Top all-time · #58
Bill Gates
Personal blog · gatesnotes.comscienceeconomics
Bill Gates's personal blog at gatesnotes.com covers science and economics. Since 2014, 492 different Hacker News readers have linked it 743 times, most often “Climate change and the 75% problem”. No feed was found, so read it on the site itself.
Sometimes recommended · 13 of 40 sampled comments recommend it?
Why HN links it
HN readers link Bill Gates' blog for the books it reviews and recommends, and for its climate and development posts, which commenters cite as support.
- Recommended for · 13 comments
- Called a "good read", "an interesting take", a "great recommendation", and a summary that "summarizes the theory's weakness well".
Summarised by Claude from a sample of 40 HN comments that link here. Each comment is marked recommending, critical or neutral (citing without judging); how this works.
Most-linked posts?
- Climate change and the 75% problem10 people · 10 mentions · first linked 2018-10-17
- The deadliest animal in the world (2014)8 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2016-09-15
- Bill Gates: Books I loved in 20188 people · 8 mentions · first linked 2018-12-03
- How to Respond to COVID-197 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2020-02-28
- The turbulent AI era is here7 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2026-08-26
- Bill Gates: How we can make our tax system more fair6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2019-12-30
- Ideas for Summer Reading6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2019-09-10
- The year global health went local – Bill Gates6 people · 6 mentions · first linked 2021-01-27
- Buildings Are Bad for the Climate5 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2019-11-05
- What I learned at work this year5 people · 7 mentions · first linked 2018-12-30
What Hacker News says?
For anyone interested in more detail and the full story, Bad Blood[1] by John Carreyrou is a really gripping book. It was also in Bill Gates' list in 2018[2][3]. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37976541-bad-blood [2] https://www.gatesnotes.com/about-bill-gates/holiday-books-20... [3] https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Bad-Blood
Comment linking /Books/Bad-Blood
on “Elizabeth Holmes found guilty”Submitted What I loved about Paul Allen as a story · 964 points
HN discussionTariffs and protectionist policies are unfairly maligned. They are effectively the only way countries build and rebuild industries. The idea that they are bad is an invention of bad economists who don't study history. See the book "How Asia Works" for an accurate economic history of the growth of industrial power in Asia, how it was based on Germany's ascension before it, and how it was al built on the RIGHT kind of…
Comment linking /How-Asia-Works
on “Apple mobile processors are now made in America by TSMC”Submitted If you want to understand Silicon Valley, watch Silicon Valley as a story · 855 points
HN discussionI really liked Bill Gates new Book: How to Avoid a Climate Disaster[1]. I liked that it shows what we have to do to get to 0 greenhouse gas emissions. What's the current state of technology and what's still left to do to get there. I often find suggestions like "Meatless Monday" or "Only fly when really necessary" etc, while probably good, not really useful advice. In Gates book he talks about that transportation an…
Comment linking /Energy/My-new-climate-book-is-finally-here
on “Climate change: IPCC report is 'code red for humanity'”Submitted India Is Winning Its War on Human Waste as a story · 687 points
HN discussionAlthough unfortunately not solved, we've made great strides in regards to child mortality, extreme poverty, war, violence, health, freedom, literacy... If you could choose any point in human history to be born, you'd be best off choosing today. https://www.gatesnotes.com/Development/Max-Roser-three-facts... https://ourworldindata.org/a-history-of-global-living-condit...
