Bill Gates reads 50 books a year and says this is his all-time favorite - here are his top highlights

Bill Gates recently called Steven Pinker's new book, "Enlightenment Now," his "favorite book of all time."

Pinker - a professor of psychology at Harvard and the author of countless popular science titles - takes a sweeping look at human history, and comes to the optimistic conclusion that we are living in the most peaceful era humans have ever enjoyed.

He analyzes 15 different indicators, like literacy, quality of life, and safety, and compares data to show how these have changed over time.

Despite the doom and gloom we often see within the news, Pinker's findings are astounding. By all the measures he looks at, humans are much safer than ever before.

On his blog, Gates highlights what he thinks are the five most interesting facts from Pinker's book, and how they illustrate the ways in which the world is improving for the better.