Category: Book Summaries
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MoneyBall Medicine by Harry Glorikian Book Summary
MoneyBall Medicine, Thriving in the New Data-Driven Healthcare Market by Harry Glorikian and Malorye Allison Branca Recommendation Have you heard about medical tourists who travel globally for affordable surgeries? Have you wondered how tech tycoons develop new ways to use data and make millions of dollars? Do you stay up late worrying why medical costs are high?…
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The World in a Grain by Vince Beiser Book Summary
The World in a Grain, The Story of Sand and How It Transformed Civilization by Vince Beiser Recommendation Sand is the groundwork for virtually everything in modern life. The buildings you live and work in and the roads you drive on are made of sand. Sand enables modern life, but it’s starting to run out,…
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Energy and Civilization by Vaclav Smil Book Summary
Energy and Civilization, A History by Vaclav Smil Recommendation Canadian university professor Vaclav Smil’s legendary work on energy, particularly in the United States, has garnered worldwide honor. Yet Smil writes for experts, not the layperson. His energy overview covers 441 dense pages and oddly-sequenced chapters – plus addenda – relaying statistics, facts and expert opinion, but little softening storytelling. He describes the role of energy in societal issues, slavery, war, economic growth…
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Energy by Richard Rhodes Book Summary
Energy, A Human History by Richard Rhodes Recommendation In this timely book, Richard Rhodes tells us the stories of the inventors and industrialists behind the major innovations in energy during the last 400 years. He provides an enjoyable, engaging and sometimes esoteric account of the scientific history of the modern technological world. Rhodes covers the breakthroughs that made it possible to turn coal into steam, and build…
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Oil in Putin’s Russia by Adnan Vatansever Book Summary
Oil in Putin’s Russia, The Contests over Rents and Economic Policy by Adnan Vatansever Recommendation The oil sector has long dominated Russia’s economy, for better and for worse. In this study of President Vladimir Putin’s policies, scholar Adnan Vatansever delves into Russia’s oil sector through the prism of who owns the energy assets and how much the…
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The Great Race by Levi Tillemann Book Summary
The Great Race, The Global Quest for the Car of the Future by Levi Tillemann Recommendation The internal combustion engine has had its day. The big upheaval won’t happen tomorrow – or even by 2025 – but eventually, the gas pump will be a museum relic and electric cars will be common. In this exhaustively…
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Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham Book Summary
Midnight in Chernobyl, The Untold Story of the World’s Greatest Nuclear Disaster by Adam Higginbotham Recommendation The USSR expanded its nuclear power program in the 1970s as its economy stagnated. The first new nuclear plant opened in 1975 in Chernobyl, Ukraine. As journalist Adam Higginbotham masterfully reports, after a failed safety test on a Friday night in April 1986, Reactor Four…
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The Prize by Daniel Yergin Book Summary
The Prize, The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power by Daniel Yergin Recommendation This significant tome is Daniel Yergin’s fascinating, 1992 Pulitzer prize-winning account of the personalities, politics, adventures and misadventures behind the evolution of the ruthless global oil business. This authoritative, intelligent and highly entertaining book reports on the past, present and future…
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Electrify by Saul Griffith Book Summary
Electrify, An Optimist’s Playbook for Our Clean Energy Future by Saul Griffith Recommendation You may feel hopeless in the face of ever more dire predictions about the effects of rising global temperatures and catastrophic climate change. At the same time, many people fear that aiming for a carbon-free future means unpleasant changes in lifestyle. Engineer, entrepreneur…
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From Big Oil to Big Green by Marco Grasso Book Summary
From Big Oil to Big Green, Holding the Oil Industry to Account for the Climate Crisis by Marco Grasso Recommendation Big Oil must step up and take responsibility for the climate crisis threatening life on Earth today, argues political geography professor Marco Grasso. He urges the oil and gas industry to embrace decarbonization and make reparations, while making a moral…
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American Icon by Bryce G Hoffman Book Summary
American Icon, Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company by Bryce G. Hoffman Recommendation It isn’t often that an insightful business history qualifies as a great beach read. Journalist Bryce G. Hoffman’s chronicle of the Ford Motor Company’s post-2008 turnaround transforms corporate restructuring into a sweeping drama, full of cliffhangers and vibrant characters.…
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Janesville by Amy Goldstein Book Summary
Janesville, An American Story by Amy Goldstein Recommendation Pulitzer Prize–winning Washington Post journalist Amy Goldstein earned wide recognition for this important entry in a new, sad American genre: stories of loss among the manufacturing middle-class. When General Motors closed its Janesville, Wisconsin, assembly plant in late 2008, the loss nearly ripped the town apart. Writing with grace and skill, Goldstein combines empathy with objectivity in her coverage…