Book Review: The Manga Guide to Relativity by Hideo Nitta, Masafumi Yamamoto and Keita Takatsu

Many years ago, when I was in Japan for business trips, I would often find myself hanging out in bookshops and browsing technical books. Not that I can read entire Japanese books, but I find them very informative with all the illustrations. Looking at illustrations alone and understanding the descriptions are sometimes enough for me.

When I found The Manga Guide to Relativity, my first reaction was that of skepticism. There is no way they can teach relativity thru Manga. Being a fan of Japanese animation, I gave it a try, just for entertainment value.

I was delightfully surprised that the topic of relativity was seamlessly integrated to a humorous story: Japanese humor + Japanese comic + science = a fun and informative read.

What I liked most about the book(comic book) is that it used simple examples to illustrate core principles in Relativity contrary to most Physics books in the market. But of course, not everything can be explained through Manga so there are a couple of pages that has more text but beautifully illustrated nevertheless.

How I wish this book was available when I was taking up my Physics subjects! I am looking forward to read more of the titles in the Manga Series:

The Manga Guide to Databases

The Manga Guide to the Universe

The Manga Guide to Physics

The Manga Guide to Calculus

The Manga Guide to Electricity

The Manga Guide to Statistics

The Manga Guide to Molecular Biology

The Manga Guide to Biochemistry

I highly recommend this book to Manga fans who might want to learn while being entertained the Manga way

Book review rating:

[Disclaimer: I got this book for free as part of the Oreilly blogger review program I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”]

Book Review: Daddy Dates: Four Daughters, One Clueless Dad, and His Quest to Win Their Hearts: The Road Map for Any Dad to Raise a Strong and Confident Daughter by Greg Wright

About a year ago, I read about a preacher who says, aside from his wife, he also sets weekly dating days for his kids. These days are non-negotiable and he arranges his activities around these scheduled dates. He says that these are opportunities to bond and also teach his kids about life. That’s all he said. No further details.

Then I found this book and I found it to be a refreshing read. It encourages dads to be creative in getting to know their daughters through having dates. Although this idea seems a little bit unconventional, the author presents his case by giving examples and experiences from his own life – being a dad to four daughters.

What I like most about the book is it always encourages the reader to take a look at each daughter as an individual – with different temperaments and preferences. This requires a lot of creativity and focus on the part of dads and also presents the opportunity for moms to help in too, in case dad is so clueless about each daughter.

Another plus point for me is how the author presents his experiences as is. He shares the experiences when everything went well as well as potential messes that any dad could go into. It cautions against dads expecting excellent responses to every date invitation or expectations of great relationships after a few dates. There is also a chapter devoted to dads who don’t live with their daughters, an unfortunate reality in many parts of the world.

I highly recommend this book to dads who have daughters.

Book review rating:


Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”