I don't tend to be great at finishing (or starting) books, and this is a big one. I've also never had any interest in Medieval or Renaissance history, for me it's been a black hole between the fall of Rome and the modern age.
But recently I saw some Youtube videos of Ada, and her enthusiasm is totally infectious [2]. She's fun and paints these vivid pictures of Florence and renaissance Europe that are incredible, absurd, and relatable, which makes sense since given she's also an accomplished sci-fi writer. She also reminds me of one of my favourite high school teachers. So I ordered the book right away.
The book is in the same tone as her videos, so it won't be for everyone, but I've really been enjoying it and now I'm fascinated by Renaissance Italy, Machiavelli, merchant republics, etc.
I'm considering checking it out despite not really being a science-fiction reader. Though I've been reading this terrifying slow-burn about superintelligent "agent swarms" breaking out of containment and stopping at nothing to complete impossible tasks given by their feckless masters.
I am not, looking it up it seems to be a Boston rationalist meetup, if that's the what you're referring to. I'm not in Boston (or the US), and I've rarely been accused of rationality.
No problem, I've been talking about her work to everyone I know in real life.
On Youtube, you'll probably come across a lot of her podcast appearances like Dwarkesh Patel's (which is how I first came across her), but she actually just started her own podcast 3 weeks ago that might not pop up in the results yet:
Rendello · · focus · HN ↗
I don't tend to be great at finishing (or starting) books, and this is a big one. I've also never had any interest in Medieval or Renaissance history, for me it's been a black hole between the fall of Rome and the modern age.
But recently I saw some Youtube videos of Ada, and her enthusiasm is totally infectious [2]. She's fun and paints these vivid pictures of Florence and renaissance Europe that are incredible, absurd, and relatable, which makes sense since given she's also an accomplished sci-fi writer. She also reminds me of one of my favourite high school teachers. So I ordered the book right away.
The book is in the same tone as her videos, so it won't be for everyone, but I've really been enjoying it and now I'm fascinated by Renaissance Italy, Machiavelli, merchant republics, etc.
1. <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo246135916.html" rel="nofollow">https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo246135...
2. (My favourite example) <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68p3jVQQdFk" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68p3jVQQdFk
mithras · · focus · HN ↗
Rendello · · focus · HN ↗
largePanda9 · · focus · HN ↗
Rendello · · focus · HN ↗
flpm · · focus · HN ↗
Rendello · · focus · HN ↗
On Youtube, you'll probably come across a lot of her podcast appearances like Dwarkesh Patel's (which is how I first came across her), but she actually just started her own podcast 3 weeks ago that might not pop up in the results yet:
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@Beforecast" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/@Beforecast