Page 20 - ASC Highlights 2023

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Summer Reading

Recommendations

Bill Gates’ recommendations:

Bill Gates has a long list, here are some that I curated from his list:

The Lincoln Highway, by Amor Towles. “I put Towles’s A Gentleman in Moscow on my summer books list
back in 2019, but I liked this follow-up novel even more. Set in 1954, it’s about two brothers who are
trying to drive from Nebraska to California to find their mother; their trip is thrown way off-course by
a volatile teenager from the older brother’s past. Towles takes inspiration from famous hero’s journeys
and seems to be saying that our personal journeys are never as linear or predictable as we might
hope.”

The Ministry for the Future, by Kim Stanley Robinson. “When I was promoting my book on climate
change last year, a number of people told me I should read this novel, because it dramatized many
of the issues I had written about. I’m glad I picked it up, because it’s terrific. It’s so complex that it’s
hard to summarize, but Robinson presents a stimulating and engaging story, spanning decades and
continents, packed with fascinating ideas and people.”
Source: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Summer-Books-2022

The Road to Character, by David Brooks. “The insightful New York Times columnist examines the
contrasting values that motivate all of us. He argues that American society does a good job of cultivating
the “résumé virtues” (the traits that lead to external success) but not our “eulogy virtues” (the traits
that lead to internal peace of mind). Brooks profiles various historical figures who were paragons of
character. I thought his portrait of World War II General George Marshall was especially enlightening.
Even if the distinction between the two types of virtues is not always crystal clear, The Road to Character
gave me a lot to think about. It is a thought-provoking look at what it means to live life well.”
Source: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Holiday-Books-2015

Range, by David Epstein “Epstein provides a good framework for understanding why polymaths are so
important for innovation. “In kind environments, where the goal is to re-create prior performance with
as little deviation as possible, teams of specialists work superbly.” That’s why if I had to get surgery,
I’d seek out a subspecialist who had a lot of experience with whatever procedure I needed. But when
it’s a “wicked environment,” your job is not to repeat a complex procedure. By definition, it’s to do
something that no one has done before. Epstein reports that when researchers study great innovators,
they find “systems thinkers” with an “ability to connect disparate pieces of information from many
different sources” and who “read more (and more broadly) than other technologists.”
Source: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Range

Ms. Deenaz Kanji
ASC Coordinator

Abu Dhabi University | ASC Highlights 2023 Spring 22-23