'Radicalized' by Cory Doctorow

Radicalized, Cory Doctorow (4.0)

As usual, Mr. Doctorow has his eye on the key issues of our time and portrays them in interesting and compelling ways. He does it here with 4 short stories, most set in the near future. He imagines our emerging issues (i.e. income inequality, immigration, health care) playing out in ironic ways. While the subjects are usually depressing, these stories have hope buried here and there throughout. While the entitled money manager hides in his bunker after the Internet and society unravel, not all is anarchy in the outside he fights so strongly to keep out. I only found one of the stories so-so (I’ll let the reader figure out which one) the other three are fascinating and timely.

'Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Start-up' by John Carreyrou

Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Start-up, John Carreyrou (4.0)

I was eager to read this book as it combines three things of interest to me: science, business and the cult of personality. Mr. Carreyrou is an investigative journalist who unveils the truth behind Theranos, a start-up company building a blood-testing device unique for using just drops of blood. It is also known for it’s charismatic leader, Elizabeth Holmes, and it’s well-known board of directors (Henry Kissinger and George Schultz to name two). Theranos has puzzled me for many years – and I wanted to get more details on just how a college drop-out could manage to hoodwink so many people into thinking she had solved a science and technology problem that no one before could crack. That is really the key to understanding Theranos – Ms. Holmes idolized Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs to the point of even appropriating Jobs’ black turtleneck as her standard attire. But I think she missed a key difference in what those two entrepreneurs did and what she was attempting to do – they did not have to invent a base technology. They cleverly took something that existed and developed it to become a product or service customers would really want. Similarly she saw a need – everyone would choose a finger prick to test tube blood drawing. But the technology needed to perform multiple tests from such a small sample does not exist and does not seem very close to existing. The company used high levels of security, non-disclosure agreements, legal threats and political power to hide this fact. Unfortunately for the investors, employees and most importantly the customers who used the faulty technology, Elizabeth Holmes’ charisma and salesmanship masked the truth and it took a very long time for someone to reveal the absence of tech. I enjoyed reading this book, though it is still quite shocking to see how power was used, how long this company existed and the lack of punishment to date.

'The Fifth Risk' by Michael Lewis

The Fifth Risk, Michael Lewis (3.5)

I’m going to have to say ‘too soon’ with regards to reading this book. While much of it is important, I’ve spent the better part of two years trying not to think too much about some of the topics. Particularly the chapter on the DOE and the idea of our current administration ignoring (and defunding) some of the most important protections of our country, made me sick to my stomach. Of course, Mr. Lewis does his usual admirable job when tackling a subject. He uses good information and writes an engaging narrative. The book looks at a couple of key, often misunderstood, government departments and describes the transition from the Obama administration to the current one. He interviews lifelong employees and asks them about their assessment of the possible risks of a poor transition. Given the antipathy the current administration has had for any others, it’s not surprising the transitions were mostly nonexistent. I do think the particular departments were cherry picked (though not sure I could have taken any more). In addition this particular book was short and felt rather rushed.

'Dracula' by Bram Stoker

Dracula, Bram Stoker (4.0)

This book was written around the same time as ‘Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde’ and ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, and coincided with Freud’s ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’. Each has what we now consider a Freudian component – for ‘Dracula’, many have seen the vampire itself as a manifestation of sexual repression. Given that, the most annoying part of the book was the overly chaste and spiritual language and actions of the protagonists. These characters are hard to take in their earnestness. Fortunately Mr. Stoker does a great job of creating tension and thrills around his incarnation of the vampire, Dracula. I particularly enjoyed any of the chapters in which he played a part. Few books written prior to this (late 1800’s) were able to generate such a page turning experience. As the group tries to capture and kill Dracula before he can return to his castle in Transylvania, I was reading frantically to see if he outwits them once again. I definitely believe it’s worth reading what is considered the ultimate vampire novel, just make sure to skim the Victorian age melodramatic speeches.

'The Book of Why' by Judea Pearl

The Book of Why, Judea Pearl (2.0)

I can’t say that I enjoyed reading this book, though it did bring up some thoughtful questions about how causes and effects are treated in science, specifically by statisticians. Unfortunately, the author has such a high opinion of his own work; the book read as largely a pat on his back. He summarizes theme of the book as ‘you are smarter than your data, data doesn’t understand causes’. While this is true, the act of determining causes is mostly fraught with assumption. The author tends to prove his point by using hindsight, which, by definition, has fewer assumptions. In the book, he unveils his ‘simple’ way of writing causal diagrams (90% of which were simple triangles) that clarify how these causes are involved with the effect. Given that the book was touted as written for non-statisticians and non-computer scientists, I wish he would have included more real life examples to prove his points and less time spent on the math.