Best Books of 2024: Loners and Fellowships
December 2024
This was a weak year of reading books for me. My reading was random, jumping from many memoirs and biographies to mathematical treatises, histories of art, education theory, Japanese history and culture, and more. I also wrote about how I decided what to read, in the Rao Reading Algorithm.
Much of my reading was of AI papers. 2024 was a regrouping year for artificial intelligence research and convergence of capabilities between many labs (eg. OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic, Meta Llama, X.AI, Amazon Nova, NVIDIA Nemotron, Alibaba Qwen). The earliest reasoning models, robotic foundation models, and agentic models are coming out, and these will change the world, though over a 5 to 10 year run.
These systems are a new alien species that will forever change human civilization. They are slowly progressing through rough versions of “laptop worker” human intelligence toward a hazy outline of superintelligence. I’ve been researching ways to make them benevolent and aligned with human flourishing, but it’s an open technical and humanistic problem if our mind children will share our values as a species. At the very least, the current tadpole AIs are fantastic at helping us read and do research better, albeit with complex problems around factuality, hallucination, and reasoning.
I had a three-way tie for the best books this year: Alexander’s “A Pattern Language” about creating harmonious environments; Darwin’s “Autobiography” about his life and influences; and Bennett’s “A Brief History of Intelligence”, which is a modern classic on par with these two. Below I continue my short section about my favorite technical papers, and audio and video, broadening from books to culture (hat tip to Piero Scaruffi, who makes great year end lists).
To motivate myself and create a trace for future people and AIs, I listed most of the books I read this year, versus just a subset (hat tip to Timothy Buck and Tyler Cowen). Overall I didn’t read much this year – it was a disappointing year. “Da mihi castitatem et continentiam a Tiktok et X, sed noli modo.“
BEST BOOKS OF 2024
Bennett, A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains. An exploration of the evolutionary milestones that shaped human intelligence, brilliantly explained, going from LUCA to bacteria and bilaterians, tetrapods to amniotes and therapsids, then cynodonts to mammals and hominids. It had insights into how an understanding of earthly intelligence can inform the development of modern attempts at AGI and then SI. It covers major breakthroughs in the evolution of intelligence, such as: steering, emoting, associating, and predicting; reinforcing, TD learning, and world models; simulations, generative models, and model-based RL; mentalizing and self/other modeling; language and large group coordination. I liked this book so much that I bought both a print and digital copy and re-read some chapters and sections multiple times. It itched at and etched on my brain and is a much discussed book in the Bay Area AI circles today.
Alexander, Ishikawa, Silverstein, et al., A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. A seminal guide offering 253 design patterns to create balanced and livable spaces, emphasizing that thoughtful design can enhance human flourishing. This was a favorite text from my undergraduate years that I dug up to re-read while doing a painful ADU construction project this year.
Darwin, The Autobiography of Charles Darwin: 1809-1882. A memoir revealing the life and intellectual journey of the naturalist. It shows the importance of curiosity, luck, and perseverance in scientific discovery. It is a glimpse into the mind of the most eminent Victorian I know (other than William Rowan Hamilton and the Faraday/Maxwell pair).
Pattern 106 (“Positive Outdoor Space”) – from Alexander et al, “A Pattern Language” (“Outdoor spaces which are merely ‘left over’ between buildings will, in general, not be used.”)
NON-FICTION
Vickers, By All Means Available: Memoirs in a Life of Intelligence, Special Operations, and Strategy. A memoir detailing a career in intelligence and special operations, highlighting the complexities and ethical considerations of strategic decision-making.
Johnson, Strange Beauty: Murray Gell-Mann and the Revolution in Physics. A biography of Murray Gell-Mann, tracing his groundbreaking work in physics and his influence on the understanding of fundamental particles.
Rhodes, Scientist: E.O. Wilson. A biography of E.O. Wilson, chronicling his life as a pioneer in entomology, sociobiology, and biodiversity conservation.
Zaleski and Zaleski, The Fellowship: The Literary Lives of the Inklings. An exploration of the lives and works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and their literary circle, emphasizing the power of friendship and imagination.
Watts, The Magic Kingdom: Walt Disney and the American Way of Life. A spectacular biography of Walt Disney, examining his singular creativity and imagination, plus his influence on American culture and the entertainment industry.
