My 2023 reading list

Profound is an understatment. This well told story introduced many unique concepts. Intelligent use of scientific knowledge.

A bit dark. Proposes a bleak outlook on the relationship between civilizations in the universe. Incredibly well written.

A satisfying end to the saga. Wraps up the story well and introduces some hope which was a relief after the dark outlook of the previous book. Surprisingly, was able to continue introducing new concepts and exploring intriguing ideas up to the end.

Traces the development of the brain through all of history and shows how evolution built new functionality into the brain on top of more primitive versions of the brain.

I deliberately paced myself with this one. I limited myself to 2 pages per night.

The presentation is excellent. Builds up the universe from the most fundamental particle up to life and intelligence. Reframes our understanding of the physical universe as well as what it means to be intelligent. I wish there was more technical discussion on the implementation of the brain. However, the high level ideas are quite useful and goes a long way towards helping you understand the requirements for building truly intelligent life.

The first few trillionths of a second after the big bang was an incredibly active and mysterious time in our universe. Dan Hooper explores these few moments and explain how our universe may have come to be. He takes us to the edge of our current understanding and surveys the various unanswered questions that scientists are struggling with today.

An interesting exploration of the stories that we tell through the eyes of an Anthropologist. Re-interprets the myths of the past with new light.

I’m probably not going to complete this book. It is brilliantly written and quite compelling but the last few chapters feel like a chore.

This is proving harder to read than I expected. I’m going to put it aside for now.

This is proving harder to read than I expected. I’m going to put it aside for now.

Easy flowing story telling. A gret premise and well executed.