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Bill Gates invites us all to read Jared Diamond's The World Until Yesterday Bill Gates invites us all to read Jared Diamond's The World Until Yesterday
(2 months later)
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has shared his personal summer reading list in a blogpost and invited readers to join him in reading The World Until Yesterday by Jared Diamond, which explores what traditional societies can teach those living in the west. Gates say he's "a big fan" of the popular science writer.Microsoft founder Bill Gates has shared his personal summer reading list in a blogpost and invited readers to join him in reading The World Until Yesterday by Jared Diamond, which explores what traditional societies can teach those living in the west. Gates say he's "a big fan" of the popular science writer.
"Like a lot of people, I was blown away by Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel. I had never read anything that explained so much about human history. None of the classes I took in high school or college answered what I thought was one of the biggest and most important questions about history: Why do some societies advance so much faster and further than others?""Like a lot of people, I was blown away by Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel. I had never read anything that explained so much about human history. None of the classes I took in high school or college answered what I thought was one of the biggest and most important questions about history: Why do some societies advance so much faster and further than others?"
As "an experiment", Gates invites readers to read Diamond's latest with him, and to post their thoughts on his blog. He promises to "respond to a few of them in my review", which will be posted this week. "It should be fun. I'm looking forward to hearing what people have to say," Gates wrote.As "an experiment", Gates invites readers to read Diamond's latest with him, and to post their thoughts on his blog. He promises to "respond to a few of them in my review", which will be posted this week. "It should be fun. I'm looking forward to hearing what people have to say," Gates wrote.
The other titles on Gates' summer reading list – which is all non-fiction bar one thriller that a friend has "insisted" he reads – also show his interest in education and what helps or hinders human development, both individual and societal.The other titles on Gates' summer reading list – which is all non-fiction bar one thriller that a friend has "insisted" he reads – also show his interest in education and what helps or hinders human development, both individual and societal.
However Long the Night: One American Woman's Journey to Help Millions of African Women and Girls Triumph by Aimee Molloy (HarperOne) is there, a book which Gates' wife Melinda, who is co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reviewed in connection with the foundation's charity work with women and girls in Africa.However Long the Night: One American Woman's Journey to Help Millions of African Women and Girls Triumph by Aimee Molloy (HarperOne) is there, a book which Gates' wife Melinda, who is co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, reviewed in connection with the foundation's charity work with women and girls in Africa.
Gates also recommends Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do by Claude Steele (Norton), saying: "I've actually read this one already. It helped me understand why even some very intelligent people don't do as well as you might expect when they get to college. It also breaks down a lot of myths, like the idea that minorities will prosper if we can just do away with discrimination in hiring. Discrimination has a lot of layers that make it tough for minorities to get a leg up. And Steele offers a few ideas about how to tackle the problem."Gates also recommends Whistling Vivaldi: How Stereotypes Affect Us and What We Can Do by Claude Steele (Norton), saying: "I've actually read this one already. It helped me understand why even some very intelligent people don't do as well as you might expect when they get to college. It also breaks down a lot of myths, like the idea that minorities will prosper if we can just do away with discrimination in hiring. Discrimination has a lot of layers that make it tough for minorities to get a leg up. And Steele offers a few ideas about how to tackle the problem."
Gates is obviously not a big novel reader, admitting that Suzanne Collins' young-adult dystopia The Hunger Games, published in the US in 2010, was the last fiction he read.Gates is obviously not a big novel reader, admitting that Suzanne Collins' young-adult dystopia The Hunger Games, published in the US in 2010, was the last fiction he read.
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