📚 The angry optimist's summer reading tips

Apple: The First 50 Years

by David Pogue

On April 1, 2026, Apple turned 50. David Pogue does an excellent job of telling the company's entire history.

Beyond the big picture, I particularly appreciated his account of the years when Steve Jobs wasn't at Apple. Since Jobs is so often the focus, it's easy to overlook the many years of Apple's life when he wasn't there.

The Infinity Machine: Demis Hassabis, DeepMind, and the Quest for Superintelligence

by Sebastian Mallaby

Demis Hassabis is one of those people history will remember. He's only 49, yet already a Nobel laureate, founder of perhaps the most interesting AI company of our time, and on top of that the creator of one of my childhood favorite games, Theme Park.

Mallaby tells his story so far and his pursuit of the holy grail: superintelligence.

The Double Helix

by James Watson

Watson died recently. He grew stranger as the years went by, but he will always be the man who discovered the structure of DNA, together with Francis Crick. And he will always be the man who wrote a highly entertaining book about how it happened.

Technelegy

by Sasha Stiles

I rarely read poetry. Okay, never. But this I liked. Sasha Stiles is the poet who very early on began using AI to write poetry. Her goal is to reach, together with AI, a new level that she can't reach on her own, and that the AI can't reach either.

Mathias Sundin
Angry Optimist