Placebo Effect Debunked The placebo effect appears to be largely a product of response bias and questionable research practices rather than genuine healing. Major findings: 1) Placebo effects only show up in subjective measures, never objective ones like wound healing or lab tests. 2) Natural improv...

I like Sabine, I follow her on YouTube and her brand of German bluntness, middle-aged jadedness, and subject matter knowledge makes for good content. Her book is decent. As the title implies, it gets philosophical. If you’re a fan of her work, you might enjoy it, but otherwise, skip.

Ridley has published several excellent books. [[the-red-queen]], [[the-rational-optimist]] are some of my favorites. This is an informative book, and Ridley goes to great pains to tell a history of humanity through each of our chromosomes. He doesn’t quite pull it off. But if you’re interested in ge...

I like books like this, where they try to give you an overview of various fields but from their own personal framework of beliefs. I enjoyed it.

Fascinating history of the environmental movement, from differen

Alfred Nobel Alfred Nobel: A Life from Beginning to End offers a concise overview of the life and legacy of the inventor of dynamite and founder of the Nobel Prizes....

How the World Really Works How the World Really Works: The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going by Vaclav Smil synthesizes the author’s decades of research on energy, technology, and society....

How To How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems is a humorous book by Randall Munroe, the creator of the popular webcomic XKCD....

Inheritors of the Earth Inheritors of the Earth: How Nature Is Thriving in an Age of Extinction by Chris D. Thomas challenges current narratives about humankind causing mass extinctions....

Lifespan Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To by David A. Sinclair presents current research on aging and proposes interventions to extend healthy human life....