Walter Isaacson – Leonardo da Vinci
Isaacson’s narrative falacy (‘Leonardo never finishing what he starts’) is at odds with the public recognition he received in his own day and age.
Steve Bannon skilfully helped Trump to play to his own strengths and avoid his considerable weaknesses
The level of Trump’s incompetency is not even shocking.
High-ranked mafia killer flips, citing his uncle’s ruthlessness as justification
Philip Leonetti – Mafia prince
At some point, The Godfather has evolved from a document of the mafia life style to a style guide for mob leaders.
The history of Rome consists of a unique series of revolutionary social and political experiments
Rome was much more of a ‘social welfare state’ than I ever realized; with a people’s tribunes, food for the poor, land redistribution, and pensions for soldiers.
Compared to the Chinese tech scene, Silicon Valley is slow and complacent
Former Google China Chief explains why China will win the AI race when it comes to applications of deep learning in the physical world.
Bayesian statistics had its MVP in WWII and has safely crossed the chasm on the back of Moore´s law
Sharon Bertsch McGrayne – The theory that would not die
Shocking to realize how much controversy surrounded Bayesian statistics before the explosion of computing power.
Trump’s campaign was not the train wreck that everyone thought it was
Intriguing account covering Trump’s rise, by an NBC journalist debuting on the campaign trail.
The Kelly formula defines the tipping point between aggressive and suicidal bets
William Poundstone – Fortune’s formula
Despite all mathematical considerations, the prerequisite for a truly successful betting strategy inside knowledge.
Eat legumes, broccoli, nuts, seeds, and fermented foods
Kris Verburgh – The longevity code
Healthy food seems to be your safest bet for living longer, because technology that reverses aging is not (yet) available
Internet billionaire brings down internet media outlet through overt legal action
Peter Thiel’s war on Gawker Media shows that money is a decisive factor in the US legal system.
Every visonary entrepreneur needs an integrator to assure his/her ideas materialize
By far the more readable book on org structure that I have come across.
Living ‘gamefully’ is a great way to hack your own brain
Elegant guide to putting contrarian thinking into action, which tries a bit too had to show it is scientific.
Theranos’ downfall shows a reality distortion field gone wrong
What seems to have started as entrepreneurial over-confidence ended in a web of fraud and lies.
The best-known claims regarding the use of the golden ratio in art are false
Mario Livio – The golden ratio
Comfortingly conscientious in his evaluation of claims about ao pyramids and the parthenon.
Nowadays almost everyone is in Sales, but that does not mean what it used to mean
Daniel Pink – To sell is human
A charming plea for a compassionate approach to influencing.
The safe space for humanity is in between the social foundation and the ecological ceiling
Kate Raworth – the doughnut economy
The idea of challenging the implicit assumptions of traditional economics is not new, yet the emphasis on framing the debate is valuable.
Debt has its origin in inequality, suppression, and war
At first the polemic style is charming, but over-all the writer’s objective to crush the system by his brain power is poorly executed and overlooks too many credible alternative lines of argument.
Our democratic system is not ready to deal with technological innovation
Jamie Bartlett – The people vs Tech
Summary of how tech firms form a risk for democracy, but without a thorough assessment of how technology itself can be applied to improve the democratic process.
To make the difference you have to do something truly different and definitive
Rich repository of one-liners for those who seek to make bold moves.