Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?

[debanjan16]

If you were to choose one book (or maybe more than one :P) to lure a curious person to your field of study, which will you choose?

For example: How to Design Programs for Computer Science.

Note: It has to be inviting for someone that knows nothing about the field but becomes hooked after reading it. Not some epitome which is revered by experts only.

[cl42]

"Seeing Like a State" by James C. Scott

I started my career in international development, and the book above provides a dozen case studies on states using scientific management, stats, etc. to try and control their growth/populations/economies and failing miserably.

It is a beautiful book in that it illustrates how difficult it is to actually manage a country and economy well, especially if you are trying to completely change it (i.e., "develop" it, solve poverty, etc.). It humbled me as a 22 year old "professional" wanting to fix the world.

"The Death and Life of Great American Cities" by Jane Jacobs is a close second to this theme of economic, technocratic development.

EDIT: I notice 22 upvotes. WOW! If you are a fan of this book or curious to hear more, please comment. Happy to elaborate. If you want a third book, The Evolution of Civilizations[1] is another fun one here. It tries to apply scientific principles and hypothesis testing to historical analysis!

[1] https://10millionsteps.com/review-evolution-of-civilizations

[cloudier]

“Seeing like a state” taught me what high modernism is and it’s pitfalls (since I - and I imagine many readers of HN - are already familiar with its strengths and achievements e.g. modern medicine).

Poor Economics is a book in a similar vein that talks about how policies that sound like they would be effective can backfire.

(I am a software engineer and found both of these books approachable and interesting.)

[ihodes]

This book is next on my reading list. One question that's come to mind before having read the book is if Singapore is an example of a highly-legible planned state's success?

[starwind]

I'm a big fan of his most recent book Against the Grain

[niyikiza]

I love the book. I was introduced to it by a brilliant review[0] by Scott Alexander.

[0] https://slatestarcodex.com/2017/03/16/book-review-seeing-lik...

[downrightmike]

You might like SuperCrunchers https://www.amazon.com/Super-Crunchers-Thinking-Numbers-Smar...

[pyuser583]

I was really drawn to the topic by reading Origins of Political Order by F. Fukuyama.

[deltaonefour]

Jane Jacobs, "Systems of survival" is also a good one. Formulates a theory about corruption and the nature of it. Changed the way I think about it forever.

[H8crilA]

One thing I've observed is population growth control - be it reducing the growth or encouraging growth - always fails miserably. For example many people have heard of the one child policy in China, but the facts are that both the introduction and the removal of the policy had no perceptible effect on fertility rates.

[I_complete_me]

Finally, a question on HN I am "qualified" to answer. During my university education I came across Structures[1] by J.E. Gordon who, unlike me, was an aeronautical engineer but his take on structures really made so much sense to me, as a student of engineering, in a way that the fustian delivery of the professors at college did not. Some books stay with you for life - this one did for me.

[1] Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down by J.E. Gordon. Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/245344.Structures

[karaterobot]

I can confirm that this book made me interested in "real" engineering (as in, engineering physical things in the real world rather than abstract symbols) when I read it. A bit too late for a career change, but I have talked to a few other people who hold this in high esteem as well. Good recommendation!

[leobg]

It’s a favorite of Elon Musk. He has recommended it several times.

[ipnon]

PiHKAL by Alexander and Ann Shulgin is on its face a book about love and chemistry. Taken together it becomes more of a treatise on how psychopharmacology is a method of personal and sociological analysis. Drug use becomes a psychological tool to manifest the phenomena of the mind that are normally hidden, and novel synthesis becomes a tool to then access the areas of the mind unexplored throughout history. Aside of all this, the Shulgin's story is one of absolute dedication to science in the face of its many impediments: internal psychology, interpersonal relations, social stigma, technical innovation, and authoritarian censorship.

[pxska]

A very tough question. I feel that it might be quite hard to lure a curious person into Computer Science, who doesn't know anything about the field yet.

One of the books I liked (since I actually studied Linguistics in my Bachelor's) and what drew me towards CS was "Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software" by Charles Petzold.

[Trasmatta]

I think Masters of Doom is a great book for getting people interested in either software development in general, or game development. Alternatively, some of the horror stories may actually turn them away. But every time I read it, I get excited about writing code again.

[unoti]

"Deep Learning for Coders" (aka Fastai) https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/deep-learning-for/97814...

This book will take you from knowing nothing other than high school algenbra to knowing both practical applications and theoretical foundations and best practices for AI. If you're interested in AI and machine learning, you need this book.

[michaelscott]

Highly recommend this course (it's free) if you're interested in machine/deep learning as a "regular" programmer. My knowledge of linear algebra and calculus is pretty elementary, but I was able to follow with it easily and the way it developed took me from building simple, straightforward CV models to writing a lot of Pytorch utilities from scratch.

