Best books of 2022: Technology

Chip War: The battle for the world’s most crucial know-how
by Chris Miller, Simon & Schuster £20

Semiconductors are to our pc age what railroads had been to the economic age. With good timing, Chris Miller has produced a colourful historical past of this fascinating (and little understood) business because it turns into the main target of a geopolitical showdown between the US and China. Essential studying for understanding our fashionable world. Shortlisted for this yr’s Financial Times Business Book of the Year award.

The Law of Power: Venture capital and the artwork of disruption
by Sebastian Mallaby, Allen Lane £25/Penguin $30

At the start of the yr, Sebastian Mallaby unwittingly known as the top of the most recent tech bubble when he printed this guide concerning the far-sighted knowledge of the enterprise capital business. Still, The Law of Powera finalist within the 2022 FT Business Book of the Year Award, will stand the take a look at of time: an impeccably researched and vivid exploration of a vitally essential business.

Freedom to suppose: The lengthy wrestle to free our minds
by Susie Alegre, Atlantic Books £20/$29.95

George Orwell warned us of a future dystopia the place “thought crimes” can be punished. In Freedom to suppose, a human rights lawyer highlights how fiction is in peril of changing into actuality as tech firms monitor all our clicks, swipes and likes. We should defend our proper to interior freedom earlier than it’s too late.

Reality+: Virtual worlds and the issues of philosophy
by David J Chalmers, Allen Lane £25/WW Norton $32

One of the world’s main philosophers examines all of the age-old questions of life via the stylish prism of digital actuality. Fun, difficult, generally insane, Reality+ outlines the contours of a brand new “technophilosophy” and makes you suppose anew concerning the potentialities of the metaverse.

The historical past of the pc
by Rachel Ignotofsky, Wren & Smoke £12.99

This quick and cutely illustrated historical past of computer systems is the right introduction to the topic for a curious teenager – or grownup. “Computers are probably the greatest tool mankind has ever created,” writes Rachel Ignotofsky. This guide does a superb job of explaining why.

Books of the Year 2022

All week FT writers and critics share their favourites. Some highlights are:

Monday: Business by Andrew Hill
Tuesday: Environment by Pilita Clark
Wednesday: Economics by Martin Wolf
Thursday: Fiction by Laura Battle
Friday: Politics by Gideon Rachman
Saturday: Critics’ Choice

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