Continuing with my tradition of quarterly book summaries, here are my reflections on the books I’ve read between October and December last year.

Biographies

📚 Elon Musk

👉 Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson

I must admit I’m definitely not a fan of Elon Musk and had some curiosity to learn more about the person behind the public façade. I wanted to learn more about all the aspects that shaped him and his mindset. As I learned, his childhood and his relationship to his father have had a profound impact on his thinking and behavioral tendencies.

Overall, I was fascinated by Musk’s intelectual breadth which spans multiple domains. He decided to major in physics because, like his father, he was drawn to engineering. He also decided to learn about business because he didn’t want to work for others:

“I was concerned that if I didn’t study business, I would be forced to work for someone who did,” he says. “My goal was to engineer products by having a feel for the physics and never have to work for a boss with a business degree.”

It was exactly this combination of technical depth and business knowledge that would serve as a fundament for his future ventures. As for his visions he had very concrete expectations:

He had conceived by then a life vision that he would repeat like a mantra. “I thought about the things that will truly affect humanity,” he says. “I came up with three: the internet, sustainable energy, and space travel.” In the summer of 1995, it became clear to him that the first of these, the internet, was not going to wait for him to finish graduate school. The web had just been opened up for commercial use, and that August the browser startup Netscape went public, soaring within a day to a market value of $2.9 billion.

Given our planet’s burning challanges (climate crisis, poverty, low education, war) I still question his Mars colonization plans which are driven by his will to save humanity and our species once there will be no life possible anymore on Mother Earth. The biography not only revelead controversial aspects about his visions but also about his leadership style and work ethics:

Musk responded with a very self-aware email. “I am by nature obsessive-compulsive,” he wrote Fricker. “What matters to me is winning, and not in a small way. God knows why… it’s probably rooted in some very disturbing psychoanalytical black hole or neural short circuit.”

While he is undoubtly a visionaire and leaded to the success of multiple multi-billion companies, I still find his management practices problematic: From arbitrary dismissals to creating unsustainable work environments.

📓 Read my notes

Politics

📚 How Democracies Die

👉 How Democracies Die by Steven Levitsky, Daniel Ziblatt (read in German)

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last years, you certainly have noticed the rising authoritarian tendencies worldwide. While this book’s focus is the United States’ constitutional framework, it has provided me with with good analysis of democratic decline globally and important insights how democratic systems can be systemcally undermined.

One of the most important revelation to me was the fact that most totalitarian leaders (Hitler, Mussolini, Trump, Erdogan, Orban, Chavez, Fujimori) throuhout history more or less followed the same pattern to gain power. As the authors note (translated from German using LLM):

This story has played out in various forms around the world over the past century. A series of political outsiders, from Adolf Hitler in Germany to Getúlio Vargas in Brazil, Alberto Fujimori in Peru, and Hugo Chávez in Venezuela, all came to power the same way: from within, through elections or alliances with powerful political figures. Each time, elites believed that including the outsider in government would contain them and restore mainstream politicians’ power. This belief proved deceptive. A fatal mixture of ambition, fear, and miscalculation led them to make the same fateful mistake: they knowingly handed over the keys of power to an aspiring autocrat.

What also resonated with me of the crucial role of institutional safeguards in democratic systems. As the book mentiones also political parties have a responsibility in preserving democracy:

While mass response to extremist temptations is important, what matters more is whether political elites, and especially parties, serve as filters. Simply put, parties are the guardians of democracy.

Perhaps most disturbing is how autocratic forces often use democratic institutions and rules to gain power while simultaneously undermining democratic values. They often call for “real” or “more” democracy while at the same time working to dismantle it.

📚 Animal Farm

👉 Animal Farm by George Orwell (read in German)

My first George Orwell reading was 1984 making “Animal Farm” (its chronological predecessor) particularly interesting as it reveals the evolutionof Orwell’s thoughts on authoritarian systems. Without knowing Orwell’s personal background and political influences that shaped his perspective (on comunism and failed socialist ideals) one cannot truly appreciate his work.

The book’s central message is perhaps best captured in its famous principle:

“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”

(German: “ALLE TIERE SIND GLEICH, ABER MANCHE TIERE SIND GLEICHER ALS ANDERE”)

This simple statement encapsulates the entire tragedy of how egalitarian ideals can be corrupted by those in power (in this case, represented by the pigs which gradually take over control of the farm). What makes this book particularly relevant today is its brilliant illustration of how manipulation, fear, propaganda and ideology can facilitate the establishment of authoritarian systems. Orwell did a good job to show (through farm animals) how revolutionary ideals can be gradually misinterpreted and misused to serve the interests of a new elite. As our world becomes more and more dominated by both autocrats and technocrats, the warnings embedded in the book feel more present than ever.

