Robert Piazza
Great overview of Understood life upgrades
Nick Lane has done a great job explaining the current mainstream scientific consensus view of how life has improved itself over the eons. He has chosen topics from how life could have started in the first place, multi-cellular life, to hot blooded-ness and consciousness. I consider myself to have a passing knowledge of most scientific knowledge but I found myself learning a great deal and found it fascinating. Recommended if you love science and biology.
Insightful Ideas
This book offers a compelling analysis of the underlying causes of dysfunction in our society. Tim draws on a wide range of disciplines, including history, sociology, psychology, and economics, to explore the root causes of societal problems such as political polarization, income inequality, and systemic racism. He emphasizes the roots of our problems are based in our mental tools that served us well in antiquity but are getting hijacked in our modern age. He goes into depth on the on issues afflicting both sides of the political spectrum and how human psychology is preventing society from not catering to our basest impulses. And the drawings are fun but deeply thought provoking. Loved it.
Generally seemed like good advice but I disliked that most of the advice stemmed from individual case studies and therapy but didn't involve large group statistics and peer reviewed with long-term tracking of effects. This May be the limits of the field but only basing recommendations on low n cases seems unreliable.
A personal, heartfelt story of finding resilience in the face of incredible tragedy. Backed by scientific research and numerous anecdotes of getting through pain- Sheryl and Adam layout how to avoid the three main pitfalls of permanence, personalization, and pervasiveness. I also appreciated the ideas to provide a concrete method of helping instead of asking “what can I do” as well as offering encouragement as well as empathy.
Insightful shift in perspective
This book frames economic goals within the eventual limited set by our natural resources- the doughnut concept (which could also be drawn as a floor and ceiling) provides a floor of social justice to meet, within a ceiling of natural resource limits. Occasionally the ideas seemed extremely unlikely and overly communist, but I found it a good balance to the normal theories which don't seem to be panning out.
Fun collaboration between two great authors
The book tells the story of the end of the world from the perspective of a demon and angel who don't always seem to be on their own team's side but more often each other's. They are involved with the ineffable plan of finding and steering the Antichrist in preparation for the end of the world when the four horseman will rise and Terry Pratchett's Death also gets to make an appearance. Really enjoyed the book.
Quick read on the benefits of checklists
This is a good read which correlated to other topics such as the Power of Habit and Getting Things Done in its philosophy of keystone habits and making lists to keep reminders of what needs to be done. It also adds some design tips taken from the aviation community in making better checklists.
Entertaining Intro to Current/future military tech
This was an entertaining story that has a lot of the notes and links to current trends and possible results in the future for military technology. Revolves around the supposed Chinese invasion of Hawaii and the tech involved on both sides. There are a few elements that have not come to full fruition yet but are used extensively throughout the book. I found it enjoyable.
Greatest, geekiest Robinson Crusoe ever
Terrific book, the Martian's braggadocio and smart aleck response combined with his humanity, courage and resourcefulness in the face of intimidating odds makes for a character and plot line that's truly fantastic. The weaving of innovative solutions and sometimes follow up problems to those clever solutions provide some great plot twists. I would recommend this for those that enjoy a literal hero-against-the-world-and-winning story and dreamers who'll love the “wow, this might happen in our lifetimes.” It's not just a science fiction story for all the nerds.
Fantastic book that goes into a lot of detail of what can't be talked about officially. The stories of Rickover's eccentricities and all the cool missions the US did was neat to learn about. It shows the courage, tenacity, and resourcefulness of the submariners and I look forward to being counted among them in the future.