#AcademicRunPlaylist - 4/20/25

Boston's clearly ready for the marathon tomorrow, and while resting up myself I also listened to some books for my #AcademicRunPlaylist!

First was "Written in Bone" by Sue Black. I went into this book to learn more about the skeletal system and its relationship to life events and related phenomena, and I struggle to think of a book that provides excellent insight in that area within a morbidly engaging text. Black weaves together case details, personal anecdotes (don't miss the conclusion where she explains how she wants her body to be used after she dies), and scientific explanations to provide a truly unique text. Some of the cases are extremely disturbing, however, and if graphic details bother you this book is best avoided. Overall this is an informative, unexpected, excellent book. Highly recommend https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/440736/written-in-bone-by-black-sue/9781529176605

Next was "The AI Mirror" by Shannon Vallor. Vallor brings a philosophical clarity to parsing generative AI, and AI more broadly, in a way that few can match. Her mirror analogy is incredibly apt, and she further uses this to deconstruct the bombastic claims of industry boosters and explore other ways that we can develop this class of technology. She even gets into the racist/eugenicist roots of long termism, although engages too often with the "AGI" nonsense for my taste. Overall, however, this is one of the best books on AI out there. Highly recommend https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-ai-mirror-9780197759066

Next was "Maladies of Empire" by Jim Downs. This book explores the beginnings of epidemiology and public health more broadly as fields, detailing their inextricable link with colonialism, slavery, and war across the 19th century. While many people point to John Snow's cholera map as a starting point, this book shows how decades earlier approaches like contact tracing were developed and improved in the UK's colonial possessions. Interestingly but unsurprisingly the racist tint of these fields was promulgated not by European scientists but by those in the US. Highly recommend https://www.hup.harvard.edu/books/9780674293861

Last was "On Bullshit" by Harry Frankfurt. Philosophical works are rarely so accessible, and Frankfurt's entertaining prose makes this thorough examination of the concept of bullshit extremely enjoyable. This is more of a long book chapter than a book, and given its relevance to LLMs there's no excuse to read this important work. Highly recommend https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691122946/on-bullshit