Richard Davies – Extreme Economies
Well chosen examples (prisons, refugee camps, declining cities, etc.) illustrate why economics is a social science
Richard Davies – Extreme Economies
Well chosen examples (prisons, refugee camps, declining cities, etc.) illustrate why economics is a social science
Daivd French – Divided we fall
January 2021: After the Capitol attack (6 Jan. 2021) it became clear how close we actually were to this type of scenario.
November 2020: The hypothetical scenarios are well crafted and unfortunately not as far-fetched as one might hope.
Nice to read in conjunction with The Age of Wonder.
Richard Holmes – The age of wonder
Conveys lively how science was considered an undertaking for daring adventurers.
Good diagnosis of current monetary policy, but combined with a disappointingly naive belief in the free market as panacea.
Lee Vinsel, Andrew Russel – The innovation delusion
Funny enough, the polemic narrative applies all the trick of typical innovation literature to promote a maintenance mindset.
A practical guide to understanding composition and graphic design.
Gene Kim et. al. – The DevOps Handbook
Surprisingly valuable, considering the conceptual natureof the material covered.
Tim Marshall – Prisoners of geography
Insightful perspective that highlights how few options political leaders actually have in responding to external threats.
The year 1000 – Valerie Hansen
Most intriguing where the described ‘globalization’ takes the for of trade – rather than old-fashioned conquest
Violet Moller – The Map of knowledge
Well narrated account of how Christian and Muslim scholars traveled the world in search of ancient knowledge and preserved it through diligent copying.
Catherine Nixey – The darkering age
If only the book had appeared c. 1700 years earlier it would have been relevant, now it is just a source to tap into for an unhealthy dose of self righteous indignation.
Michael Pye – the edge of the world
A collection of juicy stories backed by interesting historical facts grounded in documented history and archeological finds.
John Kay and Mervin King – Radical Uncertainty
Economists should stay away from pseudo-philosophical assertions, in particular when these hinge on misinterpretation of Bayesian methods, use flawed logic, and do not lead to realistic recommendations.
Andrew Hodges – Alan Turing: The imitation game
A quite complete account of the life and death of one of the most fascinating figures of early computing.
Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo – Good economics for hard times
Smart agent-based modelling perspective on global challenges around poverty and sustainability.
JimMcKelvey – The innovation stack
The book is exactly what it tries to avoid: being just another entertaining founder story (in this case about Square).
Peter Frankopan – The Silk Roads
Due to the breadth of the topic, the compelling perspective disintegrates and it ends up as a long parade of interesting facts.
Philipp Blom – Nature’s mutiny
The perspective of the ‘mini ice age’ reduces to little more than including quotes by historical figures on the harsh winters when narrating the events of the time.
Joe Navarro – What every body is saying
The glossary of non-verbal signals and their meaning makes you aware of the limitations of Zoom, Teams, and Skype, espacially in COVID times.