Algorithms to Live By by Brian Christian
Published 2016 · 366 pages · 95,000 words · about 6 hours at an average pace · Nonfiction, Psychology, Science & Nature
How hard is Algorithms to Live By to read?
Algorithms to Live By scores 25 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 32 out of 100
- Computer science terminology. Well-explained with analogies.
- Sentence structure: 28 out of 100
- Abstraction: 38 out of 100
- Mathematical concepts mapped to everyday life.
- Information density: 50 out of 100
- Dense with algorithms, research, and practical applications.
- Narrative indirection: 80 out of 100
- Direct, chapter-per-algorithm structure.
- Symbolic density: 100 out of 100
- Algorithms as metaphors for life decisions.
- Ironic distance: 80 out of 100
- Earnest and enthusiastic.
- Resolution withholding: 50 out of 100
- Each chapter delivers a clear takeaway.
- Structural complexity: 20 out of 100
- Independent chapters organized by algorithm type.
How Algorithms to Live By is regarded
Algorithms to Live By holds a literary regard score of 39 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.