For those of us who are born before 1985, it is likely that we have seen two worlds; one, a world that wasn’t dependent on net and another, where our lives are dominated/controlled by the web and social media. The author says that that given this vantage point, we have a unique perspective of how things have changed. It is impossible to imagine a life without print. However before the 1450’s Guttenberg printing press invention, the knowledge access was primarily through oral tradition.

In today’s world where access to information is being democratized like never before, “learning how to learn” is a skill that will play a key role in one’s academic and professional accomplishments. This book collates ideas from some of the recent books on learning such as, “Make it Stick”, “A Mind for Numbers”, “The Five Elements of Effective Thinking”, “Mindset”, etc. The author has added his own personal take on the various research findings mentioned in the book and has come up with a 250 page book.

In a world where uncertainty is the norm, “being curious” is one of the ways to hedge volatility in our professional and personal life. By developing and maintaining a state of curiosity in whatever we do, we have a good chance of leading a productive life. The author of this book, Ian Leslie, is a journalist and it should not come as a surprise that this book’s content is essentially “annotating a set of articles and books on curiosity”.

Every year there are at least a dozen pop math/stat books that get published. Most of them try to illustrate a variety of mathematical/statistical principles using analogies/anecdotes/stories that are easy to understand. It is a safe assumption to make that the authors of these books spend a considerable amount of time thinking about the apt analogies to use, those that are not too taxing on the reader but at the same time puts across the key idea.

Given that there is an abundance of ideas, products, resources, technologies, experts etc. in today’s world, it is not surprising that only the best get noticed. There is a LARGE gap in the premium commanded between the best and others. Seth Godin makes an argument that in order to get noticed in this overcrowded world, nothing short of “best” works. What’s “best” is decided by the micro market you are intending to serve?