Amazing News 2020

The most fascinating books WIRED read in 2020

December 20, 2020 | by Julian L. Mertz | No comments

PLUS: Why humans freak out when they're lost and the history of poop.

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12.20.20

One of the best things about working at WIRED is the number of topics we get to be interested in. That range really shows when you look at the book excerpts we've published this year. We are allowed to interrogate park benches and poker statistics, census machines and cosmic rays. The books that fascinate us might loop us thousands of years into the past, introducing us to the inventor of the wheel, or they might immerse us in the burned-out, Slack-addicted Millennial present. Whatever the topic, these are books that dive deep and tell stories in a smart, deeply researched, beautifully written way. We've dropped some excerpts below, and you can see the full list here. Pick presents for your friends and family (the nice ones get two), and save a few for yourself to dig in to in the new year.

The Editors

PHONE HOME | 18-MINUTE READ

Why Humans Totally Freak Out When They Get Lost

BY MICHAEL BOND

People really do circle past the same tree over and over again—it doesn't just happen in movies.

The Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls, Idaho

EPIC HACK | 7-MINUTE READ

How 30 Lines of Code Blew Up a 27-Ton Generator

BY ANDY GREENBERG

A secret experiment in 2007 proved that hackers could devastate power grid equipment beyond repair—with a file no bigger than a gif.

An ancient vase with the poop emoji painted on the side.

UPON THE THRONE | 10-MINUTE READ

The History of Poop Is Really the History of Technology

BY HAROLD MCGEE

Sure it's gross, but human mastery over its chemistry allowed the success of agriculture—and the rise of civilization.

A collage of phone book pages and an image of Edward Snowden

EYES IN THE SKY | 13-MINUTE READ

Inside the NSA's Secret Tool for Mapping Your Social Network

BY BARTON GELLMAN

Edward Snowden revealed the agency's phone-record tracking program. But thanks to "precomputed contact chaining," that database was much more powerful than anyone knew.

A rocket ship trails flames and an astronaut tumbles inside.

RE-ENTRY | 9-MINUTE READ

How to Leave Space and (Safely) Crash Back Down to Earth

BY TERRY VIRTS

A former astronaut explains what it's like to pilot the Space Shuttle onto the runway … and boink back down to the ground on the Soyuz.

Illustration of person working with smartphone looming over them

CAN'T EVEN | 10-MINUTE READ

How Work Became an Inescapable Hellhole

BY ANNE HELEN PETERSEN

Instead of optimizing work, technology has created a nonstop barrage of notifications and interactions. Six months into a pandemic, it's worse than ever.

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