Exploring Top Books of Shelfari

A black swan is a highly improbable event with three principal characteristics: It is unpredictable; it carries a massive impact; and, after the fact, we concoct an explanation that makes it appear less random, and more predictable, than it was. The astonishing success of Google was a black swan; so was 9/11. For Nassim Nicholas Taleb, black swans underlie almost everything about our world, from the rise of... (more)

Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions

Sources of Power: How People Make Decisions

by Gary A. Klein

"Most studies of decision-making treat humans like rats in a laboratory. But Dr. Klein, a cognitive psychologist, spent a decade watching fire commanders, fighter pilots, paramedics, and others making split-second decisions on the job, and this book is a clear and engaging account of his findings." -- Thomas Petzinger, Jr., Wall Street Journal Anyone who watches the television news has seen images of... (more)

The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal

The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal

by Jared Diamond

The Development of an Extraordinary Species We human beings share 98 percent of our genes with chimpanzees. Yet humans are the dominant species on the planet -- having founded civilizations and religions, developed intricate and diverse forms of communication, learned science, built cities, and created breathtaking works of art -- while chimps remain animals concerned primarily with the basic necessities of... (more)

Prisoner's Dilemma

by William Poundstone

John von Neumann invented the digital computer, played a key role in the development of the atom bomb, constructed a branch of mathematics known as game theory, and became a defender of a movement to bomb the Russians before they could bomb us. Now comes a biography of this controversial genius and an exploration of his greatest idea--one that nearly triggered a nuclear war in 1950. Photographs.

Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics

Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics

by Eric D. Beinhocker

Over 6.4 billion people participate in a $36.5 trillion global economy, designed and overseen by no one. How did this marvel of self-organized complexity evolve? How is wealth created within this system? And how can wealth be increased for the benefit of individuals, businesses, and society? In The Origin of Wealth, Eric D. Beinhocker argues that modern science provides a radical perspective on these age-old... (more)

Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

Poor Charlie's Almanack: The Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger

by Charles T. Munger

Fine book in a fine dust jacket

The Undercover Economist

Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor-and Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!

by Tim Harford

“The economy <isn’t> a bunch of rather dull statistics with names like GDP (gross domestic product),” notes Tim Harford, columnist and regular guest on NPR’s Marketplace, “economics is about who gets what and why.” In this acclaimed and riveting book–part exposé, part user’s manual–the astute and entertaining columnist from the Financial Times demystifies the ways in which money works in the world. From why... (more)

The Tipping Point

How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

by Malcolm Gladwell

This celebrated New York Times bestsellernow poised to reach an even wider audience in paperbackis a book that is changing the way North Americans think about selling products and disseminating ideas. Gladwells new afterword to this edition describes how readers can constructively apply the tipping point principle in their own lives and work. Widely hailed as an important work that offers not only a road map to... (more)

Guns, Germs, and Steel

The Fates of Human Societies

by Jared Diamond

With a new chapter. The phenomenal bestseller—over 1.5 million copies sold—is now a major PBS special. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Guns, Germs, and Steel is a brilliant work answering the question of why the peoples of certain continents succeeded in invading other continents and conquering or displacing their peoples. This edition includes a new chapter on Japan and all-new illustrations drawn from the... (more)

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How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

by Jared Diamond

In his runaway bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel , Jared Diamond brilliantly examined the circumstances that allowed Western civilizations to dominate much of the world. Now he probes the other side of the equation: What caused some of the great civilizations of the past to fall into ruin, and what can we learn from their fates? Using a vast historical and geographical perspective ranging from Easter Island... (more)

Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another

Critical Mass: How One Thing Leads to Another

by Philip Ball

Are there “natural laws” that govern the ways in which humans behave and organize themselves, just as there are physical laws that govern the motions of atoms and planets? Unlikely as it may seem, such laws now seem to be emerging from attempts to bring the tools and concepts of physics into the social sciences. These new discoveries are part of an old tradition. In the seventeenth century the philosopher Thomas... (more)

Choices and Illusions: How Did I Get Where I Am, and How Do I Get Where I Want to Be?

