book reviews

Reviews of must-read books that explore the history of technology, what our future looks like and how these scientific advancements impact the way humans think, work, live and communicate.

We Are Kinakuta/We Are the Blockchain
It is time to revisit Neal Stephenson’s 1999 novel Cryptonomicon with respect to the modern rise of the blockchain and cryptocurrency. The influence of this book cannot be overstated within certain circles. Peter Thiel even went on the record as stating that Cryptonomicon was “required reading” during the early days of PayPal, which is rather remarkable. Aside from Thiel’s obvious enthusiasm, Cryptonomicon was nominated for a Hugo, nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and it won the Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel in 2000. I love the book for a great many reasons, and I am certainly not an outlier.
By Eric Barrows8 years ago in 01