Dec 22, 2024 23:00:00

Bill Gates' Top 5 Books to Read in the 2024 Winter Holiday Season

Bill Gates, former CEO of Microsoft and known as a book lover, has introduced five books he recommends for the winter holiday season of 2024.

Books to keep you warm this holiday season | Bill Gates

https://www.gatesnotes.com/home/home-page-topic/reader/holiday-books-2024

Books to keep you warm this holiday season - YouTube


◆ An Unfinished Love Story

Gates is a big fan of the work of biographer

Doris Kearns Goodwin , who has included ' Lincoln ' in his ' five best books of my life .' 'An Unfinished Love Story,' published by Goodwin in March 2024, is an autobiography that looks back on half of Goodwin's life, focusing in particular on her life with her husband , Richard Goodwin , who served as a policy expert and speechwriter for Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson and died in 2018.

◆ The Anxious Generation

The Anxious Generation , published in March 2024 by social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, describes how the shift from an 'outdoor play-centered childhood' to a 'smartphone-centered childhood' has changed how children develop and process emotions. Gates said, 'This book is a must-read for anyone who raises, works with, or educates young people today.'

◆ Engineering in Plain Sight

Published in November 2022, 'Engineering in Plain Sight' illustrates the structure and mechanisms of various things we see every day, such as power grids, roads, railways, bridges, tunnels, and transformers. Gates said, 'Have you ever seen a pipe sticking out of the ground and wondered, 'What is this?' If you have that experience, then Engineering in Plain Sight is the perfect book for you. Engineering in Plain Sight will pique your curiosity and answer all your questions.'

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THE COMING WAVE: Contain AI: DeepMind Founder's Warning (Original Title: The Coming Wave: Technology, Power, and the Twenty-first Century's Greatest Dilemma)

Published in September 2023 by Mustafa Suleiman, co-founder of DeepMind , the predecessor of Google's AI development division, Google DeepMind, and CEO of Microsoft's AI division and Microsoft AI at the time of writing, the book explains how the rise of AI is linked to other scientific advances such as gene editing. Suleiman also warns of the risks of the rise of AI, and Gates says, 'It shows the risks we need to take measures against and the challenges we need to overcome in order to enjoy the benefits of these technologies without putting us at risk. If you want to understand the rise of AI in recent years, this is the book for you.'

◆ Federer

As a bonus, Gates recommends 'Federer,' a look back at the life and career of tennis player Roger Federer, who retired in 2022. 'This book is quite expensive and weighs as much as a small dog, so it's not for everyone,' Gates said, but added, 'I thought I knew almost everything about Federer's career, but I learned a lot from this book about his early career. This book contains many photos of Federer that have rarely been published, and it will be a special book not only for Federer fans but also for tennis fans.'