I have researched human origins professionally for almost decades by studying the trail of fossils that have survived millions of years. But, before then, and since I can remember, I’ve been a lover of adventure and science fiction stories in all formats: action movies (Indiana Jones, Back to the Future), TV shows (The X Files), novels (Jack London!), or anime and manga (Ghost in the Shell, Akira, Alita). So, I guess my mind constantly travels from the past to the future. I think this list will also work as a time machine for others.
I wrote
Humans: Perspectives on Our Evolution from World Experts
Harari is better known by this book’s predecessor, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. However, I enjoyed this book much more. Why? I study human evolution, so even though I enjoyed how the author summarized human history in Sapiens, starting from prehistoric African times, I realized that some ideas are based on wrong or dated information.
However, this book builds on the last portion of Sapiens, the future of humankind. I love speculative hard science fiction, especially those that combine human evolution with dystopian futures. So, of course, I enjoyed this “non-fiction” book.
Sapiens showed us where we came from. In our increasingly uncertain times, Homo Deus shows us where we're going.
'Spellbinding' Guardian
The world-renowned historian and intellectual Yuval Noah Harari envisions a near future in which we face a new set of challenges. Homo Deus explores the projects, dreams and nightmares that will shape the twenty-first century and beyond - from overcoming death to creating artificial life.
It asks the fundamental questions: how can we protect this fragile world from our own destructive power? And what does our future hold?
The editor (Max Brookman), who is also a prestigious book agent, compiles a collection of essays addressing sensitive questions about the future: climate change, human technological enhancement, or human extinction. The authors of the essays are all “rock stars” in different scientific fields, from theoretical physicist and philosopher Sean Carroll to paleoanthropologist Katerina Harvati.
Continuing with my love for hard science fiction and the future of human evolution, I found the ideas presented in this book entertaining and thought-provoking while being educating.
Will climate change force a massive human migration to the Northern Rim?
How does our sense of morality arise from the structure of the brain?
What does the latest research in language acquisition tells us about the role of culture in the way we think?
What does current neurological research tell us about the nature of time?
This wide-ranging collection of never-before-published essays offers the very latest insights into the daunting scientific questions of our time. Its contributors—some of the most brilliant young scientists working today—provide not only an introduction to their cutting-edge research, but discuss the social, ethical, and…
Miranda falls in love with her dream house but soon discovers it's an affair with complications. A lot of them. Rosewood is a centuries old, tumble-down, gambrel roofed charmer located in an isolated, coastal corner of Virginia referred to as "strange". Known for long-standing and antiquated customs, an almost indecipherable…
Reading this book is like watching an adventure movie on a Sunday afternoon on the couch. But it’s not a movie; it actually happened. The late author, a recognized geologist, recounts his personal biography during the 1970s, exploring the Afar region of Ethiopia and searching for the earliest human ancestors.
The “plot” involves the US government, spy accusations, funny stories about personalities in the field, and one of the “game changers” in paleoanthropology: The discovery of “Lucy,” the skeleton of a tiny female of Australopithecus afarensis that lived more than 3 million years ago. Knowing some of the personalities mentioned in the book, the pages flew in front of my face, and I effortlessly read it in no time.
Over the past 25 years, a stream of fossil and artifact discoveries in the Afar Depression of Ethiopia has produced the longest single record of human ancestors in the world. Many of the fossils found in this region are the missing links leading to modern humans. This book chronicles the exploration of this unique desert area, focusing especially on the 1970s when the valley was mapped and many fossils and archeological sites were discovered. The author gives his personal account of the 25 years he spent researching the region. As co-founder of the team that discovered Lucy, Jon Kalb has…
This book is a classic now and will still be one hundred years from now. It’s the only truly fiction book on this list, but it contains some of the deepest truths about human nature, the meaning of time, memory, and identity.
Different narrators tell their tragic stories, which converge in a beautifully wrapped-up end set in a dystopian future with an ongoing war among different species descent from modern Homo sapiens. What is not to love about it?
To hide a corporation’s failure to properly service a space ship, Captain Jonas Stryker is prosecuted but saved from imprisonment by a dying man, who hires Stryker to collect asteroids for their mineral content. Stryker soon finds he must stop a shadowy corporate group called The Board, who employ space…
I loved this book because it contains real-life, usable bits of wisdom from a curated list of 100+ writers (Neil Gaiman), athletes (Tony Hawk), entrepreneurs (Gary Vaynerchuck), and artists of all kinds (Mike D).
All these top performers provide their thoughtful answers to the author's seemingly superficial questions. Paraphrasing from the original list: “Which little purchase made a positive change in your life?” “Which book have you gifted the most?” “What little habit do you love?”. Does this format sound familiar?
We All Need Mentors. Here Are More than 100 of the World's Best. When facing life's questions, who do you turn to for advice? We all need mentors, particularly when the odds seem stacked against us. For this book, best-selling author Tim Ferriss tracked down more than 100 eclectic mentors to help him, and you, navigate life. Through short, action-packed profiles, he shares their secrets for success, happiness, meaning, and more. No matter the challenge or opportunity, something in these pages can help. You will learn: The three books legendary investor Ray Dalio recommends most often Lessons and tips from…
My book is a 360-degree behind-the-scenes view of the field of human evolution: the discoveries, ideas, essential readings, and people behind it all.
This book compiles the informal answers to 10 given questions from 100+ world experts in different related fields: paleontology, archeology, primate and human behavior, genetics, philosophy, etc. The focus of each question spans from the scientific (“Which discovery would you highlight as a “game changer”?) to the speculative sci-fi (If you had a one-shot round trip in a time machine, to which specific time period would you go and why?), and into metaphysical territory (Is human evolution compatible with having a spiritual or religious view of the world?). It provides the spice missing in other, more academic-oriented books of human origins.
A fresh take on the difference between trauma and hardship in order to help accurately spot the difference and avoid over-generalizations.
The book integrates the latest findings in brain science, child development, psycho-social context, theory, and clinical experiences to make the case that trauma is much more than a cluster…
My book is a collection of monthly Editor-in-Chief letters to the readership of World Neurosurgery, a journal that I edit. Each essay is short and sweet. The letters were written for neurosurgeons but have been re-edited so that they apply to all human beings. They cover topics such as leadership,…