Junger, In My Time of Dying. A dying journalist’s exploration of mortality and the human experience of death and his near death experience.
Neufeld, Von Braun: Dreamer of Space, Engineer of War. A biography of Wernher von Braun, exploring his contributions to rocket science and his complicated legacy.
Du Sautoy, Symmetry: A Journey into the Patterns of Nature. An exploration of the concept of symmetry in mathematics and nature, revealing its fundamental role in the universe.
Heller, Ayn Rand and the World She Made. A biography of Ayn Rand, examining her life, philosophy, and enduring influence on American thought. Learning about her high agency in escaping Communist Russia by walking from Moscow to Hamburg to find a way out was stricking.
Viroli, Niccolo’s Smile: A Biography of Machiavelli. An empathic and thoughtful biography of Machiavelli’s and his own works, as he remains the bad boy of political science even today.
Hamilton, American Caesars: Lives of the Presidents from FDR to George W. Bush. An attempt to replicate Suetonius for the modern empire-stage US presidency, told with wit and relish, but often with an naive, boy scout approach to politics and morality instead of the realpolitik the presidency deserves.
McCullough, The Wright Brothers. A spare and lovely account of the Wright brothers’ invention of the airplane, highlighting their ingenuity and determination.
Grant, Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things. An examination of how to unlock untapped potential, combining research and stories.
Rajan and Lamba, Breaking the Mould: Reimagining India’s Economic Future. An economic analysis of India’s challenges and some innovative policy solutions, offering insights into revitalizing the nation’s economic trajectory.
Wali, Chandra: A Biography of S. Chandrasekhar. A biography of Nobel laureate Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, detailing his contributions to astrophysics (Chandrasekhar, white dwarf stars, black holes) and his scientific journey.
Gleick, Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman. A portrait of physicist Richard Feynman, capturing his brilliance, curiosity, and unconventional approach to science. The QED sections were just meh – you will have to read his book to learn more.
Reid, The Chip: How Two Americans Invented the Microchip and Launched a Revolution. The story of the invention of the microchip, highlighting the corporate competition that sparked the digital age.
Nevala-Lee, Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction. An exploration of the Golden Age of science fiction, focusing on key figures who shaped the genre.
Inchauspé, Glucose Revolution: The Life-Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar. A guide to managing blood sugar levels for improved health and well-being, based on scientific research.
Hoban, Lucian Freud: Eyes Wide Open. A deep dive into the life and work of Lucian Freud, capturing his impact on portrait art through an examination of his acidic personality and amorality.
Schütte, Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany. An exploration of Kraftwerk’s groundbreaking influence on industrial, electronic music, detailing their innovation and legacy.
Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being. A reflection on the nature of creativity and how it can be harnessed in every aspect of life, penned by legendary music producer Rick Rubin.
Christensen, How Will You Measure Your Life? A candid guide applying strategy theories to one’s personal life, encouraging readers to define their success through values, family, and purpose and not the sugar rush of career and status.
Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom. A short treatise on applying libertarian principles to promote competitive, rules-based capitalism to restructure states to maximize human freedom.
Lillard, Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius. An analysis of Montessori education, presenting scientific research that supports its methods and effectiveness.
Stoner, Natural Education. A century-old philosophical treatise on how education should align with natural human development for holistic growth (I’m going to re-read Quintilian after this).
Minsky, Inventive Minds: Marvin Minsky on Education. A collection of writings from Marvin Minsky, offering his quirky insights into education and the future of learning.
Wise Bauer and Wise, The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Fourth Edition). A comprehensive manual for providing a rigorous, classical education at home, guiding parents through each stage of their child’s learning journey.
Bloom, Developing Talent in Young People. A groundbreaking study revealing how exceptional talent is cultivated across various fields, emphasizing the roles of environment and deliberate practice (the neuroscience, sculpture, and math chapters were the best).
Cox and Terman, Genetic Studies of Genius, Vol 2. An in-depth analysis of the hereditary factors influencing high intelligence, contributing to the understanding of genius through longitudinal case studies.
Wollenberg, Berkeley: A City in History. A historical account of Berkeley, California, highlighting its evolution as a hub of culture, education, warfare, and activism.
Sloterdijk, You Must Change Your Life. A philosophical exploration of self-improvement, focusing on existential challenges and transformative practices, tied to some central European theorizing. I tried pairing this with Gebser’s “The Ever-Present Origin” but failed (Gebser was too tough for me).
