11 Bill Gates' favorite science books

1. "Difficult things in simple words," Monroe Randall

Programmer, artist and author of the popular webcomic xkcd Randall Monroe wrote this book in 2015. In it, he talks about the available modern technologies, using just 1000 most common English words.

Gates said: "This is a brilliant idea. If you can not explain something in simple terms, you do not really understand it. "

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2. "Genes", Siddhartha Mukherjee

Siddhartha Mukherjee - a scientist, physician and writer who became Pulitzer Prize. Gates said that Mukherjee in his book could be interesting and non-trivial to talk about genetics. The author tries to answer the questions concerning the nature of man, and find out what makes us us.

"Mukherjee wrote a book for the lay audience, because he knows that modern gene Engineering is on the verge of great discoveries that will impact on our lives, "- says Bill Gates.

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3. "Network", Gretchen Bakke

"This power of obsolescence book is written in one of my favorite genres of books everyday, but spectacular things," - said Gates. His first job was writing software for the company managing the power grid in the north-west coast of the Pacific Ocean.

Gates believes that "Network" to convince everyone that the grid - the greatest miracle of engineering. "I think everyone will understand the complexity of the network upgrade and its importance for clean energy in the future."

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4. "Seven Eves," Neal Stephenson

The book is well-known science fiction writer starts with the explosion of the moon. Mankind learns that two years later a meteor rain will destroy all life on Earth. People decide to go into orbit as much space ships in the hope to escape from the apocalypse.

Gates says of this book: "Some people may not have the patience to read a detailed description of space flight, but I like the technical details."

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5. "Fever: How Malaria controls humanity for over 500 000 years," Sonia Shah

For several years, Bill Gates pays a lot of attention to the problem of treatment of malaria. The disease takes about 430 000 lives a year, and malaria vectors are 220 million people worldwide.

Gates says journalist Sonia Shah book the best choice to thoroughly understand the subject: "The Book It was published back in 2010, but it contains a detailed description of malaria, its history and how to deal with disease. "

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6. «Sapiens. A brief history of humanity, "Yuval Noah Harari

About 100 000 years ago, there were six human species on Earth. But why Homo sapiens survived? It is on this question and tries to answer in his book of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Prof. Yuval Noah Harari. However, he did not dwell on the past. Rather, he looks to the future where genetic engineering artificial Intelligence changed our perception about the person.

"My wife and I read the book, and for a long time discussing this topic. Harari took to solve a very difficult problem: to talk about the history of the human race is just 400 pages. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the history and future of our species, "- said Gates.

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7. «Homo Deus. A Brief History of Tomorrow ", Yuval Noah Harari

It Harari next book devoted to the history of mankind. In it, he talks about what can happen to a society in the future.

"Until now, the person affected religious precepts of the good life and a more mundane desire to avoid boredom, hunger and war - says Gates. - And what would happen to mankind if these desires are really fulfilled? "

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8. "Infections and inequality", Paul Farmer

One of the world's leading epidemiologists Paul Farmer engaged in the device of the health system in Haiti. Gates called it one of the most impressive people with whom he had the honor to meet you.

Although the book, and there was more than 15 years ago, it remains up to date. From it you will learn how important medicines and proper treatment to overcome such deadly diseases such as AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

"In his book, Paul Farmer shows the huge gap between the health of rich and poor," - said Gates.

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9. "The house is on fire," William Foidzh

In 70th epidemiologist William Foidzh trying to eradicate smallpox. Gates mentioned that Foidzh was his mentor and tutor to his wife Melinda at the beginning of their charitable activities.

The book describes the personal and professional life Foidzha, as well as stories of people suffering from smallpox.

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10. "Materials: with two eyes open" Julian Allvud and Jonathan Cullen

After the Climate Conference in Paris in 2015, Gates said that this work struck him.

The book responds to a very important question: How can we meet the growing demand for materials without destroying the environment? According to the authors, to extend the use of household items you can use recycled materials.

"We can not continue to use the material in the same way as we did 150 years ago. Fortunately, we do not have to do this "- said Gates.

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11. "It's vitally important issue", Nick Lane

In this book, the British biochemist and author Nick Lane is looking for answers to pressing questions about how on Earth did life and how to beat the disease.

Bill Gates believes that about Leine have to learn it all: "He's trying to convince people how important energy is in all living beings. Even if some of his works would be wrong, I believe he will make a great contribution to our understanding of the emergence of life. "

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