Jordan Ellenberg – How not to be wrong
A cornucopia of charming mathematical anecdotes and facts
The philosophy of the Silicon Valley elite is just a bunch of ill understood one-liners from preferably obscure thinkers
Adrian Daub – What tech calls thinking
Entertaining and polemic book, although many of the author’s points hardly need to be argued.
It is not political philosophy, but political geography that led Democrats in the USA to embrace the knowledge economy
Jonathan Rodden – Why cities lose
In the US election system, geographic concentration puts democrats at a fundamental disadvantage.
It is quite hard to die in peace while owning the most famous diamond in the world
Anita Anand and William Dalrymple – Koh-i-Noor
The stone itself is just an excuse to tell wonderful stories.
Over the past decades, most economists have been forced to flex their opinion on the efficient market hypothesis
Justin Fox – The myth of the rational market
The book resists the temptation to get lost in juicy stories, but focuses on the evolution of ideas.
The combination of dogged determination and a bit of luck can turn an antihero into a hero
Anita Anand – The patient assassin
Compelling story telling and enriching perspectives make it hard not to become fascinated by Udham Singh and his quest for revenge.
Natural philosophy transformed into science thanks to the commitment and sacrifice of some thrill-seeking geeks
Richard Holmes – The age of wonder
Conveys lively how science was considered an undertaking for daring adventurers.
Geography has surprisingly strong explanatory power when it comes to long-term trends in politics and war
Tim Marshall – Prisoners of geography
Insightful perspective that highlights how few options political leaders actually have in responding to external threats.
Back in the day, the Mayas may have captured some Vikings
The year 1000 – Valerie Hansen
Most intriguing where the described ‘globalization’ takes the for of trade – rather than old-fashioned conquest
Finding and copying manuscripts used to be a major factor in the preservation, transfer and loss of knowledge
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.
The early Christians were responsible for large-scale destruction of classical culture
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.
Considering the extent of travel and trade by sea, Medieval Europe was not so dark at all
Michael Pye – the edge of the world
A collection of juicy stories backed by interesting historical facts grounded in documented history and archeological finds.
Turing’s suprisingly practical perspective on logic, intelligence, and machines was far ahead of his time
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.
Because we fundamentally believe resources can and will be redistributed, we will fall into the trap of always trying to make the overall pie as big as possible
Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo – Good economics for hard times
Smart agent-based modelling perspective on global challenges around poverty and sustainability.
The connection between East and West has shaped the world to a larger extent than generally acknowledged
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.
There are some vague connections between decreasing temperatures in the 17th century and historical events
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.
The ignorance of the Trump administration when it comes to the inner workings of government creates immense risks
Michael Lewis – The Fifth Risk
The book should be mainly read for the anecdotes on female astronauts and nerdy coast guards.
Without massive and violent disruption of the established order, there will be no meaningful redistribution of wealth
The great leveler – Walter Scheidel
Next to revolution (in the spirit of Marx), the book claims there are just three other forces strong enough to achieve leveling: mass warfare, epidemics, and system collapse (the last of which is arguably overlaps with the others).
For a democratic leader, waging war is a balancing act between ethics, national interests and electoral impact
Michael Beschloss – Presidents of war
In choosing the personal perspective of the leader, makes the book prone to the narrative fallacy.
The US constitution has always been used as a tool for suppression
The author weaves the perspective of women, slaves, and other disadvantaged grouped into the narrative of US history, making the work part of a bigger movement.