Which is more dangerous, a gun or a swimming pool? What do schoolteachers and sumo wrestlers have in common? Why do drug dealers still live with their moms? These questions may seem atypical for an economist, but Steven D. Levitt is not an ordinary economist. He examines the riddles of everyday life—cheating, crime, sports, and parenting—often overturning conventional wisdom. Starting with vast amounts of data and simple, overlooked questions, he delves into life-and-death issues and some that are more peculiar. This leads to the exploration of a new field: freakonomics. Through engaging storytelling and sharp insights, Levitt and co-author Stephen J. Dubner demonstrate that economics fundamentally studies incentives—how people achieve their desires, especially when others have competing needs. They investigate the hidden aspects of various topics, including the dynamics of a crack gang, the realities of real estate agents, the myths surrounding campaign finance, the signs of cheating educators, and the secrets of the Ku Klux Klan. These narratives share a common belief: the modern world, despite its complexities and deceptions, is understandable and intriguing if approached with the right questions. Levitt's clever thinking reveals how to navigate through the clutter.
Olaf Brenninkmeijer Book order (chronological)
Port Mortuary, the title of Patricia Cornwell's eighteenth Scarpetta novel, is literally a port for the dead. In this fast-paced story, a treacherous path from Scarpetta's past merges with the high- tech highway she now finds herself on. We travel back to the beginning of her professional career, when she accepted a scholarship from the Air Force to pay off her medical school debt. Now, more than twenty years and many career successes later, her secret military ties have drawn her to Dover Air Force Base, where she has been immersed in a training fellowship. As the chief of the new Cambridge Forensic Center in Massachusetts, a joint venture of the state and federal governments, MIT and Harvard, Scarpetta is confronted with a case that could shut down her new facility and ruin her personally and professionally.