Six books I have read this year that I can recommend for summer reading 2024. I have included a capsule review for each one.
Summer Reading 2024
“Plagues and People” by William McNeil This was quite enlightening and looked at the interplay between microorganisms and human society. McNeil is systematic in his approach and appreciates systems thinking. Here is one example of an insight:
“Details of early domestications remain unclear. One must assume a process of mutual accommodation between humanity and various domesticable species. This involved rapid and sometimes far-reaching change in the biological character of domesticated plants and animals as a result of both accidental and deliberate selection for particular traits. Conversely, one can assume that a radical, if rarely deliberate, selection among human beings occurred as well. Individuals who refused to submit to laborious routines of farming, for instance, must often have failed to survive, and those who could not or would not save seed for next year’s planting, and instead ate all they had, were quickly eliminated from communities that become dependent upon annual crops.”
“The Invisible Link” by Michael Yoshino and Thomas B. Lifson This thirty-five-year-old book offers a well-thought-out analysis of the management style of Japanese trading companies (sogo sosha). They hire for life and then have to manage the career paths of those with different abilities. They cultivate social capital and connection to enable effective delegation and to reach a working consensus on complex challenges. There are many lessons here for organizations who rely on innovation to stay profitable.
“The Japanese consider the ability to withhold judgement until others have spoken a hallmark of good leadership. An effective leader knows how to remain silent while drawing out the views of subordinates.”
M.Y.Yoshino and Thomas B Lifson in “The Invisible Link: Japan’s Shogo Shosha and the Organization of Trade“
“The Ordeal of Change” by Eric Hoffer Hoffer is such an original thinker. He is concerned with freedom and free societies, and these idiosyncratic essays are still topical 70 years later.
“It is often the descendants of families that have come down in the world who act as a creative ferment. The memory of past splendor is like fire in their veins and it is likely to leak out in romancing, philosophizing, and prophesying.”
Eric Hoffer in “Scribe, Writer, and Rebel” in “Ordeal of Change“
“Ben Franklin: An American Life” by Walter Isaacson I had read Franklin’s autobiography a few years ago but had not appreciated the depth and breadth of his accomplishments until I read this book. He was truly a scientist, engineer, and diplomat. He was made out of crooked timber like the rest of us, so he was not without his flaws but still incredibly impressive in the range of his skills. He combined a feeling for things and scientific experimentation, considerable design and engineering skill, a talent for organizing voluntary organizations because he paid close attention to incentives, and strong communication and negotiation skills.
“Wilbur and Orville: A Biography of the Wright Brothers” by Fred Howard I am not sure this is the best book on the Wright Brothers, there are many, but it’s a good one and very well researched and footnoted. It left me impressed with what they were able to accomplish. But I found it unfortunate that they had no vision for how to create a viable business from their invention beyond taking out patents and suing everybody else. It’s possible if Wilbur had survived his bout with typhoid, history might have turned out very differently. Fred Howard worked in the Library of Congress and helped to curate the Wright Brothers’ papers. He writes with authority and insight.
“After our return from Kitty Hawk we began a series of experiments to accurately determine the amount and direction of the pressure produced on curved surfaces when acted upon by winds at the various angles from zero to 90 degrees. These experiments are not yet concluded, but in general they support Lilienthal in the claim that the curves give pressures more favorable in amount and direction than planes; but we find marked differences in the exact values, especially at angles below 10 degrees.
Wilbur Wright in 1901 Speech “Some Aeronautical Experiments“
Two reasons why many early aircraft and glider pioneers perished in flight were they did not prioritize a safe landing and much of the published data on wing lift performance was incorrect. One critical aspect of the Wright brothers that I did not appreciate until reading this book was that they were masters of low cost rapid experimentation.
The experiments were conducted in a homemade wind tunnel in the gaslit workroom behind the bicycle shop and were the most crucial and fruitful aeronautical experiments ever conducted in so short a time with so few materials and at so little expense. After two years of experimenting, the Wright brothers were beginning to realize that what blocked their way to a solution of the flying problem was not one great gate that would fly open when unlocked with a secret key but rather a series of small sealed doors that would have to be pried open, one after the other.
“Wilbur and Orville: A Biography of the Wright Brothers” by Fred Howard
“The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World” by Jenny Uglow A detailed look at a group of polymaths who blended art, science, invention, engineering, and commerce to help kick off the Industrial Revolution. All of these men had flaws, but the breadth of their interests and accomplishments is astounding. Part of their success was their perspective as outsiders. They were situated in Birmingham, a backwater city, and not members of the Church of England. They had no stake in the existing order, so they felt freer to innovate. I had not appreciated how talented Erasmus Darwin was until reading this and how much our esthetic appreciation of artistry drives innovation as much as economics.
“The time will come when Winter will ask you what you were doing all Summer.”
Henry Clay
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Photo credit: Unlocking the World of Knowledge by Max Murphy