Want to continue growing your geoscience and energy professional skillset during your free time? Here are some recommendations from AAPG leadership and newsletter editors.
From AAPG President Brian Horn
Oil is First Found in the Mind – The Philosophy of Exploration Treatise of Petroleum Geology Reprint Series No. 20
Skin in the Game by Nassim Nicholas Taleb
Blink: The Art of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein
Rising from the Plain by John McPhee
The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes by Bryan Burrough
The Energy World is Flat by Daniel Lecalle
From AAPG Bulletin Editor Daniel Minisini
MiniGeology.com is a platform where you can listen to celebrated geologists talking about their mindset and approach to science and life. Check out the section entitled “suggestions to students.”
From AAPG Executive Director Tom Wilker
For geology fun: The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester. It talks about the life and geological work of William “Strata” Smith.
For general business and presentation:
For Unconventionals and Entrepreneurs
The Frackers by Gregory Zuckerman
For decision making: Decisive by Chip and Dan Heath
For general business, exploration leadership, and customer experience:
Creating Magic by Lee Cockerell
Creativity Inc by Ed Catmull
For presentations:
Lead With a Story by Paul Smith
Storytelling with Data by Cole Nussbaumer Knaflic
For setting a mindset: Make the Big Time Where You Are by Frosty Westering
From Director of Innovation, Emerging Science, and Technology Susan Nash
Scienza Nuova by Giambattista Vico (1725)
Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould (1977)
Time’s Arrow, Time’s Cycle: Myth and Metaphor in the Discovery of Geological Time by Stephen Jay Gould (1987)
The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History by Stephen Jay Gould (1989)
Basin and Range by John McPhee (1981)
In Suspect Terrain by John McPhee (1983)
Punctuated Equilibrium by Stephen Jay Gould (2007)
For innovation: The Prosperity Paraadox: How Market-Creating Innovation Can Build Economies by Clayton M. Christensen (2019)
From Well Read Newsletter Editor and Former Shell Strategy Advisor Shangyou Nie
I would recommend reading Daniel Yergin’s The New Map. It is big-picture, an easy read, and very relevant to the ongoing wars in Iran and Ukraine.
From Core Elements Newsletter Editor and Professor at The University of Utah Rasoul Sorkhabi
Strata: Stories from Deep Time by Laura Poppick
Turning to Stone: Discovering the Subtle Wisdom of Rocks by Marcia Bjornerud
Earth and Life: A Four-Billion-Year Conversation by Andrew H. Knoll
Titles from archived AAPG Bulletin book reviews sections. You can visit the archive here or learn how to subscribe here.