31–40 of 92 posts
Empires of Light, by Jonnes. Titan, by Chernow. The Wright Brothers, by McCullough. His Excellency, by Ellis. The Wizard of Menlo Park, by Stross. I Invented the Modern Age, by Snow. Dealers of Lightning, by Hiltzik. Margin of Safety, by Klarman. Masters of Doom, by Kushner. Andrew Carnegie, by Nasaw. Infidel, by Hirsi Ali. Buffett, by Lowenstein. Where Wizards Stay Up Late, by Hafner. Shoe Dog, by Knight. The Making of the Atomic Bomb, by Rhodes.
2. Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (just gives a different perception to success all together, at least did for me)
3. Mastery (Robert Greene) - can be dismissed as Anecdotes but really powerful ones
4. Deep Work (Cal Newport) - a guy who doesn't like to be on social media and I found reading about him and stumbled upon this and it's absolutely an insightful read
5. The subtle art of not giving a fk - This is a short, beautiful and an amazing read even if you aren't looking for self improvement
The Quark and the Jaguar by Murray Gell-Mann is a wonderfully readable and accessible intro to complexity, which again is a topic that seems to crop up all over the place.
Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine cites a shedload of research to dispel gender-related myths. It should be taught in schools, in my opinion.
1. Sapiens - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23692271-sapiens 2. The Gene: An Intimate History - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/27276428-the-gene 3. I Contain Multitudes - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29083367-i-contain-multi... 4. Stuff Matters - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19553030-stuff-matters 5. Rework - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6732019-rework
Sapiens is an okay book, but it’s all over the place. On one hand it kinda says that in many regards we have hypothesis at best (ie we don’t know) to follow it with [sometimes] wild theories. There is no way you can cover as much ground as the author wanted in a book this size. It got diluted and turned into the classic “X best seller” crap.
The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution on what are states, where do they come from, and how do they work?
The Vital Question: Energy, Evolution, and the Origins of Complex Life is just what it says on the tin.
The Strategy of Conflict is the original book on game theory which stands up pretty well.
Consciousness and the Brain: Deciphering How the Brain Codes Our Thoughts on the modern science of what we know about what consciousness is.
1. The power of now 2. Models 3. The 4-hour workweek
[1]https://thingofthings.wordpress.com/2018/05/25/models-a-summ...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sapiens is an okay book, but it’s all over the place. On one hand it kinda says that in many regards we have hypothesis at best (ie we don’t know) to follow it with [sometimes] wild theories. There is no way you can cover as much ground as the author wanted in a book this size. It got diluted and turned into the classic “X best seller” crap.
For me, it was probably the most important book I have read in the last 10 years, if only to expand my thinking to stop making assumptions about everything. To me, rather than a textbook claiming authority over an entire field, it was a demonstration of the exercise of searching for reason for the way things are beyond "that's the way it is", for things I took for granted in an extremely religious upbringing.
Again, it’s an okay book. I wouldn’t say the best in the last 10,5,2,1,0 years but worth reading, if only to form your own opinion and learn a few interesting factoids here and there.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sapiens is an okay book, but it’s all over the place. On one hand it kinda says that in many regards we have hypothesis at best (ie we don’t know) to follow it with [sometimes] wild theories. There is no way you can cover as much ground as the author wanted in a book this size. It got diluted and turned into the classic “X best seller” crap.
I listened to the audiobook but never understood the hype behind it. Seemed like bunch of speculation akin to Malcom Gladwell books.
Originally suggested by Werner Herzog as the most thrilling book ever written. It's ludicrously detailed. Absolutely riveting and thrilling. Opened my eyes to how a story can be constructed around a single moment and elucidated by a huge investigation.