business The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation "The Idea Factory" is a fascinating look at the lives of some of the key men who shaped Bell Labs and created its greatest inventions. The scale of Bell Labs’ impact is truly incredible and this book does a good job of explaining the history of the institution
engineering Isambard Kingdom Brunel "Isambard Kingdom Brunel" is a fascinating biography of one of the main engineers that brought the Industrial Revolution to fruition in England. Although I had never heard of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in any of my formal American education, apparently he's a big deal still in the UK. From
winning The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World from Scratch "The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Our World From Scratch" is a fascinating thought experiment about how to build the ideal manual for a reboot of civilization. Dartnell decides that a good post-apocalypse reboot manual has a few critical ingredients: instructions for short-term survival a roadmap for longer-term rebooting
3-stars Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies 3 stars. A great overview of some of the research and political/existential issues around the creation of a superintelligent system. He describes various paths to potentially creating an superintelligence, including some surprising ones like whole brain emulation and eugenics.
