What books are currently tickling my neurons? 🧠 You’ll find that I’m an eclectic dude: novels, short stories, historical non-fiction, historical fiction, scientific journals, anything goes! I update this list a few times a year. The list belows also contains affiliate links: if you click on these links and buy the book on Amazon, I will earn a small commission.
🇺🇸 English version of Focus by Marc Hijink
🇳🇱 Dutch version of Focus by Marc Hijink
Marc Hijink (tech reporter at dutch daily NRC) has been following my company ASML for decades, but over the past three years, he embedded himself in our world. The resulting book is his interpretation of our world, for which he spoke with hundreds of people, inside and outside ASML. Marc tells the story of 40 years of ASML, its people, the machines, the industry, the strategy and the geopolitics.
Silicon by Federico Faggin
The creation of the microprocessor launched the digital age. The key technology allowing unprecedented integration, and the design of the world’s first microprocessor, the Intel 4004, were the achievement of Federico Faggin. Shrinking an entire computer onto a tiny and inexpensive piece of silicon would come to define our daily lives, imbuing myriad devices and everyday objects with computational intelligence.
The Everything Blueprint by James Ashton
Reporter and author James Ashton’s The Everything Blueprint tells the story of Arm. Founded in Cambridge in 1990, Arm's chip designs have been used an astonishing 250 billion times and counting. From humble beginnings, the UK's high-tech crown jewel is now an indispensable part of a global chip industry.
Chip War by Chris Miller
Since its publication, this book has evolved from a gripping read into a trusty desk companion that I reference in my own work. Author Chris Miller (Associate Professor of International History at Tufts University) dives into the history of the chip industry. From the early pioneers in The States (Shockley, Moore, Noyce, et al) to the rise of industry powerhouses elsewhere (ASML in The Netherlands and TSMC in Taiwan feature prominently), the book explains how the chip industry ascended from relative obscurity and was thrust into the geopolitical spotlight. New York Times critic Virginia Heffernan noted that “if any book can make general audiences grok the silicon age — and finally recognize how it rivals the atomic age for drama and import — “Chip War” is it.”
The power of moments by Chip Heath & Dan Heath
The Heath brothers are among my favorite eye-openers. They write with such clarity, simplicity and stickiness (their book Made To Stick is one of my fave books ever!). The power of moments is all about how we remember. Why we tend to remember the best or worst moment of an experience, as well as the last moment, and forget the rest. Why "we feel most comfortable when things are certain, but we feel most alive when they're not." Our most memorable positive moments are dominated by four elements: elevation, insight, pride, and connection. If we embrace these elements, we can conjure more moments that matter. What if a teacher could design a lesson that he knew his students would remember twenty years later? What if a manager knew how to create an experience that would delight customers? What if you had a better sense of how to create memories that matter for your children?
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
In Klara and the Sun, Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable protagonist. From her place in the store, Klara, an “Artificial Friend” with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.