Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari (2024, ISBN 9780593734223)

 

Subtitle--A Brief History of Information Networks from the Stone Age to AI

 Like his previous books this was a great read and very thought provoking.

About the future of humanity and AI.

 He discusses how humans communicated in the past and how this affected history.

Listed two examples of Social Networks that were used to cause problems Facebook (Rohingya) and Youtube (Brazil, Carlos Jordy). 

"Everything old was once new. The only constant of history is change." page 393.

 

Purchased 2024-09-19 at Powells for $35.00

 The History Book by DK (2016, 978-1-4654-4510-0)

This book discusses human history from prehistoric times to recent events.

There are many books on history, but if you want an overview of the subject I think this book is good.

The book covers many individuals and events from many cultures.

The choice of who to include and what events to cover must have been difficult.

For some reason the authors choose not to cover Jesus of Nazareth. Seems like he would have been a figure worthy of mention. Christianity is a very large world wide religious movement.  I guess the authors wanted to show how "cool" they were by having a section on Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha) and a section on Muhammad (the Prophet of Islam.)

Purchased from Amazon 2020-11-28 for 19.35$

21 Lessons for the 21st Century, by Yuval Noah Harari (2018, ISBN 978-0-525-51217-2)

A collection of essays that respond to questions from readers of his first two books (Sapiens and Homo Deus.)

Subjects are "The end of history has been postponed", "when you grow up, you might not have a job", "Big Data is watching you", "those who own the data own the future", "humans have bodies", "there is just one civilization in the world", and 15 more...

Like his other books I would regard this as a must read for those who like to think.

Purchased from Amazon, 2018-09-28 from 16.70$

The Story of the World in 100 Species by Christopher Lloyd (2016, ISBN 978-1-4088-7638-1)

The book has sections like viruses, simple cells, symbiosis, sea life, etc. Covers the whole spectrum of life on earth. The first 50 species are examples of those species that made the world the way it is before humans became a powerful force. The last 50 species are those that have been modified by humans, for example, grasses like rice, wheat, maize. Also, covers some animals that humans have modified, for example, horses, cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats.

Purchased new at Barnes and Noble, 30$, 2017-6-22.

Homo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari (2017, ISBN 978-0-06-246431-6).
Subtitle-- A Brief History of Tomorrow. Discusses some ideas about what the future may hold for Humans. It is possible that we may create an AI the will replace us. The dominate theme is the Data Religion wherein the AI of the future will monitor us 24/7 and make all of decisions for us. An interesting book to read, would like to read it again sometime.
Purchased at Powells, 2-21-2017 for 35$.

Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (2015, ISBN 978-0-06-231609-7)
Subtitled-- A Brief History Of Humankind.
Very interesting book, one of those books that I feel like I want to re-read as soon as I have finished it. Discusses the long history of humans, from the first humans 2 million years ago up to present time.
Divides human history into three basic eras: Cognitive Revolution, Agricultural Revolution and Scientific Revolution.
Was a xmas present, xmas 2015.

America's Bank- The Epic Struggle to Create The Federal Reserve by Roger Lowenstein (2015, ISBN 978-1-59420-549-1)
This book presents a description of the political process that resulted in the Federal Reserve. Some of the history of the older attempts to create a US central bank are described as well as why a central bank is needed.
Received as a Christmas present 2015.

Romania, An Illustrated History by Nicolae Klepper. 2002, ISBN 978-0-7818-0935-1.
This book provides a concise history of the area now known as Romania from pre-history to just after 2000. For me the most interesting parts were the early chapters (1-7) that covered the ancient and medieval history. From the book it seems clear that Romania has had a long history of struggling with more powerful neighbors from the Greeks and Romans to the Ottomans and the Austro-Hungarians and Russians.
Purchased at Powells books, 6-3-2012, 16.95.

Holy War: The Crusades and Their Impact on Today's World by Karen Armstrong, ISBN 0-385-72140-4. This books is about the European attempt to gain control over the Jerusalem. She discusses the reasons this was done and the effects it has had on the people of Europe and the Middle East since. In particular she discusses how the current Israeli-Arab conflict is affected by this history.