📚 Fact-based optimistic summer reading

A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next

By Tom Standage.

A road trip through 5,500 years of human transportation. Fast-paced, very interesting, and educational.

The debates we are having today about ride-sharing, electric vehicles, and autonomous vehicles are often variations of similar debates throughout history.

Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making

By Tony Fadell.

He is the creator of the iPod, the iPhone, and Nest. Tony Fadell knows how to build great consumer products. And he is also really good at giving advice on how to build and create things.

The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley

By Jimmy Soni.

The founders of Paypal didn't just found Paypal. Elon Musk founded SpaceX, Tesla, Boring Company, and Neuralink. Peter Theil founded Founders Fund, Palantir, and was the first investor in Facebook. Reid Hoffman founded Linkedin. Jawed Karim, Steve Chan, and Chad Hurley founded YouTube.

The people behind Paypal have had an enormous impact on the world we live in, yet the founding story of Paypal hasn't really been told. Until now.

Empires of the Sky: Zeppelins, Airplanes, and Two Men's Epic Duel to Rule the World

By Alexander Rose.

Sometimes you read a book that uncovers your total ignorance. I thought Zeppelins were just a short, stupid fad that burned up with the Hindenburg. But they were so much more. Many saw them as a much better option than airplanes, and for a while, they developed faster.

Back then it was by no means clear that airplanes would overtake Zeppelins.

That is useful when we try to predict the future of current technologies.