Scott J. Pearson
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scottjpearson.bsky.social
Scott J. Pearson
@scottjpearson.bsky.social
I create & build software tools for scientific researchers. 🧪
I also write book reviews. 📚
Biomedical, Mentor, Collaborator, Lateral Thinker, Husband & Dad.
scottjpearson.com (he/him)
Trust & Betrayal in the Workplace: Building Effective Relationships in Your Organization

The best resource for working through a lack of trust in your workplace.

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Trust & Betrayal in the Workplace: Building Effective Relationships in Your Organization
This book confronts us with bad news first: Betrayals happen in the workplace, and unfortunately, they will continue to happen. They cause slowdowns; they cause mistrust; they disrupt a customer- or client-centered focus and create infighting. The good news is that quickly recentering your trust, though not blind trust, can overcome these shortcomings. This book can help readers to become more trustful employees in the workplace.
scottjpearson.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:00 PM
Designing Machine Learning Systems: An Iterative Process for Production-Ready Applications

A thorough yet accessible introduction to machine learning, a technology that undergirds much of #AI.

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Designing Machine Learning Systems: An Iterative Process for Production-Ready Applications
Machine learning (ML) is a hot yet daunting topic. It's perhaps the most important technological advancement supporting the revolution in artificial intelligence (AI), and most leading IT companies have been extracting value from it for some time. Almost every time predictions are made by a computer, like when a product or really anything is recommended, ML is at work. This book explains in technical detail how to get ML projects out of theory and into production.
scottjpearson.com
January 15, 2026 at 1:53 AM
Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia

A biography of a supermodel who quickly rose to Vogue covers only to recess just as quickly, ultimately to an untimely death from AIDS.

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Thing of Beauty: The Tragedy of Supermodel Gia
There are many angles to motivate reading this book, and mine is from a deep interest in HIV. The supermodel known simply as "Gia" was one of the first prominent women to die of AIDS-related complications, and she remains one of the best-explored IV drug users who died from AIDS. Of course, most of the world knows her as a model who quickly rose to the front pages of the world's leading fashion magazines in the 1970s.
scottjpearson.com
January 10, 2026 at 2:34 AM
How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy's Guide to Silencing Women

A provocative look at the practice of executing witches in Scottish, British & American history - and its relevance to today's culture. It reminds that the past has never fully passed.

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How to Kill a Witch: The Patriarchy’s Guide to Silencing Women
Most of us think of witchcraft as a relic of a hyper-religious past. Most of us also don't have detailed beliefs about the practice of killing witches in the name of beating the devil - other than it's wrong. However, the authors make a compelling case that the persecution of "witches" in prior centuries was just patriarchy rearing its ugly head.
scottjpearson.com
January 3, 2026 at 10:12 PM
Abundance by Ezra Klein & Derek Thompson

A call for reform on the political left to embrace a new agenda of more effective government and social flourishing.

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Abundance
Many contend that American politics is in a transition time from an old paradigm into something new, but few can divine what the future might hold. One of the social tensions is rhetoric between scarcity and abundance, and Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson wholeheartedly want to focus on ways that America can lead to abundance. They lay out an agenda for the political left, their natural conversational home, to reform itself so that they can advocate for a better future.
scottjpearson.com
December 28, 2025 at 9:38 PM
Shooting Up: A Memoir of Love, Loss & Addiction

A moving memoir of a missionary kid whose parents started a heroin recovery center in Madrid. They experienced the AIDS crisis and family heartache. The author had to learn resourcefulness & resilience.

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Shooting Up: A Memoir of Love, Loss & Addiction
If you're looking to cry in empathy with an author's grief and hardships yet sense an undercurrent of hope, this memoir might be the book for you. Jonathan Tepper grew up as a missionary kid in Madrid, Spain. His parents tried to "save" people for heaven in a new church, but failed. Then they pivoted their ministry to help people overcome heroin addiction, and they slowly grew a church and social service.
scottjpearson.com
December 26, 2025 at 2:55 AM
What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Dive into absurdly humorous scenarios handled by physics. Great for a gift for a science geek or a student learning science!