Catmull, Creativity, Inc: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration. An insider’s guide to fostering creativity within organizations, drawing from the experiences of Pixar’s co-founder; re-reading this after a few years and still finding new insights.
Gaukroger, Descartes: An Intellectual Life. A biography of René Descartes, detailing his groundbreaking contributions to math, philosophy, and science.
Taylor, How Star Wars Conquered the Universe. A detailed account of the cultural phenomenon of Star Wars, exploring its creation and global impact.
Mason, A History of Japan (Revised Edition). A comprehensive overview of Japan’s historical evolution, offering insights into its cultural and political transformations. My favorite parts were about the Azuchi-Momoyama triumvirate (Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu), but also about the Nara Court and the Meiji Revolution.
Weston, Giants of Japan: The Lives of Japan’s Greatest Men and Women. Profiles of influential Japanese figures, highlighting their contributions and the cultural contexts that shaped their achievements. Like Plutarch’s Lives for Japan.
Mogi, The Little Book of Ikigai: The Essential Japanese Way to Finding Your Purpose in Life. An exploration of ‘ikigai,’ the Japanese concept of finding purpose or minor delights. This paired welll with Miralles and García, “Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.”
Mogi, The Way of Nagomi: The Japanese Philosophy of Finding Balance and Peace in Everything You Do. A guide to achieving harmony and balance through the Japanese philosophy of ‘nagomi,’ applicable to various aspects of life.
Jodidio, Contemporary Japanese Architecture. A showcase of modern Japanese architectural designs, reflecting the country’s minimalist aesthetic sensibilities.
Pliny the Elder, Natural History. An ancient encyclopedia encompassing knowledge of the natural world, offering insights into Roman understanding of science and nature.
Mollick, Co-Intelligence: Harnessing the Power of Collective Thinking. An examination of how collaborative intelligence can drive innovation and problem-solving in organizations from the most thoughtful professors experimenting with AI for knowledge workers.
Carlile, Wild Life: 50 Projects to Rewild Your Life. A practical guide offering projects to reconnect with nature and promote biodiversity in daily life.
Rand, Philosophy: Who Needs It. A collection of essays arguing for the practical importance of philosophy in everyday life, with the main essay delivered at West Point as a striking and novel assertion of Rand’s views (beyond the novels).
Williams, Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy. A donnish analysis of moral philosophy, questioning the objectivity and applicability of ethical theories.
Ptahhotep, The Teaching of Ptahhotep. An ancient Egyptian text filled with moral and practical wisdom, emphasizing justice, humility, and effective leadership. Transliteration after ~Devaud 1916~, using the copy on Papyrus Prisse as principal source.
MATH, SCIENCE, & TECHNICAL
Yandell, The Honors Class: Hilbert’s Problems and Their Solvers. An engaging exploration of the 23 mathematical challenges posed by David Hilbert in 1900 and the mathematicians who endeavored to solve them, highlighting the evolution of modern mathematics.
McKenzie, Condensed Matter Physics: A Very Short Introduction. An introduction to the principles and phenomena of condensed matter physics, emphasizing the importance of understanding material properties in technological advancements.
Costandi, Neuroplasticity. An overview of the brain’s remarkable ability to reorganize itself, highlighting the potential for recovery and adaptation throughout life.
Baez, The Octonions. An examination of the octonions, an extension of complex numbers and quartenions, revealing their significance in higher-dimensional algebra and theoretical physics.
Gell-Mann, The Quark and the Jaguar: Adventures in the Simple and the Complex. A Nobel laureate’s exploration of the interplay between simplicity and complexity in nature, illustrating how fundamental particles and complex systems are interconnected.
Nash, Open Problems in Mathematics. A curated collection of unsolved problems across various mathematical disciplines, encouraging ongoing inquiry and discovery. Nash, Smale, and Langlands have competing agenda after Hilbert’s is put to rest.
Blundell, Superconductivity: A Very Short Introduction. An accessible guide to the phenomenon of superconductivity, explaining its principles and potential applications in technology.
Euler, Introduction to Analysis of the Infinite, Volumes I-II. Foundational texts presenting Euler’s approach to mathematical analysis, laying the groundwork for modern calculus.
