The Industries of the Future
by Alec Ross, 2016

Ross was Senior Advisor for Innovation to Clinton when she was Secretary of State. In this book, he describes the fields poised for major growth and the conditions under which major growth can occur. Robotics, bio-tech and genomics, cybersecurity, financial technology, and big data analytics are the growth industries mentioned. I’ve worked in cybersecurity and big data and am conversant in genomics and bitcoin, and I found myself agreeing with most things Ross had to say. Very thought-provoking and well-written. Bonus points for interesting descriptions of Estonia and Singapore at the end.

Future Perfect
by Steven Johnson, 2012

Read How We Got to Now last year, enjoyed it. This one, not so much.

The premise of the book is that peer progressive networks, such as Wikipedia and Kickstarter, are the way of the future. Authoritarian, top-down regimes can easily be surpassed by handing control to networked individuals. Yes, I agree that peer networks have their uses. But the book goes too far. I found myself shaking my head at some of the claims. I’ll mention one issue toward the end: Johnson claims that peer progressive ideals will lead to a more egalitarian society. However, many/most networks follow a power law distribution, where connections are exponentially more likely to go to those with lots of previous connections. That won’t be more equal.

We listened to this book on tape.

Murder on the Orient Express
by Agatha Christie, 1934

Fun murder mystery. Maria and I listened to the book on tape, with the narrator switching accents with the characters very well. Without giving too much away (on an 80 year old book?), the story ends with the detective giving two alternative explanations to the murder. The owner/executive of the train is then allowed to choose between them. Intrigued?

When to Rob a Bank: …And 131 More Warped Suggestions and Well-Intended Rants
by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, 2015

Collection of posts from the Freakonomic’s website. Maria and I listened together. Definitely less refined than the Freakonomics/Super Freakonomics duo. Still funny, though. I used to read the Freakonomics blog, so much of the content was familiar to me.

Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics
by Richard H. Thaler, 2015

Richard Thaler has had a front-row ticket to the shaping of the behavioral economics field. In fact, he’s probably driving the bus. Initially working with psychologists Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, Thaler helped define where the traditional model of economic thinking falls short. Humans aren’t Econs (economically rational utility-maximizers). Thaler’s initial work helped document many Supposedly Irrelevant Factors (according to economic theory) that significantly affect human decision-making. He was an outsider arguing for inclusion of behavioral factors at more traditional economic gatherings. Once the new field showed enough promise and more behavioral economists started doing research, the field took on a life of its own. Now, behavioral economics conferences are common, and I’m even presenting at a Behavioral Operations Conference in July. Thaler even became president of the American Economics Association in 2015 (a development which he describes as “the lunatics are running the asylum” in the book), and behavioral economic thinking has made its way into the U.S. and U.K. executive government policy groups.

Overall, funny and insightful. Worthwhile read.

The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World’s Favorite Board Game
by Mary Pilon, 2015

I don’t know any Americans that have not played Monopoly. Either you love it or you are wrong. I’ve covered some of the strategy before; I try hard to win when I play. This interesting book describes Monopoly’s backstory, which differs from Parker Brothers’ traditional tale. Various incarnations of the game existed for 30 years before Parker Brothers bought the rights, and the “inventor” of Monopoly, Charles Darrow, blatantly copied it from a friend. It originated as an anti-capitalist game called the Landlord’s Game. The book ends up focusing upon the legal drama of the board game Anti-Monopoly, which Parker Brothers sued for trademark infringement. After 10 years, Anti-Monopoly won the case on appeal, partially due to the reveal during the court proceedings of long-hidden history of the game. We bought a copy of the Anti-Monopoly game during our travels a year ago; you won’t see it in many game stores because Hasbro (which now owns Parker Brothers (and Milton Bradley)) has agreements with most stores to keep out the upstart. You can play Anti-Monopoly as a Monopolist (similar rules to Monopoly) or a Free-Marketer (where you charge more reasonable rents regardless of how many properties you own of a specific color).

If you like Monopoly, here are a few tangential games to try out:
Anti-Monopoly
Advance to Boardwalk
Monopoly Deal Card Game
Stock Exchange Add-On to Monopoly

Napoleon’s Buttons: 17 Molecules that Changed History
by Penny Le Couteur and Jay Burreson, 2003

(This is a guest book review from Maria Schwartzman)

Did the chemical structure of tin play a role in Napoleon’s defeat and retreat from Moscow in 1812? That is how this fascinating look at the role chemistry has played throughout history begins. The seventeen general molecules discussed (peppers, nutmeg, and cloves; ascorbic acid; glucose; cellulose; nitro compounds; silk and nylon; phenol; isoprene; dyes; wonder drugs; the pill; molecules of witchcraft; morphine, nicotine, and caffeine; oleic acid; salt; chlorocarbon compounds; and molecules versus malaria) are woven into a narrative explaining both the chemistry behind the molecules and the history and context surrounding them. The chemistry is easy to understand (it’s not overpowering but stays interesting for someone who already knows chemical structures) and the history is fascinating. The order of the molecules presented was obviously thought out, as later chapters reference people or ideas from earlier ones, fully melding concepts together. I would recommend the book if you are interested in history, medicine, chemistry, production, biology, current technology… or really anything to do with human interest in the past 5000 years.

This book was listed on a “suggested summer reading list” developed by the DePauw librarians, and was recommended by one of the biochemistry professors. I enjoyed it very much. It is a fairly quick read (I didn’t spend a lot of time looking at the chemical structures) and is well written.

Content: Selected Essays on Technology, Creativity, Copyright, and the Future of the Future
by Cory Doctorow, 2008

Cory Doctorow cares more about copyright, digital rights management, and fair use policies than you do. So reading his takes on the topic was pretty interesting. He makes a lot of good points about the unsustainable nature of current producer/consumer dynamic in the digital age.

This is a collection of his published essays and works, and I would have preferred a more edited version. He discusses many of the same topics in sequential essays, rehashing much of the same motivation and examples each time. If, by the end of the book, you do not know that he provides free ebook copies of his books on his website, you were clearly not paying attention the 10 times he told you. That said, it was good overall and provided insights into topics about which I had previously not paid much attention.

The Book of Five Rings
by Miyamoto Musashi, 1645

I am not samurai-enough to fully grasp the material. However, I can now kill you in 58 different ways. Including by pressing down the pillow.