Recommendations based on The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empiresby Tim Wu

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives

    by Steven Levy
    An inside look at the history, culture, and technology behind Google, the world's most powerful search engine and tech giant.

    Written with full cooperation from top management, including cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, this is the inside story behind Google, the most successful and most admired technology company of ... (Goodreads)

  2. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration

    by Ed Catmull
    An exploration of the principles and strategies that drive success in the creative process.

    “What does it mean to manage well?” From Ed Catmull, co-founder (with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter) of Pixar Animation Studios, comes an incisive book about creativity in business—sure to appeal to ... (Goodreads)

  3. Thinking, Fast and Slow

    by Daniel Kahneman
    An exploration of the two systems of the mind, and how they influence decision-making.

    In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow , Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and ... (Goodreads)

  4. Debt: The First 5,000 Years

    by David Graeber
    A history of money and debt, exploring the roots of our current financial system.

    Before there was money, there was debt Every economics textbook says the same thing: Money was invented to replace onerous and complicated barter systems—to relieve ancient people from having to haul ... (Goodreads)

  5. Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength

    by Roy F. Baumeister
    Examining the power of self-control and how it can be used to reach life goals.

    One of the world's most esteemed and influential psychologists, Roy F. Baumeister, teams with, New York Times, science writer John Tierney to reveal the secrets of self-control and how to master it. ... (Goodreads)

  6. The 48 Laws of Power

    by Robert Greene
    A guide to understanding the dynamics of gaining and keeping power.

    Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy, New York Times, bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate ... (Goodreads)

  7. Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future

    by Ashlee Vance
    A revealing look into the life and accomplishments of tech innovator Elon Musk.

    Elon Musk, the entrepreneur and innovator behind SpaceX, Tesla, and SolarCity, sold one of his internet companies, PayPal, for $1.5 billion. Ashlee Vance captures the full spectacle and arc of the ... (Goodreads)

  8. The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

    by Michelle Alexander
    Exploring the roots and reality of systemic racism in the U.S. criminal justice system.

    "Jarvious Cotton's great-great-grandfather could not vote as a slave. His great-grandfather was beaten to death by the Klu Klux Klan for attempting to vote. His grandfather was prevented from voting ... (Goodreads)

  9. The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood

    by James Gleick
    A comprehensive history of the development of information technology, from ancient times to the digital age.

    James Gleick, the author of the best sellers Chaos and Genius , now brings us a work just as astonishing and masterly: a revelatory chronicle and meditation that shows how information has become the ... (Goodreads)

  10. The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century

    by Thomas L. Friedman
    An exploration of the rapid globalization of the world, and the implications of this shift.

    When scholars write the history of the world twenty years from now, and they come to the chapter Y2K to March 2004 , what will they say was the most crucial development? The attacks on the World ... (Goodreads)

  11. Venture Deals

    by Brad Feld
    A comprehensive guide to venture capital deals, from term sheets to negotiations, for entrepreneurs and investors alike.

    Praise for Venture Deals "My biggest nightmare is taking advantage of an entrepreneur without even realizing it. It happens because VCs are experts in financings and most entrepreneurs are not. Brad ... (Goodreads)

  12. The Second Machine Age: Work, Progress, and Prosperity in a Time of Brilliant Technologies

    by Erik Brynjolfsson
    Examination of the societal implications of technology and its disruptive impact on the economy.

    In recent years, Google’s autonomous cars have logged thousands of miles on American highways and IBM’s Watson trounced the best human Jeopardy! players. Digital technologies—with hardware, software, ... (Goodreads)

  13. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us

    by Daniel H. Pink
    A thought-provoking analysis of what truly motivates people, challenging traditional notions of rewards and punishments.

    The, New York Times, bestseller that gives readers a paradigm-shattering new way to think about motivation Most people believe that the best way to motivate is with rewards like money—the ... (Goodreads)

  14. Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder

    by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
    An exploration of how disorder and chaos can lead to strength and resilience.

    From the bestselling author of The Black Swan and one of the foremost philosophers of our time, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, a book on how some systems actually benefit from disorder. In The Black Swan ... (Goodreads)

  15. Between the World and Me

    by Ta-Nehisi Coates
    A letter to his son, exploring the realities of racism in America.

    “This is your country, this is your world, this is your body, and you must find some way to live within the all of it.” In a profound work that pivots from the biggest questions about American ... (Goodreads)

  16. Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future

    by Peter Thiel
    A guide to launching a startup, exploring the power of entrepreneurship.

