The book describes the historical evolution of the book index and concordance. Some interesting historical episodes. Funny to see some of the arguments against indexing. E.g., with an index, no need to actually read the book. One takeaway is that current search algorithms (Google, et al.) are poor compared to human-created indices. Some AI approaches… Read More: Index, a History of the — Denis Duncan »
A book on “biogerontology”, the science of aging and the potential to “cure” aging. Discusses 10 areas that need solutions if we are to extend human lifespan. Many are under investigation today. There are actually some clinical trials under way or planned. Progress is being made (good!), but not fast enough to help me (bad).… Read More: Ageless — Andrew Steele »
The book is of theme similar to Hariri’s “Sapiens”, but they take a contrarian approach to the standard model of how human society evolved to what we have today. They discuss a lot about the pre-Columbus Americas that I’ve never been exposed to. A heavy read. (Partly, the authors’ political bias is counter to mine,… Read More: The Dawn of Everything — David Graeber & David Wengrow »
Ben Patrick is the “knees over toes guy”. This is a short book laying out the program Patrick uses for addressing knee pain and injury avoidance. Classic advice is to keep the knees over the foot (behind the toes) when exercising or participating in any sport. Book’s argument is that this advice is impossible to… Read More: Knee Ability Zero — Ben Patrick »
Picked up this book due to my recent knee issues. Author is a personal trainer and orthopaedic exercise specialist. The book argues that healing and recovery from injury is not complete, leading to re-injury. Book begins by laying out the science of collagen. Collagen is the primary structural molecule in the body. Different forms in… Read More: Built from Broken — Scott Hogan »
Interesting points: (1) Beer-before-bread evidence from archaeology. (2) In vino, veritas. (3) Stress reduction (individual). (4) Societal/group bonding. Classic explanations for alcohol use is evolutionary “hangover” or “hijack”. Hangover implies there is an evolutionary advantage to the use but taken to the extreme in modern times. Hijack implies the practice triggers the evolutionary feedback mechanism… Read More: Drunk — Edward Slingerland »
I picked up this book thematically to understand Bitcoin and money in general. Thought the book would help me understand the question “what is money, actually?”. The book’s focus is actually focused on the 2008 “Great Recession”. Sumner’s argument is that the recession was not primarily due to the bubble-crash of the sub-prime mortgage market.… Read More: The Money Illusion — Scott Sumner »
The promise of the book is that it explains why so many physicists (and mathematicians) are employed by Wall Street investment firms. It delivers on the promise, but the answer is disappointing — they are good at math, especially statistics. The history about “quants” is described. Covers: Louis Bachelier: A mathematician who applied the concept… Read More: The Physics of Wall Street — James Owen Weatherall »
Graeber is an anthropologist laying out an anthropological history of the economy and money. He outlines several themes though the book, touching on the interactions between credit/debt, slavery, violence, etc.
This book was recommended by Tyler Cowen (Marginal Revolution) as one of the best books of the year. The book is a history of money in China over the past 1100 years. Silver (not gold) was the underlying preference of the rulers and ruled in China. Paper money was used earlier than elsewhere in the… Read More: Empire of Silver — Jin Xu »