The Book of Why: The New Science of Cause and Effect by Judea Pearl and Dana Mackenzie

This book purports to present a revolutionary idea. Pearl gives credit to many predecessors and it seems he is widely considered to be a leader in his field and to have come up with some real breakthroughs. It seems to me that his basic idea, that we can prove causation using diagrams and a do-calculus, depends on his diagrams showing ALL the possible influences. If not, it seems to me that his ideas devolve into a probabilistic model that he deprecates.

Also I wonder if his do-calculus has any relation to basic lambda-calculus or other mathematical logic systems that preceded it. It would seem unlikely that this would be completely new. He claims we will soon see practical applications in studies. He makes a good case that by explicitly using his diagrams, whole arms of some trials may be unnecessary, with great benefits, of simplicity and cost.