DR. DAVID HO: THE TAO OF HO

If you lean in close, conspiratorially, Sonia Ho may just let slip a secret she keeps about her son David. She will speak in a hush, as if to elude some spy's eavesdropping from behind the potted palm. But she badly wants to divulge her information. Thus, slightly abashed but nonetheless proud, she will confide, "He's kind of a genius, you know. I'm not supposed to say that, but it's true."

Mothers are allowed to say these things. But one doesn't have to be David Da-i Ho's mother to be aware of his brilliance. He lays forth clearly and succinctly some...