Choices and Illusions: How Did I Get Where I Am, and How Do I Get Where I Want to Be?

by Eldon Taylor

This fascinating book holds an important key. Whether you’re interested in the science of thinking and beliefs, how your own mind works, how others control your thoughts, why things just don’t work out in your life, how you can create the life you’ve always wanted, or on a grander scale, how you can help make the world a better place, Choices and Illusions provides insights for all. Simply reading this book will... (more)

Seeking Wisdom from Darwin to MungerPeter Bevelin

Seeking Wisdom from Darwin to Munger

by Peter Bevelin

Peter Bevelin begins his fascinating book with Confucius' great wisdom: "A man who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it, is committing another mistake." Seeking Wisdom is the result of Bevelin's learning about attaining wisdom. His quest for wisdom originated partly from making mistakes himself and observing those of others but also from the philosophy of super-investor and Berkshire... (more)

Latticework: The New Investing

by Robert G. Hagstrom

In this engaging and challenging book, Robert Hagstrom outlines a new approach to investing based on the ideas of two highly successful investors: Charlie Munger of Berkshire Hathaway and bill Miller of Legg Mason. Both Munger and Miller believe in the latticework approach to investing, one that is based on a working knowledge of a variety of disciplines. Latticework is a true liberal arts approach to investing.... (more)

Models of My Life

by Herbert A. Simon

"As much as any one person, Herbert A. Simon has shaped the intellectual agenda of the human and social sciences in the second half of the 20th century .... For many readers, Mr. Simon's view of human endeavor, of love and of work, will seem emblematic not of the pre-Freudian rationalism-that-was but a new, sleeker, rationalism-to-be -- a rationalism purged of utopian excess, committed to empirical studies, and... (more)

The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership (J-B Warren Bennis Series)

The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership (J-B Warren Bennis Series)

by Steven B. Sample

In this offbeat approach to leadership, college president Steven B. Sample-the man who turned the University of Southern California into one of the most respected and highly rated universities in the country-challenges many conventional teachings on the subject. Here, Sample outlines an iconoclastic style of leadership that flies in the face of current leadership thought, but a style that unquestionably works,... (more)

Reasons and Rationalizations: The Limits to Organizational Knowledge

Reasons and Rationalizations: The Limits to Organizational Knowledge

by Chris Argyris

What is the purpose of social science and management research? Do scholars/researchers have a responsibility to generate insights and knowledge that are of practical (implementable) value and validity? We are told we live in turbulent and changing times, should this not provide an important opportunity for management researchers to provide understanding and guidance? Yet there is widespread concern about the... (more)

Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior

Mental Models: Aligning Design Strategy with Human Behavior

by Indi Young

There is no single methodology for creating the perfect product--buy you can increase your odds. One of the best ways is to understand users' reasons for doing things. Mental Models gives you the tools to help you grasp, and design for, those reasons. Adaptive Path co-founder Indi Young has written a roll-up-your-sleeves book for designers, managers, and anyone else interested in making design strategic, and... (more)

The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine

The Uncertain Art: Thoughts on a Life in Medicine

by Sherwin B. Nuland

“Life is short, and the Art so long; the occasion fleeting; experience fallacious; and judgment difficult. The physician must not only be prepared to do what is right himself, but also to make the patient, the attendants, and the externals, cooperate.” –attributed to Hippocrates, c. 400 B.C.E. The award-winning author of How We Die and The Art of Aging , venerated physician Sherwin B. Nuland has now written... (more)

Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings

Introduction to Philosophy: Classical and Contemporary Readings

by John Perry

Introduction to Philosophy, Fourth Edition, is the most comprehensive topically organized collection of classical and contemporary philosophy available. Building on the exceptionally successful tradition of previous editions, this edition for the first time incorporates the insights of a new coeditor, John Martin Fischer, and has been updated and revised to make it more accessible. Ideal for introductory... (more)

Shelfari Book Activity

Tags: mental models

The Impact of the Highly Improbable

by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

by Gary A. Klein

by Jared Diamond

by William Poundstone

by Eric D. Beinhocker

by Charles T. Munger

Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor-and Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car!

by Tim Harford

How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference

by Malcolm Gladwell

The Fates of Human Societies

by Jared Diamond

How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed

by Jared Diamond

by Philip Ball

by Eldon Taylor

by Peter Bevelin

by Robert G. Hagstrom

by Herbert A. Simon

by Steven B. Sample

by Chris Argyris

by Indi Young

by Sherwin B. Nuland

by John Perry