Below is my list of recommended books. Just click on the book’s title to see its summary.
Recommended Books
One of the most interesting books I have read. Connecting the origin of chemistry, math, computers with the evolution of fabrics.
From Paleolithic flax to 3D knitting, explore the global history of textiles and the world they weave together in this enthralling and educational guide.
The story of humanity is the story of textiles – as old as civilization itself. Since the first thread was spun, the need for textiles has driven technology, business, politics, and culture.
In The Fabric of Civilization, Virginia Postrel synthesizes groundbreaking research from archaeology, economics, and science to reveal a surprising history. From Minoans exporting wool colored with precious purple dye to Egypt, to Romans arrayed in costly Chinese silk, the cloth trade paved the crossroads of the ancient world. Textiles funded the Renaissance and the Mughal Empire; they gave us banks and bookkeeping, Michelangelo’s David and the Taj Mahal. The cloth business spread the alphabet and arithmetic, propelled chemical research, and taught people to think in binary code.
Assiduously researched and deftly narrated, The Fabric of Civilization tells the story of the world’s most influential commodity.
by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, Tantum Collins, David Silverman, Chris Fussell
Former general Stanley McChrystal held a key position for much of the War on Terror, as head of the Joint Special Operations Command. In Iraq he found that despite the vastly superior resources, manpower, and training of the US military, Al Qaeda had an advantage because of its structure as a loose network of small, independent cells. Those cells wreaked havoc by always staying one step ahead, sharing knowledge with each other via high-tech communications.
To defeat such an agile enemy, JSOC had to change its focus from efficiency to adaptability. McChrystal led the transformation of his forces into a network that combined robust centralized communication (“shared consciousness”) with decentralized managerial authority (“empowered execution”).
Now he shows not only how the military made that transition but also how similar shifts are possible in all kinds of organizations, from large companies to startups to charities to government agencies. In a world of rapid change, the best organizations think and act like a team of teams, embracing small groups that combine the freedom to experiment with a relentless drive to share what they’ve learned.
McChrystal and his colleagues explain their process for helping organizations embrace this model. They also share fascinating research and examples from settings as diverse as emergency rooms and NASA’s mission control center.
By: David Goggins
David Goggin – childhood was a nightmare – poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a US Armed Forces icon and one of the world’s top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name him The Fittest (Real) Man in America.
In Can’t Hurt Me, he shares his astonishing life story and reveals that most of us tap into only 40% of our capabilities. Goggins calls this The 40% Rule, and his story illuminates a path that anyone can follow to push past pain, demolish fear, and reach their full potential.
Series: Sapiens
Yuval Noah Harari returns with an original, compelling, and provocative book, turning his focus toward humanity’s future and our quest to upgrade humans into gods….
By: Thomas Herold
This book unveils more than 20 secret methods used by banks, governments, and corporations to legally steal 90 percent of your income. Brilliantly authored and astoundingly easy to understand, it is an eye-popping exposure of the most sophisticated fraud in the history of mankind….
By: Walter Isaacson
The best-selling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a gripping account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna and her colleagues launched a revolution that will allow us to cure diseases, fend off viruses, and have healthier babies….
By: Ben Horowitz
Ben Horowitz, a leading venture capitalist and modern management expert, combines lessons both from history and from modern organizational practice with practical and often surprising advice to help executives build cultures that can weather both good and bad times….
By: Jeff Booth
We live in an extraordinary time. Technological advances are happening at a rate faster than our ability to understand them. In a world that moves faster than we can imagine, we cannot afford to stand still. These advances bring efficiency and abundance and are profoundly deflationary….
By: Morgan Housel
In The Psychology of Money, award-winning author Morgan Housel shares 19 short stories exploring the strange ways people think about money and teaches you how to make better sense of one of life’s most important topics….
By: Ozan Varol
A former rocket scientist reveals the habits, ideas, and strategies that will empower you to turn the seemingly impossible into the possible….
By: Jonah Berger
Everyone has something they want to change. Marketers want to change their customers’ minds and leaders want to change organizations. Start-ups want to change industries and nonprofits want to change the world. But change is hard….
By: Daniel Coyle
Drawing on cutting-edge neurology and firsthand research gathered on journeys to nine of the world’s talent hotbeds – from the baseball fields of the Caribbean to a classical-music academy in upstate New York – Coyle identifies the three key elements….
By: Eric Schmidt , Jonathan Rosenberg , Alan Eagle
The team behind How Google Works returns with management lessons from legendary coach and business executive Bill Campbell, whose mentoring of some of our most successful modern entrepreneurs has helped create well over a trillion dollars in market value….
By: Chris Voss
In this practical guide, Voss shares the nine effective principles – counterintuitive tactics and strategies – you, too, can use to become more persuasive in both your professional and personal lives….
By: Chip Heath , Dan Heath
Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas….
By: Daniel Coyle
In The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle goes inside some of the world’s most successful organizations – including Pixar, and the US Navy’s SEAL Team Six – and reveals what makes them tick….
Yuval Noah Harari’s 21 Lessons for the 21st Century is a probing and visionary investigation into today’s most urgent issues as we move into the uncharted territory of the future….
By: Kai-Fu Lee
In AI Superpowers, Kai-fu Lee argues powerfully that because of these unprecedented developments in AI, dramatic changes will be happening much sooner than many of us expected….
From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us….
By: Jack Weatherford
The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400….