Batterson, Stephen Smale: The Mathematician Who Broke the Dimension Barrier.
A biography of Stephen Smale, highlighting his contributions to topology and dynamical systems, and his impact on modern mathematics. Also see his “Mathematical Problems for the Next Century” [1998].Earl, Topology. An introductory text on topology, emphasizing its fundamental concepts and applications in various fields.
Saveliev, Topology Illustrated. A visual guide to topology, using illustrations to explain complex concepts and their significance.
Albers et al., Mathematical People and More Mathematical People. Collections of interviews with prominent mathematicians, offering insights into their lives, work, and methods.
Maxwell, Treatise on Electricity and Magnetism. A seminal work laying the foundations of electromagnetic theory, unifying electricity, magnetism, and light; most physicists of his time thought this text was fantastical, and it took Hertz, Heaviside, and others for these strange invisible field theories to gain acceptance.
Mahon, The Man Who Changed Everything: The Life of James Clerk Maxwell.
A biography of James Clerk Maxwell, detailing his scientific achievements and their profound impact on physics.Cropper, Great Physicists: The Life and Times of Leading Physicists from Galileo to Hawking. Profiles of influential physicists, explaining and exploring their contributions and the historical contexts of their work. This complements their actual papers and texts well, along with more modern treatments.
FICTION, POETRY, AND MEMOIR
Vendler, The Art of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. A comprehensive analysis of Shakespeare’s 154 sonnets, revealing intricate imaginative and stylistic features that enhance understanding of their emotional and dynamic effects. A book I can read and re-read many times.
Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama. A science fiction novel about a mysterious alien spacecraft entering the solar system, exploring themes of human curiosity and the unknown.
Weir, The Martian. A survival story of an astronaut stranded on Mars, highlighting human ingenuity and resilience. I couldn’t put it down and read it one reading (the book is just as fun as the movie).
Miyazaki, Starting Point: 1979-1996. A collection of essays, interviews, and memoirs by the renowned animator, offering insights into his creative process and philosophy.
Watson, The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA. A candid memoir detailing the competitive and collaborative efforts leading to the groundbreaking discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure, underscoring the human aspects of scientific breakthroughs.
Olsson, The Weil Conjectures: On Math and the Pursuit of the Unknown. A blend of memoir and biography exploring the lives of the Weil siblings—philosopher Simone and mathematician André—and their intellectual pursuits.
Koren, Wabi-Sabi: For Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers. An exploration of the Japanese aesthetic of wabi-sabi, emphasizing beauty in imperfection and transience.
Garrison, Horace: Odes and Epodes. A translation and commentary on the lyrical poetry of Horace, offering insights into Roman literature and culture.
Browne, Translation of the Lilies Back into Lists. A poetic work exploring themes of language and perception.
Joyce, Finnegans Wake. A demented, experimental novel pushing the boundaries of representation, meaning, and language. No one actually reads it end to end – I chose passages to read to my toddler daughter to create some fun diversity and interference in her normal toddler fare.
Hsu, Stay True: A Memoir. A memoir reflecting on friendship, identity, and loss, situated in Berkeley.
Shatner, Star Trek Memories. A captain’s account of the making of the original Star Trek series, told with relish, pathos, and a hint of bitterness.
Steinhardt, The Second Kind of Impossible: The Extraordinary Quest for a New Form of Matter. The story of the discovery of quasicrystals, a new form of matter that defies traditional scientific understanding.
Johnson, Kelly: More Than My Share of It All. An autobiography by Clarence “Kelly” Johnson, legendary aviation engineer, detailing his pioneering work at Lockheed’s Skunk Works (like the SR-72) and his principles on running a frontier lab.
Allen, Apropos of Nothing. Memoirs of Woody Allen, offering a candid and reflective view of his career and personal life, including a defense of his family life.
PAPERS
I read 150+ AI papers this year, both professionally for work and for the sheer fun of it. It was the annus mirabilis for AI research and new models being released, and the only thing that scares me is whether is the first year of an exponential takeoff where every year is meaningfully better than the last or if the pace slows down and the magnificent future of the abundance of intelligence and material goods is just a mirage. As many AI researchers believe, if we can solve the problem of intelligence and manufacture cheap and widely available intelligence, we can then solve all of humanity’s problems in short order. I don’t have the time to leave a full trace of papers or summarize what I found notable about all the papers below, but these were the best of the batch that I read, and I present them in no particular order.
