by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson, Publised 2023

This book goes into the discussion of technological progress and how historically, prosperity being transmitted to all of society is not necessarily automatic but is based on choices made in light of technological developments and who has the power to direct and and persuade these choices. This therefore presents an interesting perspective into how recent developments such as AI should be approached if they are to provide equitable benefit to society.

by Jared Diamond, Published 1997

A personal favorite in terms of the perspective provided with respect to how climate and domestication of animals played a role in shaping history especially when considering what animal domestication meant in terms of waging war and introducing zoonotic diseases to humans.

by Vaclav Smil , Published 2022

This interesting 2022 release by the inter-disciplinary scientist condenses how energy in its current form is used to underpin modern human life. One of the angles described is via how we obtain 4 key material pillars from our current energy set up i.e. Cement, Ammonia, Steel and Plastics. As such, it attempts to bring some practicality to the scale of energy transformation required to do this with alternative means at scale which the author believes to be taken for granted and/or potentially misunderstood .

by Robert J. Shiller, Published 2019

A good read from the 2013 Economic Sciences Nobel Prize winner especially in our current environment where virality of a narrative has wide reaching impacts from stock markets to disease spread to gathering momentum of relatively new concepts like crypto and social media. The overall concept borrows from the medical field of virology and transposes to how economic-affecting narratives go viral.

by Dr Steven E Koonin , Published 2021

An interesting and potentially controversial book by the Caltech & MIT theoretical physicist where he expresses his concerns on the maturity of climate science and predictive inferences thereof. This is particularly in terms of its ability to clearly separate human influence on climate from the long term natural cycles as well as how data is being translated into the climate change narrative.

by Daron Acemoglu & James A. Robinson, Published 2012

This book discusses concepts and context surrounding the cause of why some nations succeed and some fail in the development journey with an emphasis on institutions and their nature e.g. extractive institutions designed to extract wealth by elites in power vs inclusive institutions.

by Gary Smith, Published 2018

The perspective of this book is basically that we are yielding too much reliance to computers under the belief of their ability to recall data better than humans being what we term intelligence. However, intelligence may not be a matter of recollection power as much as understanding data exceptions and the social context which may not necessarily follow statistical inferences.

by Michael Shellenberger, Published 2020

This potentially jarring and controversial book by 2008 Time Magazine’s Hero of The Environment award recipient explores his concerns that the pressures of environmentalism create challenges in making practical solutions to manage future prosperity particularly for the energy poor.

by Alfred Lansing,Published 1959

This book immerses us into the journey and experiences of Sir Ernest Shackleton in his attempt to cross the Antarctic Continent in 1914. While this might feel distant to the typical discourse on this platform on energy, it does well to capture the human spirit and our quest for knowledge and how a combination of science and spirit can result in remarkable journeys.

by Nate Silver, Published 2012
The author uses their statistics, sports analysis and poker background to give insight into the concept of predictions. An interesting chapter touches on the discussion around climate change predictions and how these can be approached.

by Tim Marshall, Published 2015

A typical Tim Marshal book which shows the extent to which geography plays a role in our worlds socioeconomics, history and politics. A Tim Marshall book has the effect of making you feel geography is an under-appreciated discipline at times.

by Tim Marshall, Published 2021

A follow up to Prisoners of Geography with additional context to the role geography plays in the world dynamics we see.

by Prof Scott E. Page

A bit of a technical read but does well to flesh out the key factors constituting complexity in a system i.e. interdependence, connectedness, diversity, and adaptation/learning of participating actors. This is delivered through typical Great Courses lectures style.

by Daniel Yergin, Published 2020

Energy expert and economic historian Daniel Yergin gives insight into the emerging energy socioeconomic and political dynamic presented by modern energy developments like the impact of Covid, rise of shale in the US, OPEC’s transition to OPEC Plus by including Russia, the climate discussion and more.

by Prof Michael E. Wysession

This Great Courses installment is a good foundation for understanding the physiological behavior of the earth which is a necessary tool in engaging discussions regarding climate, natural disasters and more..

by Prof Michael E. Wysession

Another good foundational series of lectures by Prof Wysession regarding how the different energy sources work from traditional non-renewable to newer renewable categorized energies.

