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Books Recommendations

Here’s a short list of books that have been pretty influential to the way I see the world.

Thinking, Fast and Slow

By Daniel Kahneman

Thinking non-consciously and consciously. This book is an amazing introduction into the fields of cognitive psychology and decision making.

Thinking in Systems

Donella H. Meadows

A great introduction to systems and how to analyze them. Meadows delivers exactly what she promised: a primer on systems thinking.

Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

By Jared Diamond

An exciting journey through the factors that influence the development of human societies.

The Limits to Growth

By Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows, Jørgen Randers

A classic in environmental literature that demonstratres how our global civilization could collapse as we overshoot the Earth's limits.

The Uninhabitable Earth: A Story of the Future

David Wallace-Wells

A book that makes clear the horror of the emergency of the worst effects of climate change.

Energy and Civilization: A History

By Vaclav Smil

Energy is the only universal currency: this book chronicles the impacts and developments of energy use through all of humanity’s history.

How the Mind Works

By Steven Pinker

Steven Pinker's book is a well written and funny book about of the state-of-art research on cognition. A great work of scientific popularization.

The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life

By Erving Goffman

A study of human behavior in social situations and the way we appear to others. One of the absolute must-reads of modern sociology.

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

By Malcolm Gladwell

How new trend or idea gains momentum and may or may not become mainstream ? Interesting and insightful examples of social theory.

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid

Douglas R. Hofstadter

A journey about the nature of intelligence, it will intensely changed how you think about how you think.

The Quantum and the Lotus

By Matthieu Ricard & Trinh Xuan Thuan

A balanced book that connects science and spirituality. Amazing how well Buddhism aligns with quantum physics.

The Design of Everyday Things

By Donald A. Norman

The perfect introduction to the design of Design. After reading this book, you won't ignore the design of things like you unconsciously did before.

Le code de la conscience

By Stanislas Dehaene

Understanding consciousness and the brain : a well-written update on cutting edge neuroscience.

From Counterculture to Cyberculture

By Fred Turner

Fred Turner tracing the roots of digital utopianism from the ideals of the 1960s counterculture.

Creativity, Inc.

By Ed Catmull & Amy Wallace

The founding story of Pixar Studios and managment lessons that Ed Catmull (co-founder) learned through.

Rework

By Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson

Real, neat, funny, provoking : a tech-entrepreneurial manifesto.

L’esthétisation du monde. Vivre à l'âge du capitalisme artiste

Gilles Lipovetsky

A fascinating and refreshing account of capitalism and its relationship to art.

The Pasteurization of France

By Bruno Latour

Sociology, history, and the philosophy of science : the simultaneous building of a society and its scientific facts.

Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity

By Lawrence Lessig

A philosophical exploration of the current state of copyright law and its surrounding issues.