Juan David’s Newsletter - July 30th, 2023
The Cheesy Energy of Lithium Book
Hey there!
Remember when we last chatted? Well, since then, I've been immersed in finishing a book all about lithium, and guess what? Today, I'm excited to share it with you!
The Cheesy Energy of Lithium. Yes! That's the title. Go check it out now.
Just as a coiled spring, as soon as school ends, I'm jumping with potential energy, just waiting to be released. No longer confined to the routines of classes, I release that stored energy, and for the next three months, I'm on a journey of curious obsession over a particular topic. It's like the spring unwinding and propelling me into a world of exploration and learning.
This has become a yearly tradition for me. Last summer, I obsessed over flying things. The summer before about Affordable Profitable Housing, and the year before that, I wrote a book on the future of marketing with a neuroscience professor. Each summer brings a new adventure, a new curiosity to explore, and a chance to immerse myself fully in a world of discovery.
I'm not entirely sure how or why it happens, but it just does, and I love it.
This summer was all about lithium. I taught myself everything I could about this fascinating element, and I sought answers to any questions that crossed my mind. There's something magical about putting your thoughts and learning into words on paper.
Anyone who did great work had notebooks (or the modern equivalent). Here are some examples:
Leonard da Vinci had more than fifty notebooks filled with sketches, observations, and ideas about art, science, and engineering.
Srinivasa Ramanujan used his notebooks to record mathematical discoveries.
Isaac Newton used notebooks to record his work on mathematics, optics, and physics.
Charles Darwin kept notebooks during his travels on the HMS Beagle to document his observations of nature.
Instead of taking traditional classes, go write a “book” about whatever subject you want to learn about. Don’t start with the intention of being an author or any of that. Start with curiosity and follow it. Ask yourself questions, and answer, and if you do that multiple times, you’ll have written a “book” and learn so much more once you look back.
You’ll become more knowledgeable than most people and learn enough to be dangerous from knowing where the cool opportunities are to maybe even finding your life’s work.
Plus, you'll attract opportunities, and interesting people will want to talk to you as you have a legit reason to engage with them. Trust me, I ended up chatting with some awesome folks like the president of the Nevada Mining Association and even an economist from the Federal Reserve in Dallas.
And now, the book is done! Let’s gooooo!
What's next? I honestly don't know, but that's the beauty of it. This book is just the starting point for many more research questions. I'm excited to be done, to share it, and to see where this journey takes me, but for now, this is where I stand.
What’s next for you? Reading The Cheesy Energy of Lithium.
The Cheesy Energy of Lithium
An Exploration of Lithium's Power in Batteries, Medicine, and Nuclear Physics
Table of Contents
"I'm radioactive, radioactive": The Magic of Radioactive Decay and the Charms of Radioactivity
A Journey to the Subatomic World: Theoretical Physics, Particles, and Matryoshkas
Nuclear Physics: Lithium-6, Fusion, Reactors, and The Future
or
Still not convinced? If this doesn’t convince you to go read The Cheesy Energy of Lithium, I don’t know what will.
See you soon!
🎸,
Juan David Campolargo
Hi Juan David! This is really cool and inspiring. You're one of the few people I know who would make something like this. I look forward to reading your book.
Would it be possible to get a pdf version of the book?