Bill Gates’ new autobiography recounts an unusual childhood, says Rainer Zitelmann

Bill Gates, who is turning 70 this October, recently released an autobiography exploring his childhood and formative years, Source Code: My Beginnings. The book’s key themes include learning, rebellion, ambition and competitiveness. One of the formative experiences he recounts is how he used methodical study to eventually surpass his grandmother’s skills as a card player: “Card playing taught me that no matter how complex or even mysterious something seems, you often can figure it out. The world can be understood.”

The book also provides valuable guidance for any parents looking to encourage their children’s intellectual growth and nurture their talents. As a child, whenever the Gates’ family went on a trip, Bill Gates explains how his mom put together a travel log for his sister and him to fill in. They had to write two pages per day to record what they saw, organized in seven categories: 1. Land Forms 2. Weather 3. Population Distribution 4. Land Use 5. Products 6. Historical or other Interesting Sights 7. Miscellaneous.

While his mom was driving, Bill Gates’ grandmother would read to the two children about Man o’ War, the thoroughbred horse who broke countless speed and endurance records and was one of the most successful racehorses in history. “In time it would feel,” Gates writes, “like my mom was on a similar........

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