By the Book

How absolute the knave is! We must speak by the card,
or equivocation will undo us.

Hamlet Act V Scene 1

This year, listening to radio performances of Hamlet and Macbeth, I found out that certain elements, like the not very subtle digs at catholic equivocation and the plot to violently overthrow the government, still have strong resonance today, even though they would likely have meant something very different to audience at the time who was living through it. We often say that some jokes “don’t age well”, or that TV shows that lean too heavily on cultural references quickly become outdated. But because Shakespeare’s genius was finding the core of human nature in his stories, he was able to bring to light something that would speak to us even if we have no knowledge of the specific events he is referencing.

Not actually Guy Fawkes

Here are ten books I liked this year, in descending order:

1. American Prometheus – Just as fantastic as the movie based on it
2. Blood in the Machine – We owe the Luddites an apology
3. How Not to be Wrong – How to use math to debunk math fallacies
4. The Ascent of Information – A great read for all Claude Shannon fans
5. Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes – The life of the mercurial Lord of Discworld
6. Pandora’s Gamble – Dangerous pathogens refuse to stay contained
7. Moral Origins – How group dynamics among early human created niceness
8. Sticky – “God made the bulk; surfaces were invented by the devil.” -Wolfgang Pauli
9. The Viral Underclass – Marginalization during pandemics; AIDS and COVID-19
10. Untouchable – Plausible deniability is used by both politicians and mob bosses