Maurits thinks aloud

Since I’m using public transportation nowadays I finally got time to do some reading. Recently I finished four books:

• “Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things“: already published in 2002, but still actual. Instead of improving products so that they are less harmful during their whole life cycle, the authors promote to design products that are eco-friendly from the start. They give some nice examples. The whole book is about this paradigm shift. Of course they leave a lot of problems unanswered and sometimes sentences like “wouldn’t it be nice if we could design cars that improve the environment?” got a bit on my nerves. But overall this is a worthwhile book to read.
• “Subtle is the Lord: the Science and the Life of Albert Einstein“: a biography of Einstein and his work. Actually it’s more about his work than his life. Don’t start reading this book unless you have some background in physics and/or math. I really enjoyed the book, but it took me quite some time to finish it since my physics lectures were at least 15 years ago.
• “Waltzing with Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects“: over and over again we seem to make the same mistakes as in previous projects. A solid risk analysis helps to make your project more successful. For various reasons (politics!) people tend to ignore risks and hope for the best. This book is full of nice anecdotes and gives some solid advice on how to do risk management. It’s not rocket science, but certainly worth reading.
• “De toppen van het kunnen“: Dutch book about 21 Dutch top scientists. Very easy to read and provides some insight about the motivations (and sometimes frustrations) of these people. The kind of book you can read when traveling by train.