Surely Youre Joking Mr Feynman: Richard Feynmann (1985)

A maverick!!! That is what you feel when you read the book. A person who does not agree to anything that does not meet his line of work or thinking. The theme is moving with no scope of feeling bored. Whatever he dabbled with, he excelled, e.g., physics, mathematics, computing, engineering, hacking lockers, art, teaching, music, etc. He maintained an open questioning attitude on everything, challenging authority. 

It's hard to be a Richard Feynmann. Yet, if you read through his biography, you learn a lot from his life. Written 40 years ago, I still consider the book relevant and worth every page. 

Lutyens’ Maverick: Ground realities, Hard choices and Tomorrow's India - Baijayant "Jay" Panda (2018)

Jay Panda is a politician with a point of view and with a modern outlook. His writing is portraying that image correctly. However, when a political writer creates a book based on a collection of his columns and articles in the press, it becomes relevant to the period and often aligned with the side of the political system he represents. These collections are reflective of a similar viewpoint. I read the first couple of articles but lost interest as six years have passed, and some of the issues have lost their focused relevance. 

It is well-written but of good archival value, to be honest. 

The Emperor's New Mind - Roger Penrose (1989)

The book was written 35 years back. In a book on science and technology, a lot has changed since. Penrose tries to explain classical physics and quantum mechanics to non-scientists. Although his attempt has been sincere, in some places, you realize some things can only be explained with a thorough mathematical treatment. He tries to justify that human brain function cannot be entirely computationally feasible by the computations we know today with the Turing machine. Some things like consciousness go into the territory of quantum computing and explanations of correct quantum gravity (CQG). Today, significant parts of AI have been achieved with massively parallel computing with classical computers. Computation has reached unimaginable scales that were conceivable 35 years back. 

The book is still relevant, although many significant modern discoveries and inventions at this point have tried to change the course of AI. Until we find a foolproof solution for artificial general intelligence (AGI), we will keep questioning like Penrose. 

A good yet difficult read and needs an overview of physics, computing, and quantum mechanics to be able to appreciate the depth of the book.