📓 Read my notes (German)

Climate

📚 The Ministry of the Future

👉 The Ministry of the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson

I’ve listened to “The Ministry of the Future” through an audiobook which, in retrospect, might not have been the optimal choice for absorbing the depth and complexity of this work. I think I’ll purchase a physical copy or the e-book version of this book as it deserves a more deliberate pace. The audiobook doesn’t really allow you to revisit key passages, make notes and reflect on certain aspects.

What sets this book apart is its quite realistic approach to climate science fiction. Far from dystopian extremes and far-fetched solutions it offers a quite realistic scenario of how humanity might struggle with the all the challenges of the climate crisis. The main idea of the book, a global governance institution particularly resonated to me as it demonstrates the need for global actions instead of letting individual nations handle climate actions in isolation. These actions usually have unforeseeable effects on other regions weather conditions which definitely might lead to conflict between countries.

Apart from that there were two economic concepts that seem crucial solving global problems. First, the role of corporate funding in environmental projects and secondly the idea of a carbon coin, a global financial instrument designed to fund climate crisis initiatives. This creates investment opportunities for corporations while maintaining focus on environment goals. And of course, the ROI (return of investment) will be way lower than usual rates.

As I’ve mentioned already I’m planning to revisit this work in either e-book or physical format. The book has several detail layers that require a more traditional reading approach allowing me to engage with the complex ideas in a more deeper manner.

📚 History of Bees

👉 The History of Bees by Maja Lunde

I came to this book through my wife’s recommendation and despite not being a regular novel reader I became quite interested about the potential consequences of a global bee extinction. Like “The Ministry of the Future” this work presents a realistic scenario of how environmental crisis could reshape human society, but focusses specially on the critical role of bees in our ecosystem.

Through the book you’ll get to read stories from different epochs that initially seem distinct but at the end reveal their interconnections. Through these parallel stories, the author illustrates the historial, present and potential future significance of apiculture (beekeeping).

If you study bees you’ll get to understand their important for our food systems. Almost without human intervention natural pollination of trees (through bees) takes place which is crucial for fruit production. This again is vital for continuous harvests and therefore for food security. As you delve into the book’s chapters it becomes clear how these small insects play a vital role in maintaining our already fragile ecological balance.

The use of multiple timelines and connected stories effectively highlights the scientific importance of bees (for agriculture) but also the potential costs (for humans) of their potential loss.

Food Science

📚 Salt Fat Acid Heat

👉 Salt Fat Acid Heat by Samin Nosrat (read in German)

I think that in another life I might have been a cook 🙈 - at least that’s how I explain my passion for cooking and culinary arts. While I explored different techniques from slow cooking to steam preparation, it is Samin Nosrat’s “Salt Fact Acid Heat” that slowly transforms my approach to cooking.

What’s so cool about this book is the way it deconstructs the fundamental elements we often take for granted in cooking. Salt, oil, fat are such common ingredients that we don’t really think about their actual purpose in our dishes. Nosrat breaks down (in a semi-scientific approach) the chemical interactions between these elements and various ingredients. This (technical) depth adds a new dimension to understanding how and why certain cooking techniques work the way they do.

Along the technical explanations Nosrat also shares personal anecdotes and tips making complex cooking techniques accessible and memorable. Personally I struggled for a long time to remember all the ingredients one needs to make a good sauce. The books has a comprehensive section on sauce-making (which oil depending on the what type of food you want to prepare etc.) and definitely helped me created balanced flavours. After all it’s not a rocket science but it feels this way when you don’t know the basics.

At the end of the book you’ll find a recipe collection which also serves as a pratical demonstration of the principles discussed in the book. These recipes are not only just some steps you should follow, but more like practical lessons in applying (Nosrat’s) science of cooking.

📓 Read my notes (German)

Business & Productivity

📚 The Effective Executive

👉 The Effective Executive by Peter F. Drucker

Drucker’s “The Effective Executive” was originally published in 1966 during his tenure as a management professor at the New York University. At least for me this book proved to be a dissapointment: I cannot recommend reading this book as there are plenty of more valuable works on management and productivity.

The book’s approach sounds kind of odd to me especially after engaging (through books and podcasts) with Cal Newport’s modern frameworks around deep work, “slow productivity”, multi-scale planning and time blocking. Till now these methodologies have been quite effective in my own work. While Drucker is often considered a management thinking pioneer, this particular book (I haven’t read any others yet) offers little practical value for someone working as a knowledge worker. Perhaps in 1966 and the decades after this book has been revolutionary. However, I’d recommend looking to more current works that better reflect today’s work environment and challenges.