Best Books of 2023 - Philosophers and an Intelligence Takeoff
Every year I write about my favorite books I read. This year's full list is here: https://raohacker.com/best-books-of-2023-philosophers-and-an-intelligence-takeoff/
For the top books, I had a three-way tie for the best books ("Ageless" about biogerontology, "Three Laws of Nature" about thermodynamics, and the avant-garde novel "The Last Samurai"). I'm also adding a short section about audio and video, the works richer in bits, that struck a chord.
BEST BOOKS OF 2023
Steele, Ageless: The New Science of Getting Older Without Getting Old. This is the best layman's book on the new field of biogerontology that took off in the 1990s and especially in the last decade, which focuses on how to slow down, stop, or reverse aging. If that sounds fantastic, it's because few understand the science and the author makes a case that this is one of the most important fields of scientific study today, given how much disease and death are tied to underlying aging factors. Steele breaks down aging into 10 hallmark factors (DNA damage and mutations, trimmed telomeres, protein problems like autophagy, epigenetic alterations, the accumulation of senescent cells, malfunctioning mitochondria, signal failures like inflammation, changes in the microbiome, cellular exhaustion, malfunctions of the immune system). He then goes into research on promising animal and human studies on each of these factors and the health and lifespan gains researchers have seen (from 10% to 600% in some species). Alongside AI and clean energy (eg solar panels and nuclear fusion), biogerontology promises to be one of the most exciting and interesting fields in the next few decades.
Berry, Three Laws of Nature: A Little Book on Thermodynamics. Einstein said of Thermodynamics: “It is the only physical theory of universal content, which I am convinced, that within the framework of applicability of its basic concepts will never be overthrown.” I never felt I understood the 3 laws in physics classes. Despite seeming simple, much didn't land. So this book by Stephen Berry (UChicago Chemist, known as a "Renaissance scientist" and "one of the most influential chemists of his generation") finally lit my fire and it walks through the history and development of the 3 laws. It turns out it took many of the brightest scientists nearly 150 years to work them out with careful experiments (never taught in today's schools), and it started with mining entrepreneurs trying to dig more coal in Northern England and that industry and practice was decades ahead of theory (similar to modern machine learning). The 3 laws, along with electromagnetism, are the basis of most technology supporting humans today, from electricity to mechanical gadgets, cars, planes, rockets, and computers - we would be savages without them. What's also strange and intriguing is modern physicists explain and interpret the 3 laws very differently, as I learned by finding and reading the explanations from Fermi, Feynman, Penrose, Weinberg, Suo, and Wolfram. For even more detail, check out Hanlon's Block by Block.
DeWitt, The Last Samurai. A short novel about a brilliant mother and her precocious son, who is searching for his father. I consider this one of the great novels of the 21st century and was delighted to learn that some others do too. Beyond compelling characters and a touching plot, DeWitt pushes forward what the form of the novel could be, in a rare way similar to Joyce, James, and Hemingway.
This year's full list is here (with all the books, papers, and more): https://raohacker.com/best-books-of-2023-philosophers-and-an-intelligence-takeoff/