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What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions
We know enough about the physics of earth and the universe to be able to predict what'd happen in absurd situations, like a neuron star hitting the earth, flying a plane on Uranus, or experiencing a Richter magnitude -2 earthquake. Of course, we don't talk about it because most of us aren't physics geeks. Fortunately, Randall Munroe is, and he has a great sense of humor dealing with the absurd.
scottjpearson.com
December 20, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Mastering JIRA for Agile Projects: A Practical Guide with Real-World Examples (Confluence Included)

A decent introduction to using Jira project management software, now a trending platform. Includes a lot of material about Confluence, too!

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Mastering JIRA for Agile Projects: A Practical Guide with Real-World Examples (Confluence Included)
Jira is becoming a leading tool for project management at larger businesses, and using it is a skill required for many jobs. This book teaches you how to master Jira processes to manage projects under Agile or Scrum paradigms. Half of this book focuses on Confluence software, which my workplace does not use. Therefore, half of the book was irrelevant to me.
scottjpearson.com
December 19, 2025 at 12:04 AM
A Simple Guide to Retrieval Augmented Generation

The clearest theoretical explanation I've read to date on retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), a part of #AI. Great explanatory graphics!

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A Simple Guide to Retrieval Augmented Generation
Retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) is a process in artificial intelligence (AI) where specific documents can be consulted to provide an answer. It provides a way for individual groups to customize a bot for their internal uses. For example, a company can provide business policies specific to their own organization. Or healthcare firms can provide literature up to date with their own fields, not just the latest AI build of the foundation model.
scottjpearson.com
December 18, 2025 at 11:33 PM
The Universe in Verse: 15 Portals to Wonder through Science & Poetry

An anthology of poems about humanity's place in the natural world and the broader universe.

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The Universe in Verse: 15 Portals to Wonder through Science & Poetry
Poetry and science are often placed opposite each other because they describe different things. One describes the human soul; the other describes nature. That's unfortunate because they can complement each other vividly. The natural world and the vast universe are sources of unending wonder. It's a shame that too many people are put off by science as intimidating. In truth, it's awe-inducing and humbling.
scottjpearson.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:59 AM
Prompt Engineering for Generative AI: Future-Proof Inputs for Reliable AI Outputs

An in-depth look at prompt engineering in #AI, including text-to-text and text-to-image. For those who want to understand how things work, not just what works.

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Prompt Engineering for Generative AI: Future-Proof Inputs for Reliable AI Outputs
Prompt engineering is the art and science of finding the right words to generate the right responses from artificial intelligence (AI). It's becoming a skill in-demand in today's workplaces. It's also becoming an essential skill for life. To understand prompt engineering, you must understand how AI tools understand their inputs. This book explains that to you in many forms. It covers prompting as it intersects all the major AI disciplines, like general prompts (as in a ChatBot), fine-tuning, and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).
scottjpearson.com
December 13, 2025 at 10:57 PM
When the Cranes Fly South: A Novel

Translated from Swedish, this book examines the art of aging, dying, and coming to terms with our own mortality.

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When the Cranes Fly South: A Novel
Some people adore books that leave them with a warm feeling, but I adore books that leave me with tears streaming on my face. This book is one of the latter. Originally a bestseller in Sweden, it's now translated into English (and other languages) for the world to contemplate. In the story, Bo is facing aging as his own body is breaking down.
scottjpearson.com
December 6, 2025 at 10:55 PM
Developing Apps with GPT-4 and ChatGPT: Build Intelligent Chatbots, Content Generators & More

A how-to that applies #AI into practical applications like web applications. Covers fine-tuning, RAG, and prompt engineering. In Python but truly language agnostic.

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Developing Apps with GPT-4 and ChatGPT: Build Intelligent Chatbots, Content Generators & More
Everyone today seems to want to do something with artificial intelligence (AI), but few seem to know how to do it well. We've started to see how AI bots can induce horrors, and business leaders plead to avoid those risks. ChatGPT, packaged from OpenAI, remains the dominant, most trusted AI tool even though many other versions exist. It'd be nice if we software folks could stop and get a masters degree in AI, but life goes on.
scottjpearson.com
December 4, 2025 at 2:36 AM
The Political Determinants of Health

A look at American politics surrounding healthcare, leading up to the passage of the Affordable Care Act and its aftermath.

