What I’ve been reading
Here are the books I read in the last three months
The Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier
The author is a science reporter at the New York Times and as the title suggests, this book covers the basics of all major topics in science from Physics to Geology. The quote below was the part that stuck with me.
Science is not a collection of a facts, but a way of thinking where you reason rather than accepting everything you hear
A bit dense at times but a good refresher to high school science.
Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha
A controversial look at human sexuality based on comparisons with our closest relatives, the great apes and physical traits that were selected through evolution. The premise of the book is that humans were evolved to be polyamorous and that monogamy is a fairly recent addition.
Interesting, although I would like to read good dissenting arguments.
Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath
I was planning to read a book by the Heath brothers (on storytelling), but after reading the sample chapter, this one was more appealing. Good read, although it probably could have conveyed the idea in a long form article. The book recommends that you follow the steps below to make better decisions:
- Widen your options, look
- Reality test your assumptions, avoid confirmation bias
- Attain distance to prevent short term emotions from influencing you
- Prepare to be wrong, there is a good chance that things may not work out, so be prepared to make corrections as required
Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Authored by an investigative reporter at the Wall Street Journal, this book chronicles the rise and fall of Theranos a startup headed by Elizabeth Holmes.This book was not on my radar, but it appeared in several best book lists of 2018 and I decided to give it a try.
Things I found interesting
- A pattern that I have seen repeatedly through reading books on startups is that being CEO at such a young age is extremely challenging. From Uber to Google to Apple, the founders are brilliant but adult supervision is most definitely needed.
- Elizabeth got a free pass from some investors and adulation from the media because they were so invested in the idea of her becoming the valley’s first female founder. Other backers such as Genera Mattis, Walgreens, and CVS desperately must have wanted what Theranos was selling to be true.
- It’s quite scary how the firm was able to use expensive lawyers to shut down investigations. Makes a strong case for tort reform.
This story told in this book is stranger than fiction and I could not wait to finish it. It was my most fun read of 2018 and is highly recommeded.
