Category: Reading

With a narrative that twists and turns, Witt describes the dramatic and often revolutionary forces that upended the music industry (and parts of the entertainment industry as a whole), bringing it to its needs as well as the accompanying technical revolution that was at first abhorrently rejected before finally being welcomed.

Munroe uses his physics degree, and considerable talent for explaining things, to explore hypothetical questions on just about every science topic possible. His responses are easily accessible and quite witting as he explains what would happen if you suddenly, endlessly started raising in the air; how long people on a submarine could survive in space; and how far a steak would have to fall to be cooked by the time it landed.

Beyond just answering the questions, Munroe is brilliant at explaining why things are that way. For example, I learned that a steak will never be cooked by falling through the atmosphere because it is too easy for air to get around it. I always thought that things warmed up when the went through to atmosphere because friction, this is not the case.

Interesting tidbit: Water is not very compressible.

The authors launch into a wonderful and engaging narrative as they use their various experiences to explain why we need chaos in order to progress.

They suggest that innovation requires three things in order to flourish:

1. Blank space (chaos is an agent of opportunity)
2. Unusual suspects (it takes an unusual player to get different results)
3. Supportive serendipity (purely random chance takes too long)

In an unusual position, Asma argues that we are not benefited by our strong pursuit of “fairness” (which is, in part at least, evidenced by the lack of clear definition of what is universally “fair”). Instead, he discusses the well know recognition of “tribes” (person who share similar attributes) in social science and suggests that embracing our tribal nature, and thus our natural inclination to favoritism, we can then leverage that connectedness in a way that “fairness” can only dream of. For example, consider that a community that embraces favoritism will help its struggling community members because they are part of the same “tribe” even if it might not be “fair” to do so.

Note: “Tribe” is a social science term used to describe bonds, usually tight-knit bonds formed through common experience or attributes. Some examples of “tribes” include person who grew up together (often considered family regardless of relation or lack thereof), a small group of coworkers and old neighbors.

Interesting tidbit: I have struggled writing an essay for years on the topic of fairness. After reading this book, I have finally retired those drafts. Asma made the argument much better than I.

Vanderbilt delves deep into the nuances of driving, the world over. He explores many of the components the influence road safety, driver awareness and even driver culture.

Interest tidbit: “… a samurai in Japan, who kept his scabbard on his left side and would draw with his right arm, wanted to be on the left as he passed potential enemies on the road. So Japan today drives on the left. In England, horse-drawn carts were generally piloted by drivers mounted in the seat. The mostly right-handed drivers would “naturally” sit to the right, holding the reins in the left hand and the whip in the right. The driver could better judge oncoming traffic by traveling on the left. So England drives on the left. But in many other countries, including the United States, a driver often walked along the left side of his horse team or rode the left horse in a team (the left-rear horse if there were more than two), so that he could use his right arm for better control. This meant it was better to stay to the right, so he could judge oncoming traffic and talk to other drivers. The result is that many countries today drive on the right.”