Random House (2009) “What’s another word for ‘thesaurus’?” Steven Wright Patricia O’Connor and Stewart Kellerman have co-authored a book in which they examine…

Read More

The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A book review by Bob Morris

November 25, 2022

The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention William Rosen Random House (2010) Note: In an article written for the Wall Street Journal (January 26, 2013), Bill Gates explains why he thinks this book…

Read More

One of the most talented and influential and yet underappreciated First Ladies in U.S. history.

July 29, 2021

In her biography of Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson (1912-2007), Julia Sweig suggests that she was one of the most talented and influential and yet underappreciated First Ladies in U.S. history. Lady Bird Johnson worked tirelessly for the conservation and the…

Read More

Lady Bird Johnson: A book review by Bob Morris

May 14, 2021

Lady Bird Johnson: Hiding in Plain Sight Julia Sweig Random House (March 2021) One of the most talented and influential, yet underappreciated First Ladies Prior to reading this book, I already knew that Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson (1912-2007) was one…

Read More

Edison: A book review by Bob Morris

April 27, 2020

Edison Edmund Morris Random House (October 2019) “Vision without execution is hallucination.”  Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison is generally considered among the greatest inventors/innovators in modern history. He was awarded 1,073 patents. The list of what he created or improved…

Read More

The Coming G.O.P. Apocalypse

June 6, 2019

(Above) President Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania in May. Republicans have not found a meaningful way to address their party’s generation gap. Credit: Eric Thayer for The New York Times Over the years, I have relied on a few…

Read More

Ed Catmull on “Ugly Babies”

March 23, 2019

In Longshots, Safi Bahcall explains how great leaders “nurture the crazy ideas that win wars, cure diseases, and transform industries.” That is, “widely dismissed ideas whose champions are often written off as crazy.” For example, Pixar’s Ed Catmull (right) refers…

Read More

The Birth of the First Industrial Revolution

February 3, 2019

In The Perfectionists, Simon Winchester explains how precision engineers created the modern world. For example, in the first chapter, he points out that machines — for the first time — could be made that would make other machines, “and make…

Read More

Charles Duhigg on Encouraging Innovation

January 5, 2019

In Smarter Faster Better, Charles Duhigg observes, “Productivity is the name we give our attempts to figure out the best uses of our energy, intellect, and time as we try to seize the most meaningful rewards with the least wasted…

Read More

Charles Duhigg on Goal-Setting

December 22, 2018

In Smarter Faster Better, Charles Duhigg observes, “Productivity is the name we give our attempts to figure out the best uses of our energy, intellect, and time as we try to seize the most meaningful rewards with the least wasted…

Read More