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The Political Determinants of Health
In scientific circles, the "social determinants of health" is a common phrase used to describe how one's zip code can have more impact on health outcomes than one's personal health. This book plays off that title by describing how America's political situation - whether one is part of a favored class or note - can influence health outcomes. It takes particular aim at health inequities in American history.
scottjpearson.com
November 24, 2025 at 2:34 AM
How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems

Excellent science humor that'd make a great holiday gift for intellectually precocious kids

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How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems
Ever wonder what it takes to land a plane on top of a train? Or what's the best way to send nuclear waste to the sun? Or how to take a selfie with yourself and the moon? Well, Randall Munroe has answers, filled in a humorous tone. The beauty of how science generalizes - particularly, physics - is how it applies to all sorts of absurd situations.
scottjpearson.com
November 19, 2025 at 1:23 AM
Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power & Greatness

An inspirational book, relevant almost 50 years later, about the nature of true servant leadership.

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Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power & Greatness
When observing the world, many see that true leadership does not reflect positions of power; rather, it reflects a quality of personal character. Robert Greenleaf looked at 1970s America and the 1970s world and observed a lack of leadership. We had educated talent out the wazoo, but lacked people able to usher in lasting, good change. He wrote this book to cultivate such leadership qualities in its readers.
scottjpearson.com
November 15, 2025 at 4:26 PM
AI for Scientific Discovery: Proceedings of a Workshop by the National Academies

A 2024 look at the promises and challenges of using #AI in the scientific method to elicit discoveries. Sponsored by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine.

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AI for Scientific Discovery: Proceedings of a Workshop by the National Academies
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine guide America's federal research policies based on identifying challenges in the field. This 2024 workshop looked at opportunities within scientific research for artificial intelligence (AI) to contribute. It was led by national experts discussing use cases in their research and attempted to generalize based on those experiences. Most use cases were from American-based science, but AI in Africa was a recurring theme.
scottjpearson.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:42 PM
AI Engineering: Building Applications with Foundation Models

Simply the best technical book I have read to date on artificial intelligence #AI. Clearly communicated yet erudite with a focus on the big concepts.

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AI Engineering: Building Applications with Foundation Models
It's always daunting to pick up a technical book that's over 500 pages long or 21 hours long. However, this book did not disappoint. Not every section, of course, addressed my particular needs. However, the entire treatise was clearly communicated with a broader technical audience in mind. That should be no surprise because Chip Huyen, besides being an AI expert, taught graduate school classes in AI at Stanford and writes science fiction as a side hobby.
scottjpearson.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:37 AM
The Land of Sweet Forever: Stories & Essays by Harper Lee

A set of short stories written by Harper Lee before she published the classic To Kill a Mockingbird in 1960. A set of engaging, clear writing forecasting Lee's accomplishment of genius.

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The Land of Sweet Forever: Stories & Essays by Harper Lee
Most of us in America have read Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird at sometime throughout our lives. It's the clearest account of Jim Crow on Southern American culture and of the power of a few upright people to fix it. Lee's Alabama roots are well known, but she actually wrote the classic in New York City. Beforehand, she wrote a series of short stories with themes that forecast her great accomplishment.
scottjpearson.com
October 27, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Pair Programming Illuminated

The in-depth exploration of pair programming from its main evangelists. Despite the hokey title page, it's filled with insightful content.

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Pair Programming Illuminated
Pair programming is a practice in software development whereby two programmers write code together. I've studied it from afar until recently. What happened is a colleague asked me to pair program with him. As his program manager from a coding background, we've been working with relative success and happiness for several months. I liked the process so much that I wanted to take a deep dive to explore problem areas and tricks of the trade in order to really master the topic.
scottjpearson.com
October 25, 2025 at 10:17 PM
To Make the Wounded Whole: The African American Struggle Against HIV/AIDS

Seven angles about the black experience in America with #HIV. Tells the unique story of healthcare and racial stigma intertwined together.

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To Make the Wounded Whole: The African American Struggle Against HIV/AIDS
To date, blacks in America continue to suffer disproportionately in proportion from HIV infections. HIV has always preyed most on those marginalized from society, and American blacks are included in that recipe. Although many associate HIV as a gay man's disease, black women have come to suffer more in recent years. How are we to know and understand these stories? Dan Royles shares it through seven distinct angles.
scottjpearson.com
October 22, 2025 at 1:22 AM