Five Books for 2020. This is not a list of the best books…
By: Frank V. Taylor
Tags: Long Term Thinking, Science, Book Recommendations, Optimism, Existential Risk

This is not a list of the best books published in 2020. You’ll find plenty of that elsewhere. This is more personal. This is a list of the top 5 books I’ve recommended to friends, family, clients and students during an unusually chaotic year full of pain and fear.

After investing $1M and three years of grueling 80 hour work weeks, the tech startup I founded finally reached profitability in February, 2020. Then COVID hit. Six weeks later, revenue was down 60%. We never recovered from that. By September, we were done for good.

This was one of the most painful experiences of my life.

For context, on different occasions during my athletic career, I managed to tear 14 tendons & ligaments in my knee, blow out my achilles, fracture my hip, dislocate my shoulder, break my leg in 3 places, splinter a bone in my finger, shatter my ankle, fracture my collar bone and get punched in the face more times than I’d like to admit.

All of that was nothing compared to losing this startup.

This was more similar to the pain I experienced when two close friends of mine passed away in quick succession before I was 21 years old. It’s gut wrenching. It’s a pain that feels like it will never go away, and it probably never will. Not entirely at least.

The biggest thing that helped me get through this year, other than my family and meditation, has been reading.

Like many stuck at home during lockdown, desperate for distraction, I reread old favorites and discovered some new ones. In the past few months, I’ve recommended the same books over and over. So, I figured I should write them down and make it easier to share.

The general theme of this list is long term, big picture thinking. In retrospect, it’s obvious why I was drawn to these books and felt compelled to recommend them to others.

Once COVID hit I oscillated between bingeing news, learning how the virus spread, researching how vaccines are made, parsing economic stimulus legislation, and forcing myself to stop just long enough to preserve my sanity.

For me, these books provided some escape from the depressing crush of my day to day reality and hope for the future.

Below I’ve provided a brief summary of each book with a few notes on what I learned and why I recommend it. The order is intentional, and the post reads best from top to bottom. That said, you can use the links above to jump ahead.

I’ve also tried to recall how I found each book in the first place. Keeping track of this kind of thing is part of a learning strategy that I’ve used for years. I’ll write more on that later.

1. Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

by Carlo Rovelli | Published 2016 | Available on Amazon

This is a beautiful book. Full stop. The hardcover edition features a velvety soft, dark black dust jacket punctuated by an effervescent burst of golden dots. Designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith, the simple image evokes a multitude of associations. Bubbles in a glass of champagne. Particles in the quantum realm. Stars floating in an endless void.

As you handle the book, some of the dots catch the light and spring to life while others settle into a satisfying amber hue. The pearlescent effect conveys an appropriate feeling of wonder as you prepare to explore the complex architecture of the universe, in seven brief lessons.