I’ve always been curious about biology, genetics, evolution, biochemistry — the “life sciences” — but I believed the field was so large and complex that I could not hope to understand it. When I was asked to chair the Campaign Council for the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington in the fall…
On Amazon.com: The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements (1951) Due to an accident, author Eric Hoffer lost his eyesight at age 7, but it returned inexplicably at age 15. Not knowing if he would lose his eyesight again, he read voraciously for the rest of his life. Though he never attended college and…
On Amazon.com: Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation: How companies can seize opportunities in the face of technological change (1994) I started the Internet Explorer team at Microsoft in October, 1994. Without benefit of Google or Amazon.com, I found this book, which answered many strategic questions for me about how Microsoft should approach the Internet. The case studies and…
On Amazon.com: The Rational Optimist: How Prosperity Evolves (2010) Author Matt Ridley provides a sweeping summary of human and technology evolution, going back roughly 200,000 years. He asserts that the development of trade led to specialization which led to agriculture which led to cities. I find this by far the most plausible theory, but it is at odds with the…
On Amazon.com: Smaller Faster Lighter Denser Cheaper: How Innovation Keeps Proving the Catastrophists Wrong (2014) Author Robert Bryce challenges the zero-sum neo-Malthusians (climate change, polution, water shortages, war, political gridlock, debt crises, income inequality, etc.) head-on in his latest book. By recounting the technological progress human beings have made in so many different areas — including communications, electronics,…
On Amazon.com: Economics in One Lesson: The Shortest and Surest Way to Understand Basic Economics (1946) “…the whole of economics can be reduced to a…single sentence. The art of economics consists in looking not merely at the immediate but at the longer effects of any act or policy; it consists in tracing the consequences of that…
On amazon.com: Free to Choose: A Personal Statement (1980) Milton and Rose Friedman explain and advocate for free markets. A classic text by 1976 Nobel in Economics prize-winner Milton Friedman and his wife Rose. Excerpt: “The fecundity of freedom is demonstrated most dramatically and clearly in agriculture. When the Declaration of Independence was enacted, fewer than 3…
On Amazon.com: The Curmudgeon’s Guide to Getting Ahead: Dos and Don’ts of Right Behavior, Tough Thinking, Clear Writing, and Living a Good Life (2014) This slim book contains clear advice for young people about how to behave in civil society. Author Charles Murray has had a distinguished career as a political scientist, thinker and writer. [Note:…
On Amazon.com: Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future (2015) What is most impressive about Elon Musk is his enormous conviction, tenacity, and hard work. He dreamed of solar energy, electric cars, and space travel in his youth in South Africa. He moved to Canada and eventually the USA to pursue his…
