At the beginning of the 20th century, working-class women joined the glamorous radium-dial industry, eager to make the best wages of the day. But when these women began to experience mysterious illnesses and painful deaths, they never guessed that their dazzling new profession might be to blame. In this book review of The Radium Girls, …
In this book summary, Steven Kotler and Jamie Wheal walk us through the process of finding our flow against all odds. Stealing Fire (2017) explores the controversial and exciting pursuit of altered states of consciousness. From tech entrepreneurs to BASE jumpers, meditators to festival-goers, it takes readers on a whirlwind tour of the revolutionary nonconformists …
Though you might not be aware of it, machine learning algorithms are already seeping into every aspect of human life, becoming more and more powerful as they continue to learn from an ever-increasing amount of data. The Master Algorithm (2016) provides a broad overview of what kind of algorithms are already out there, the problems …
In this international bestseller, author, clinical psychologist and University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan B. Peterson draws on religion, philosophy, neuroscience and anthropology to formulate “12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos” for living a meaningful life. His rules seem familiar because many derive from Christian ethics – which, Peterson says, inform Western culture …
Atomic Habits (2018) provides a practical and proven framework for creating good habits and shedding bad ones. Drawing on scientific research and real-life examples, it shows how tiny changes in behavior can result in the formation of new habits and help you achieve big things. Habit expert James Clear believes small changes in human behavior …
Zero to One (2014) offers advice to start-up founders. It shows how to establish a monopoly by creating proprietary technology, a strong brand, scalable products, and by using network effects.
Thinking, Fast and Slow (2011) – a recapitulation of the decades of research that led to Kahneman’s winning the Nobel Prize – explains his contributions to our current understanding of psychology and behavioral economics. Over the years, the research of Kahneman and his colleagues has helped us better understand how decisions are made, why certain …
Ultralearners are ordinary people who can master difficult skills with extraordinary speed. As a result, they achieve tremendous personal success and cultivate a serious professional advantage. But how exactly do they pull it off? In Ultralearning (2019), Scott H. Young analyzes the aggressive, self-directed learning strategies of some of the world’s most successful ultralearners and …
Starry Messenger (2022) is about a way of looking at the world called the cosmic perspective. It’s the view that opens up when we think about human life in its largest possible context – that of the universe itself. This isn’t an exercise in making our worldly affairs seem small and trivial, though. It’s about …
Cloudmoney (2022) provides an overview of our present payment landscape. As it turns out, the age-old question of “cash or card” is not as simple as it seems. Underneath the push toward cashless is a murky world of powerful interests trying to extract profit and data from people’s purchases. And the disappearance of cash has …