How Not to be Wrong, by Jordan Ellenberg

乔丹·艾伦伯格《如何避免错误》

Ellenberg, a mathematician¹ and writer, explains how math plays into our daily lives without our even knowing it. Each chapter starts with a subject that seems fairly straightforward—electoral politics, say, or the Massachusetts lottery—and then uses it as a jumping-off point to talk about the math involved.

艾伦博格是名数学家，同时身为作家，他向我们解释了缘何数学潜移默化地在我们生活中发挥作用。每一章节的开头都相当直接，如，从政治选举说开去，然后荡开一笔谈论其中的数学。

The book’s larger point is that, as Ellenberg writes, “to do mathematics is to be, at once, touched by fire and bound by reason”.

这本书的亮点在于，如同艾伦博格所写道的，“数学就是忽然触及火焰，又为理性所约束。“

The Vital Question, by Nick Lane

尼克·雷恩《致命问题》

It’s not just theoretica. Nick is trying to right a scientific wrong by getting people to fully appreciate the role that energy plays in all living things. He argues that we can only understand how life began, and how living things got so complex, by understanding how energy works.

这本书不是仅仅关乎理论。尼克试图更正一个科学误区，让人们充分认识到能量在一切有生命事物中扮演的角色。他主张，我们只有理解了能量是如何运作的才能理解生命的起源及生命是如何变复杂的过程。

The Power to Compete, by Ryoichi Mikitani and Hiroshi Mikitani

良一谷浩史和三木谷浩史合著《完成的力量》

Why were Japan's companies—the juggernauts of the 1980s—eclipsed by competitors in South Korea and China? And can they come back? Those questions are at the heart of this series of dialogues between Ryoichi, an economist² who died in 2013, and his son Hiroshi, founder³ of the Internet company Rakuten. The Power to Compete is a smart look at the future of a fascinating country.

缘何20世纪80年代叱咤风云的日本公司，如今相较韩国和中国黯然失色了?日本还能回归吗?这些问题是纠缠经济学家良一于其子三木的问题;良一于2013年过世，三木是网络公司日本乐天市场的创始人。《完成的力量》以智慧的视角来看待这一神奇国家的未来。

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, by Noah Yuval Harari.

哈拉瑞《智人：人类简史》

Harari takes on a daunting⁴ challenge: to tell the entire history of the human race in just 400 pages. He also writes about our species today and how artificial intelligence, genetic⁵ engineering, and other technologies will change us in the future. I would recommend Sapiens to anyone who’s interested in the history and future of our species.

赫拉提担起惊人的挑战任务：用区区400页讲述整个人类史。他还写了我们的如今的人类种族，还有人工智能、基因工程和其它科技是如何在未来改变我们的。我会向所有对人类历史和未来感兴趣的人推荐《智人》这本书的。

Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson

尼尔·史蒂芬森《Seveneves》

The plot gets going in the first sentence, when the moon blows up. People figure out that in two years acataclysmic meteor shower will wipe out all life on Earth, so the world unites on a plan to keep humanity going by launching as many spacecraft⁶ as possible into orbit.

从第一句话开始就有故事，月亮爆炸了。人们预测，两年后会有一场流星雨灾难毁灭地球上一切生命。于是全世界联合计划维护人类，向宇宙轨道尽可能多发射飞船。