What We Are Reading Today: Myanmar: Politics, Economy and Society
Updated 26 March 2023
Arab News
Author: Adam Simpson, Nicholas Farrelly (editors)
“Myanmar: Politics, Economy and Society” provides a sophisticated overview of the key political, economic and social challenges facing contemporary Myanmar and explains the complex historical and ethnic dynamics that have shaped the country.
The book provides a clear and incisive contribution from the world’s leading Myanmar scholars, assessing the policies and political reforms that have provoked contestation in the country’s recent history.
Questions of economic ownership and control and the distribution of natural resources are shown to be deeply informed by long-standing fractures among ethnic and civil-military relations.
The chapters analyse the key issues that constrain or expedite societal development in Myanmar and place recent events of national and international significance in the context of its complex history and social relations, according to a review on goodreads.com.
The book demonstrates that ethnic and cultural diversity is at the core of Myanmar’s society and heavily influences all aspects of life in the country.
This book will be of top interest to students, journalists and scholars of Southeast Asian politics, economics and societies.
Based on more than 20 years of experience and 40 years of research, this book presents a practical, proven strategy for creating and meeting goals that has been used by more than 1 million people to achieve extraordinary things in life, says a review published on goodreads.com.
Author Brian Tracy explains the seven key elements of goal setting and the 12 steps necessary to set and accomplish goals of any size. Using simple language and real-life examples, Tracy shows how to do the crucial work of determining one’s strengths, values, and true goals.
What We Are Reading Today: ‘The Enjoyment of Math’
Updated 08 June 2023
Arab News
Authors: Hans Rademacher and Otto Toeplitz
What is so special about the number 30? Do the prime numbers go on forever? Are there more whole numbers than even numbers? “The Enjoyment of Math” explores these and other captivating problems and puzzles, introducing readers to some of the most fundamental ideas in mathematics. With an incisive foreword by Alex Kontorovich, this Princeton Science Library edition shares the enjoyment of math with a new generation of readers.
REVIEW: ‘The Legend of Zelda’ is a sprawling masterpiece
Updated 08 June 2023
James Denselow
LONDON: In 2017, “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” broke records and received glowing critical acclaim. It sold about 30 million copies and set the benchmark for open world exploration games for the Nintendo Switch.
The recent release of “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” had big shoes to fill, but it has already surpassed expectations, selling over 10 million copies within three days of its release.
There is a trend in games reviews to estimate how much time a game will take to complete, but with the new “Zelda” game this is almost impossible. Talk on social media is replete with gamers who have already spent 60 hours on it without really proceeding along the main narrative arc of the story.
Indeed, such is the enormity and complexity of the world that you are dropped into that it is almost a daunting game to invest in. But if you have the time — and, of course, the portability of the Switch allows for a supreme flexibility — then a world of wonder awaits.
Within five minutes of taking on the role of Link, the famous elfin like hero, you have lost the Princess Zelda that you have sworn to protect, had your sword reduced to a useless husk, and lost an arm in the process of unleashing an ancient evil lying dormant below Hyrule Castle.
Link awakes in a kingdom in the sky tended to by a benevolent ghost who replaces the missing limb with a powerful version of his own allowing Link a series of game changing powers. These are the essential difference from previous Zelda titles as the new arm allows Link to manipulate his environment, build unique weapons, reverse time, and ascend through solid structures.
The new powers are then unleashed on the vast open world of Hyrule and the floating islands in the sky above. Here more traditional challenges await from solving puzzle shrines, defeating a range of enemies, and completing a seemingly infinite number of quests from the major to the minor.
In addition to Link’s new arm powers, the game introduces “Zonai devices” that allow the hero to build rafts, gliders, sleds and more to navigate the huge gaming arena. However, a quicker alternative is to fast travel between shrines, but far more rewarding is the capture and taming of wild horses who can be named and stabled.
World exploring rewards curiosity and the approach to crafting ranges from making clothes suitable for the variety of environments, putting together all manner of weapons, to cooking meals that can see you through the tougher tests that lie ahead.
The storyline is the classic good versus evil, but the impact of the release of the evil — what the characters call “the gloom” — is skilfully done and makes the landscape feels suitable distinct from the game the preceded it.
This Zelda may not be a pickup and play, but its magnificent depth can easily be lost within.
For centuries, mathematicians the world over have tried, and failed, to solve the zeta-3 problem.
Math genius Leonhard Euler attempted it in the 1700s and came up short.
The straightforward puzzle considers if there exists a simple symbolic formula for the following: 1+(1/2)^3+(1/3)^3+(1/4)^3+… . But why is this issue — the sum of the reciprocals of the positive integers cubed—so important?
With “In Pursuit of Zeta-3,” popular math writer Paul Nahin investigates the history and significance of this mathematical conundrum.
The first section explores the many different forms of love including the romantic, platonic and familial. Gibran writes about the joys and pains of love and the importance of giving and receiving it in our lives
Updated 06 June 2023
Ghadi Joudah
“Secrets of the Heart” is a book by author and poet Kahlil Gibran, first published in 1947, after his death.
The collection of his writing on love and friendship is divided into several sections, each focusing on different aspects of the human heart.
The book is written through the eyes of a woman whose father made her marry a wealthy nobleman. The unnamed woman begins to write a letter to her beloved sister, pouring her heart out that while her husband cherishes her, she believes he is not meant for her love.
The first section explores the many different forms of love including the romantic, platonic and familial. Gibran writes about the joys and pains of love and the importance of giving and receiving it in our lives.
The second section delves into the nature of true friendship and the qualities that make a good companion. The author emphasizes the importance of honesty, loyalty and understanding in building strong friendships.
The third section consists of meditations on the human heart and its mysteries. Gibran reflects on what lies within the heart, its connection to the soul, and its role in our emotional and spiritual lives.
Throughout the book, Gibran’s writing is poetic and philosophical.
He uses metaphors to explore the complex and often contradictory nature of the human experience, shedding light on how the woman sees herself as a “martyr in this belittling world.”
“Secrets of the Heart” is one of many essays Gibran wrote using both prose and poetry.
While Gibran did not belong to any literary movement, his works reflect elements of symbolism from the Romantic and New Thought movements. He is revered as the voice of the East, which found its way into the hearts of Western readers.
