Book Recommendations
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
I like this book because Rhodes comes off as a polymath. He builds a social and political context for the technology which he also explains in-depth.
Eccentric Orbits
Thiel says you shouldn't study failure because it's overdetermined. But, if you're an engineer you can mitigate your propensity to over-index on technology by building a mental map of nontechnical failure modes.
Wireless Nation
Murray displays an infectious enthusiasm for the wireless gold rush of the 1980s. The book is a master class in maniuplation of procedural outcomes, and getting away with it.
The People's Network
The subtitle of this book is "The Political Economy of the Telephone in the Gilded Age". If an author puts "political economy" in a book's title, they're making a brand promise to the reader. Like most brands this will likely be diluted to diluted, but for now it remains a strong mark of high signal.
Western Union and the Creation of the American Corporate Order, 1845-1893
Tech bubbles are usually financial bubbles and the capital expenditure from one literally lays the groundwork for the next. In the case of the telegraph, wood poles were laid by shoving them off of railcars at regular intervals.
Showstopper
The story of Windows NT has it all: A greenfield technical project. The Great Man theory of history. A team of high-output misfits. Executives navigating an uncertain future and choosing the right path.
The Soul of a New Machine
Trading at the Speed of Light
Only the Paranoid Survive
High Output Management
Venture Deals