here in seattle, summer is a gift that is earned by eliminating nine months of rain and darkness. the sky is clear, there is hardly any humidity and the nights are cool. best of all, sometimes you have the opportunity to sit outside and read a great book.
This summer, my recommended reading list has a healthy dose of books that focus on science and math. but there is no science or math in my selection process. The following five books are simply the ones that I loved, made me think in new ways, and kept me reading long after I should have gone to sleep. As it turns out, this is an eclectic list: from an 800-page sci-fi novel written by a local legend to a 200-page nonfiction book about how Japan can get its economic mojo back. I hope you find at least one book here that inspires you to get off the beaten path when you have time for yourself this summer.
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seveneves, by neal stephenson. I hadn’t read any science fiction in a decade when a friend recommended this novel to me. I’m glad he did. the plot begins in the first sentence, when the moon explodes. people realize that in two years a cataclysmic meteor shower will wipe out all life on earth, so the world comes together in a plan to keep humanity going by launching as many spaceships as possible possible in orbit. You might lose patience with all the information you’ll get about spaceflight: Stephenson, who lives in Seattle, has clearly done his research, but I loved the technical details. seveneves inspired me to rekindle my sci-fi habit.
how not to be wrong, by jordan ellenberg. ellenberg, a mathematician and writer, explains how mathematics plays into our daily lives without our realizing it. Each chapter begins with a topic that seems fairly straightforward (electoral politics, say, or the Massachusetts Lottery) and then uses that as a starting point to talk about the math involved. in some places the math gets pretty tricky, but he always wraps things up by making sure you’re still with him. The most important point of the book is that, as Ellenberg writes, “to do mathematics is to be, at the same time, touched by fire and bound by reason,” and that there are ways in which we are all doing mathematics, all the time.
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the vital question, by nick lane. nick is one of those original thinkers that makes you say: more people should know about this guy’s work. he is trying to correct a scientific error by making people fully appreciate the role that energy plays in all living things. he argues that we can only understand how life began and how living things became so complex if we understand how energy works. it is not only theoretical; Mitochondria (the powerhouses of our cells) could play a role in fighting cancer and malnutrition. even if the details of nick’s work turn out to be wrong, i suspect his focus on energy will be seen as an important contribution to our understanding of where we come from.
the power to compete, by ryoichi mikitani and hiroshi mikitani. I have a soft spot for japan that goes back about three decades, when I first traveled there for microsoft. Today, of course, Japan is intensely interesting to anyone who follows the global economy. Why were your companies, the giants of the 1980s, overshadowed by competitors in South Korea and China? and can they come back? Those questions are at the heart of this series of dialogues between Ryoichi, an economist who died in 2013, and his son Hiroshi, founder of the internet company Rakuten. Although I don’t agree with everything on Hiroshi’s show, I think he has a number of good ideas. the power to compete is a clever look at the future of a fascinating country.
sapiens: a brief history of mankind, by noah yuval harari. Melinda and I both read this one, and it has sparked a lot of great conversations at our table. Harari takes on a daunting challenge: to tell the entire story of the human race in just 400 pages. he also writes about our species today and how artificial intelligence, genetic engineering, and other technologies will change us in the future. Although I found things I disagree with, especially Harari’s claim that humans were better off before we started farming, I would recommend Sapiens to anyone interested in the history and future of our species.
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