Comment linking /Development/Max-Roser-three-facts-everyone-should-know
on “I made a smart watch from scratch”Submitted Remembering my father as a story · 679 points
HN discussionin this case you should definitely read Vaclav Smil book Growth . It covers how similar growth patterns can be identified, from cities, vegetation, motors and human life. It is a long book, but recommended by none other than gates [1] [1] https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Growth
Comment linking /Books/Growth
on “Time flies in Google Earth’s biggest update in years”Submitted My new deadline: 20 years to give away virtually all my wealth as a story · 678 points
HN discussionHe also does a lot to offset his private jets. > I have a higher-than-average carbon footprint, so I’m taking extra steps to do my part. In the book I briefly mention how I’m offsetting my own emissions. I spend about $5 million every year to offset my family’s carbon footprint. As of now, the standard calculation for carbon footprints is based on an estimate of $400 per ton of emissions. But since the way we calcul…
Comment linking /Energy/What-you-can-do-to-fight-climate-change
on “Time flies in Google Earth’s biggest update in years”Submitted Warren Buffett’s Best Investment as a story · 659 points
HN discussionBesides CO2, Caron removal should also target other greenhouse gas with much higher potency like Methane/CH4 [1], which is the central point of why livestock is a big cause of global warming in Gate's Note about Climate Change Quiz. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane [2]: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/Climate-change-quiz
Comment linking /Energy/Climate-change-quiz
on “Carbon Removal Technologies”Submitted Good News You May Have Missed in 2014 as a story · 656 points
HN discussionIf the article posted last week is to be believed [1], which I do, then transportation makes up a relatively small portion of emissions (14%). Also, the demand for gasoline is very inelastic. Very little driving done today is for pleasure, so the cost would have to be raised so much that people are reducing driving out of necessity/looking for alternatives. Finally, consumption taxes on necessities act regressively…
Comment linking /Energy/My-plan-for-fighting-climate-change
on “Carbon Removal Technologies”Submitted My new favorite book of all time as a story · 651 points
HN discussionTransportation is only 14% [0] of greenhouse gas emission, and passenger cars are about half of that. While driving less can help, even reducing it to zero won't prevent serious climate change. So we need other solutions as well. [0] https://www.gatesnotes.com/Energy/My-plan-for-fighting-clima...
Comment linking /Energy/My-plan-for-fighting-climate-change
on “Carbon Removal Technologies”Submitted Microsoft’s original source code as a story · 617 points
HN discussionLet's take the spirit of the message and generalize that to countries that are not rich (aka level 4 countries: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Factfulness#incomegroups ).
Comment linking /Books/Factfulness
on “Can't you just right click?”Submitted Why Inequality Matters as a story · 603 points
HN discussionThis makes me wonder how open source is supposed to work on macOS. People seem to become more and more aware of it and even enterprises that insisted on support contracts can see that they can't get around open source completely anymore. Meanwhile Apple is removing the ability for me to have a pet project without paying an Apple tax. If the message were completely transparent, something like "The developer didn't pa…
Comment linking /Books/Factfulness
on “Can't you just right click?”Submitted The Best Books I Read in 2015 as a story · 596 points
HN discussionYet who shows up for the 3.1 million children who die of malnutrition every year? Billionaires like Bill Gates. Countless volunteer aid workers with organizations such as MSF. Fact #1: Since 1960, child deaths have plummeted from 20 million a year to 6 million a year. [1] This was posted quite recently here on HN. Perhaps you missed it. At the end of the day, the problem of child poverty and the death and suffering…
Comment linking /Development/Max-Roser-three-facts-everyone-should-know
on “Thailand cave rescue: all 12 boys and coach successfully rescued”Submitted Why I’m Digging Deep Into Alzheimer’s as a story · 553 points
HN discussionI'm 2/3 of the way through Enlightenment Now by Stephen Pinker, having seen Bill Gates describe it as his new favourite book of all time: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Enlightenment-Now . With the daily news cycle full of violence, hatred and despair, the book is an rationally optimistic (possibilist!) argument that the human condition has been improving since the days of the Enlightenment - and that the improvem…
Comment linking /Books/Enlightenment-Now
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?”Submitted My Favorite Books of 2016 as a story · 546 points
HN discussionBill Gates loves this book: https://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/Seveneves
Comment linking /Books/Seveneves
on ““The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason””Submitted Books I read this year as a story · 511 points
HN discussion> Apples and oranges... I can change that to CO2eq/capita/kWhr and it is still true ([1] above shows that). > Nuclear plants and their waste are dangerous, I'm not trying to dismiss that. But you also shouldn't dismiss the impacts of other resources. There is no free lunch here. For example, heavy metal contaminants are stable and stay toxic forever. We likely have to deal with these contaminants similarly to nuclea…
Comment linking /energy/my-plan-for-fighting-climate-change
on “Small nuclear reactors: tiny NuScale reactor gets safety approval”Submitted What You Believe Affects What You Achieve as a story · 428 points
HN discussion
