Malcolm Gladwell uses evidence to convincingly document the reason for success of Canadian hockey players, the Beatles, Bill Gates, and Asians in math. Briefly, he believes that success is determined by hard work and talent, but also by luck (Bill Gates was given complete use of a computer in middle school, a situation NO other middle schooler had in the late 1960's) and cultural heritage (Asian economies and culture are built upon rice, the cultivation of which requires long hours and hard work and precise practices and those skills are hugely successful in the study of mathematics.)

Also, he looks at the culture of honor in Appalachia where family feuds (think Hatfields and McCoys) are long and common. Many southern ancestors came from Scotch Irish ancestry and that culture was based on raising (and protecting) animals and required its herders to be active and protective against potential thieves, not a worry to most farmers.

One of the most thought-provoking books I've read in a long time.

Recommended by Ellen

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