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Practically-A-Book Review: Rootclaim $100,000 Lab Leak Debate
Scott Alexander reviews a $100,000 debate on COVID-19 origins, where the zoonotic hypothesis unexpectedly won against the lab leak theory.
118 min read 18,207 words
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book review
Essays tagged “book review”. Follow an idea across the archive.
Essays on book review
221 essaysACX
Book Review Contest Rules 2024
Scott Alexander announces the 2024 Book Review Contest, detailing submission guidelines, prizes, and a new focus on including nontraditional book categories.
4 min read 531 words
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Book Review: I See Satan Fall Like Lightning
Scott Alexander reviews Rene Girard's 'I See Satan Fall Like Lightning', critiquing its theory of myths and religion centered on scapegoating, and discussing its application to modern 'wokeness'.
29 min read 4,359 words
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Book Review: The Alexander Romance
A review of 'The Alexander Romance', comparing its fantastical tales of Alexander the Great to modern superhero comics.
35 min read 5,416 words
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Book Review Contest 2023 Winners
Scott Alexander announces the winners and finalists of the 2023 Book Review Contest, providing details about the reviews, authors, and prizes.
13 min read 1,951 words
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Book Review: Elon Musk
Scott reviews Ashlee Vance's 2015 Elon Musk biography, analyzing Musk's personality, work ethic, and business strategies to understand his successes and controversies.
67 min read 10,307 words
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Vote In The 2023 Book Review Contest
Scott Alexander opens voting for the 2023 Book Review Contest, detailing the ranked choice voting process and listing the finalists.
3 min read 338 words
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Your Book Review: Zuozhuan
The review examines 'Zuozhuan', an ancient Chinese historical text, exploring its content, context, and relevance to understanding societal transformation.
46 min read 6,998 words
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Your Book Review: Why Nations Fail
A critical review of 'Why Nations Fail' that examines the authors' academic work and methodology, while questioning the book's quality and practical implications.
37 min read 5,661 words
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Your Book Review: The Mind Of A Bee
The review of 'The Mind of a Bee' examines the cognitive abilities of bees, raising questions about their intelligence and potential consciousness.
38 min read 5,787 words
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Highlights From The Comments On Putin
Commenters provide additional context and debate points from Scott Alexander's review of a Putin biography, covering Putin's rise, the author's objectivity, and comparisons to US politics.
27 min read 4,142 words
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Your Book Review: The Weirdest People in the World
A review of Joe Henrich's 'The Weirdest People in the World', examining its argument that the Western Church's marriage regulations led to WEIRD psychology and modern economic growth.
35 min read 5,420 words
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More Memorable Passages From "The Man Without A Face"
Scott Alexander shares memorable anecdotes from Masha Gessen's Putin biography, highlighting Russian politics, culture, and Putin's character.
15 min read 2,202 words
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Your Book Review: The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich
A review of 'The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich' analyzes Hitler's rise to power, identifying key factors to recognize potential authoritarian threats.
65 min read 9,986 words
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Dictator Book Club: Putin
Scott reviews a biography of Vladimir Putin, tracing his rise to power and methods of maintaining control in Russia.
37 min read 5,619 words
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Your Book Review: On the Marble Cliffs
The review analyzes Ernst Jünger's 'On the Marble Cliffs' as a beautifully written allegory of Nazi Germany that offers advice on surviving totalitarianism through appreciation of beauty.
47 min read 7,203 words
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Your Book Review: The Laws of Trading
A review of 'The Laws of Trading' by Agustin Lebron, examining trading principles and their broader applications to decision-making and life.
44 min read 6,685 words
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Your Book Review: The Educated Mind
Kieran Egan's educational theory proposes rebuilding school curricula around five kinds of understanding to create more engaging and effective learning experiences.
165 min read 25,503 words
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Your Book Review: Secret Government
The review examines arguments for increased government secrecy, suggesting that transparency may lead to negative outcomes and that a return to more opaque legislative processes could be beneficial.
38 min read 5,799 words
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Your Book Review: Safe Enough?
A review of 'Safe Enough?' by Thomas Wellock, exploring the history and limitations of Probabilistic Risk Assessment in nuclear safety.
35 min read 5,368 words
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Your Book Review: Public Citizens
A review of 'Public Citizens' by Paul Sabin, examining how Ralph Nader's public interest movement transformed American governance, with both positive and negative long-term effects.
40 min read 6,127 words
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Your Book Review: Njal’s Saga
A review of Njal's Saga explores themes of justice and freedom in medieval Iceland's anarcho-capitalist society, comparing it to modern legal systems and other classic works.
31 min read 4,695 words
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Your Book Review: Man’s Search for Meaning
This review analyzes Viktor Frankl's 'Man's Search for Meaning', using it as a framework to explore other narratives of suffering and the search for meaning in various contexts.
49 min read 7,566 words
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Assistant Dictator Book Club: America Against America
Scott Alexander reviews 'America Against America', a 1988 book by Chinese political scientist Wang Huning, analyzing his observations of US society and institutions after a brief stay in Iowa.
59 min read 9,126 words
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Your Book Review: Why Machines Will Never Rule the World
A review of 'Why Machines Will Never Rule the World', presenting its arguments against AGI based on complexity and computability, while critically examining its conclusions and relevance.
18 min read 2,750 words