LLMs, Benchmarks, Etc.
Meta AI, Llama 3 Herd of Models [2024].
Benaich and Chalmers, State of AI Report 2024 [2024].
Nvidia, Nemotron-4 340B Technical Report [2024].
Valevski et al, Diffusion Models Are Real-Time Game Engines [2024].
Kumar et al, Training Language Models to Self-Correct via Reinforcement Learning [2024].
Chamelon Team, Chameleon: Mixed-Modal Early-Fusion Foundation Models [2024].
Ma et al, The Era of 1-bit LLMs: All Large Language Models are in 1.58 Bits [2024].
Pagnoni et al, Byte Latent Transformer: Patches Scale Better Than Tokens [2024].
Zhao et al, Measure Dataset Diversity, Don’t Just Claim It [2024]
Cahyavijaya, High Dimensional Value Representation in LLMs [2024].
Bang et al, Measuring Political Bias in LLMs [2024].
Feuer et al, Style Outweighs Substance: Failure Modes of LLM Judges in Alignment Benchmarking [2024]
Agents, Reasoning, Alignment and Safety, and Tools
Lambert, Interconnects Posts [2024].Wu et al, Thinking LLMs: General Instruction Following with Thought Generation [2024].
Golovneva, ROSCOE: A Suite of Metrics for Scoring Step-by-Step Reasoning [2022].
Yao et al, τ-bench: A Benchmark for Tool-Agent-User Interaction in Real-World Domains [2024]
Wang et al, What Are Tools Anyway? A Survey from the Language Model Perspective [2024]
Chan et al, Visibility into AI Agents [2024].
Durante et al, Agent AI: Surveying the Horizons of Multimodal Interaction [2024].
Huh et al, The Platonic Representation Hypothesis [2024]
Lu et al, The AI Scientist: Towards Fully Automated Open-Ended Scientific Discovery [2024]
Brown et al, Large Language Monkeys: Scaling Inference Compute with Repeated Sampling [2024]
Li et al, More Agents Is All You Need [2024].
Asai et al, Self-RAG: Learning to Retrieve, Generate, and Critique through Self-Reflection [2024].
Brynjolfsson et al, Generative AI at Work [2024] (also see “AI and the Future of Work“)
Other
Dyson, Missed Opportunities [1972].
Feynman, Negative Probability [1984].
Smale, “Mathematical Problems for the Next Century” [1998]
Penrose, Before the Big Bang [2006].
Grandia et al, Design and Control of a Bipedal Robotic Character [2024]
Clough et al, What no one has seen before: gravitational waveforms from warp drive collapse [2024]
AUDIO AND VIDEO
I had some time for the video series, albums, podcasts, and playlists below (mixed among lots of junk Netflix and varied YouTube videos that I sampled). My tastes lean toward math and physics videos, intellectual dramas and discussions, and contemporary classical music – so if that’s your cup of tea, enjoy what’s below.
Theory of Everything: The Quest to Explain All Reality (The Great Courses).
1923 Season One (Paramount Plus).
Feynman Podcasts (“The Curious, Brilliant, Vanishing Mr. Feynman”, series of 3).Walt Disney American Experience (PBS documentary).
Turn Every Page: The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
Phillip Glass: The Complete Piano Etudes; Complete String Quartets
John Luther Adams: Become Ocean.
Johannsson, Mandy; 12 Conversations with Thilo Heinzmann.
Mazzoli, Vespers for a New Dark Age.
Conversations with Tyler, Podcast.
GRAPHS, DIAGRAMS, TABLES, AND CHARTS
Sheehan, The Elements According to Relative Abundance [1976]
Sargent, “Anger Transference” [1954] (a cover illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, published on March 20, 1954)
DaVinci, Notebooks (suggesting the human body is a scale model of Earth, or similar physics effects the operations of both) [15th-16th century]
Movies with the largest disparities in men vs women. Hickey, “What If Online Movie Ratings Weren’t Based Almost Entirely On What Men Think?”, Five-Thirty Eight (2018).
IN SUMMA
PAST LISTS
Best Books of 2023 – Philosophers and an Intelligence Takeoff
Best Books of 2022 (Lives and Machines)
Thanks Arun, nice compilation