By Ray Dalio, published 2021

This book by the Bridgewater & Associates founder talks mainly to his principles on the rise and fall of economic empires mainly driven by boom and bust cycles born out of the need to print money to cover the debt acquired during the “good” times and many other categories that point to empire growth and decline .

by Prof Sean Carrol

This Great Courses helps us see the link between energy and time through the 2nd law of thermodynamics and it’s relation to the concept of entropy. It also re-enforces how understanding the concept of energy strips all the information noise from the world down to the core fundamental understanding of how the physical universe works.

By Prof Richard Wolfson

This Great Courses helps get an understanding of the scientific journey we have taken in understanding the universally fundamental aspect of energy and its culmination in the latest revolutionary iteration of relativity as postulated by Albert Einstein as well as the movement towards understanding quantum mechanics.

by Daniel Kahneman, Published 2011

In a prime example of inter-interdisciplinary expansion to our body of knowledge, this book by the 2002 Economic Sciences Nobel Prize winner brings psychology to economics to give behavioral economics. Thereby presenting an alternative to the previously long held view of rational decision making being the foundation of economic theory.

by Francis Fukuyama, Published 2012

Part 1 of 2 installments by Francis Fukuyama detailing the journey which humans have walked in organizing themselves from pre-State times through to Church/State conflict and other governance structures

by Francis Fukuyama, published 2014

Part 2 of the Political Order & Decay series that expands on the deemed inevitable decay of existing political structures with time

by Kevin Kelly, Published 2016

From the founding executive editor of Wired Magazine, this book lists and expands on 12 technological forces that will shape the future from sharing, to cognifying to tracking and more.

by Andrew Scott Cooper, Published 2011

A riveting account of the oil based geopolitical transition and re-alignment that occurred in the 1960s/70s from close US-Iran relations to US-Saudi relations as well as key players and events in this fascinating chapter of geo-politcal history.

by Prof Jerry Z Muller

A series of lectures discussing capitalism, it’s history and philosophies around it. A valuable discussion for the context of world we are in today where we have to interrogate capitalism’s trade offs and the structures required to mitigate its negative impacts. Importantly as well, interrogating allows demystifying the position that inherent participation in the system means one cannot critique it.

by Prof David K Johnson

Frequently, philosophy is seen in its purely academic context but what is interesting about the way Prof Johnson presents it is in relation to philosophical concepts raised in the arena of science fiction film which is one of the primary ways we interact with philosophy in a more leisurely manner.

by Yuval Noah Harari, Published 2018

This book by intellectual historian YN Hariri is another social philosophy addition to his prior work Sapiens (2014) and Homo Deus (2016) mainly about the profound impact of technology.

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, 2007

This follow up to his 2001 book Fooled by Randomness where Nassim Taleb discusses the impact of highly improbable events and how significant their influence is on financial markets and beyond. Interestingly this book was published into the run up to the 2008-9 Great Financial Crisis hence gives a mildly prophetic view.

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, 2001

Mathematical statistician and former options trader Nassim Taleb uses this book to illustrate his views on the role of luck and randomness in financial and general performance and how they are often conflated with skill.

by Richard P. Rumelt, Published 2011

UCLA Professor Emeritus of Management & Strategy dives into and expands on what makes a good strategy and the core elements (which he calls the kernel) that make a good strategy i.e. Diagnosis, Guiding Policy & Set of coherent actions to address a challenge.

by Prof William R Cook, Published 2009

An engaging Great Courses account of the history of the Catholic church by passionate Prof Richard R Cook which given the intertwining nature of Church and State in history, understanding this history becomes crucial in understanding the last 2 millennia of human sociopolitical development including inflection points like the reformation and clash with science.

by David Epstein, Published 2019

The intriguing insight brought forward by this book is how frequently solutions to problems are derived from across disciplines that maybe unrelated. This inter-disciplinary nature of problem solving and spin off technologies helps look at world challenges with a different lens.

by Tim Marshall, Published 2018

by Matt Ridley , Published 2010

by Judea Pearl, Published 2018

by Dr Patrick N Allitt, Published 2014