    If you want to build a better future, you must believe in secrets. The great secret of our time is that there are still uncharted frontiers to explore and new inventions to create. In Zero to One, ... (Goodreads)

  17. Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

    by Douglas R. Hofstadter
    A complex exploration of logic, mathematics and art, exploring their relationships and interconnections.

    Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of “maps” or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity ... (Goodreads)

  18. Good Strategy Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters

    by Richard P. Rumelt
    A guide to creating effective strategies by identifying and overcoming common pitfalls. Practical advice for leaders and managers.

    Clears out the mumbo jumbo and muddled thinking underlying, too many, strategies and provides a clear way to create and implement a powerful action-oriented strategy for the real world Developing and ... (Goodreads)

  19. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

    by Siddhartha Mukherjee
    A comprehensive account of the history and science of cancer, from its origins to modern treatments.

    An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found, here, and, here,. The Emperor of All Maladies is a magnificent, profoundly humane “biography” of cancer - from its first documented ... (Goodreads)

  20. The Medium is the Massage

    by Marshall McLuhan
    Examining how media shapes and influences society.

    The Medium is the Massage is Marshall McLuhan's most condensed, and perhaps most effective, presentation of his ideas. Using a layout style that was later copied by Wired , McLuhan and ... (Goodreads)

  21. Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist

    by Roger Lowenstein
    A portrait of Warren Buffett's journey to becoming one of the most successful investors of all time.

    Starting from scratch, simply by picking stocks and companies for investment, Warren Buffett amassed one of the epochal fortunes of the twentieth century—an astounding net worth of $10 billion, and ... (Goodreads)

  22. Smarter Faster Better: The Secrets of Being Productive in Life and Business

    by Charles Duhigg
    Strategies for using science and psychology to maximize individual and organizational productivity.

    NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER •, From the author of, The Power of Habit, comes a fascinating book that explores the science of productivity, and why managing, how, you think is more important than, ... (Barnes & Noble)

  23. Walden

    by Henry David Thoreau
    A reflective journey into nature, exploring the power of contemplation and simplicity.

    Originally published in 1854, Walden; or, Life in the Woods, is a vivid account of the time that Henry D. Thoreau lived alone in a secluded cabin at Walden Pond. It is one of the most influential and ... (Goodreads)

  24. How Google Works

    by Eric Schmidt
    Exploring the secrets of the world's most successful tech giant, offering insight into its inner workings.

    Both Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg came to Google as seasoned Silicon Valley business executives, but over the course of a decade they came to see the wisdom in Coach John Wooden's observation ... (Goodreads)

  25. Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction

    by Philip E. Tetlock
    An exploration of the science behind prediction and its potential to improve decision making.

    Everyone would benefit from seeing further into the future, whether buying stocks, crafting policy, launching a new product, or simply planning the week’s meals. Unfortunately, people tend to be ... (Goodreads)

  26. The Virtue of Selfishness: A New Concept of Egoism

    by Ayn Rand
    A philosophical exploration of the concept of egoism, advocating for rational self-interest.

    Ayn Rand here sets forth the moral principles of Objectivism, the philosophy that holds human life–the life proper to a rational being--as the standard of moral values and regards altruism as ... (Goodreads)

  27. Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science

    by Atul Gawande
    Exploration of the human costs and consequences of medical care, highlighting our imperfections and vulnerabilities.

    In gripping accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scalpel's edge. Complications lays bare a science not in ... (Goodreads)

  28. The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It

    by Kelly McGonigal
    A scientific approach to understanding and improving self-control, with practical exercises and real-life examples.

    The first book to explain the new science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity. After years of watching her students struggling with their ... (Goodreads)

  29. Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

    by Steven Pinker
    A data-driven argument for the progress of humanity through reason, science, and humanism.

    If you think the world is coming to an end, think again: people are living longer, healthier, freer, and happier lives, and while our problems are formidable, the solutions lie in the Enlightenment ... (Goodreads)

  30. The Innovator's Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book that Will Change the Way You Do Business

    by Clayton M. Christensen
    Examines disruptive innovation and how to manage it in a business setting.

    Harvard professor Clayton M. Christensen says outstanding companies can do everything right and still lose their market leadership – or worse, disappear completely. And he not only proves what he ... (Goodreads)