If nothing else it will deepen your understanding of modern deep learning considerably, while giving you practical skills in the field

[destroyerofsoul]

True!!. Also with video tutorials are great source for learning. I like the way Jeremy explains every concepts in simple english.

[copperx]

Is there any truth to the Amazon comment that says that the code in the book is outdated?

[marttt]

(I'm in my late 30s, but I always try to look for "time-tested" books first. Books that seem to hold their value after decades; see also: Lindy effect.)

Language and linguistics: "Metaphors We Live By" by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson (1980): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metaphors_We_Live_By

Systems thinking: "An Introduction to General Systems Thinking" by Gerald M. Weinberg (1975): https://geraldmweinberg.com/Site/General_Systems.html

I still often use Weinberg's Systems Triumvirate when feeling stuck on a problem:

1. Why do I see what I see?

2. Why do things stay the same?

3. Why do things change?

[yesenadam]

Lakoff and Johnson followed up with Philosophy in the Flesh, applying their conceptual metaphor analysis to philosophies and philosophers. One of the most enlightening philosophy books I've read - and I read mostly philosophy for many years - it felt like having my eyes opened. And the book that helped me in understanding art and music far more than any other, Dewey's Art as Experience, I picked up because of good things they say about Dewey in the first pages of Philosophy in the Flesh! I'm a musician and artist, so I'm extremely grateful for that lead.

[sinbadpalomar]

I would add The Embodied Mind - Francisco Varela and Evan Thompson (1991) https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/embodied-mind-revised-edition

A great accomponiment to the first two, and a great read for those in AI related fields to start thinking about cognition more holistically and less computationally.

[biofox]

Weinberg's book should be required reading for all scientists and engineers.

[hackernewds]

Any good readings on the Triumvirate? Struggling to apply it to troubleshooting code

[oreally]

I think a lot of people are completely missing the point if they're recommending textbooks or prescription-like books - it's very likely you were already interested in these subjects beforehand and are really just upholding that book as a great solution.

What really gets people interested is the narrative behind these subjects. What interesting thing happened within that field of study? What are the current problems we can solve and where are we headed? And the less the technical mumbo-jumbo, the better.

Michio Kaku's books - "Physics of the Future", "The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind (", etc. are the sort that would really influence young, fresh minds to pursue physics. He details what happens, and what could be to a sufficient detail without overloading the user with the mathematical rigour associated with these math heavy subjects.

[kaycebasques]

Thank you debanjan16 for constructing a well-formulated question that delivered lots of high-quality additions to my "to read" list!

Strangely enough nothing is coming to mind for my field, technical writing. Docs for Developers is great at covering the end-to-end basics of a high-quality documentation process. But I feel like there is some book out there that has inspired me to think more deeply about how to effectively communicate ideas and instructions to other people, which is the true heart and soul of technical writing as an art and science. How We Learn by Benedict Carey is the right direction but I don't remember thinking of it as a masterpiece.

[ivansavz]

It's not a book but a website[1] and a talk[2] that explains a good strategy for writing docs, based on four quadrants.

[1] https://documentation.divio.com/ [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4vKPhjcMZg

[biztos]

Ways of Curating by Hans Ulrich Obrist should do the trick for anyone considering contemporary art in galleries, museums, etc, and it’s also a great read for artists and collectors.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20613616-ways-of-curatin...

For me personally this helped a lot with the decision to create an international art center (small, and still under construction!) instead of just pounding my artist head against the wall of the market forever.

But generally speaking, it’s an eye opener and a great illustration of how to generate influence from enthusiasm. It’s probably hard to read if you aren’t already familiar with European contemporary art, but it rewards patience.

[Errancer]

I would go with "Proofs and Refutations: The Logic of Mathematical" by Lakatos, its a dialog-form history of defining Euler's formula and it shows the human side of mathematics as a science. I think its great as math has this unique status as providing with undoubtable knowledge but history shows that human error is possible even in this field.

Alternately "The Unreality of Time" by McTaggart, it has less than 20 pages and argues that time doesn't exist since it is logically incoherent.

Not sure if this would get someone hooked up but for me those two were extremely fun reads.

EDIT: Just to be clear – both are meant as philosophy books, even if they touch on other things. :)

[cartucho1]

Philosopher here as well. I'd strongly recommend Thomas Kuhn's "The Copernican Revolution". It's a beautiful book that shows how ancient astronomy, cosmology and philosophy were interwoven, with valuable lessons for how science works even today.

From the classics I'd also recommend Hume. The "Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding" is short, very well written and argues, among other things, that causality is an illusion :)

[mdp2021]

> Proofs and Refutations - The Logic of Mathematical Discovery

Do not, do not miss the transcripts of the lessons held by Imre Lakatos at the London School of Economics (LSE), "Lectures on Scientific Method" - available in

-- Motterlini, Matteo (ed.), For and Against Method, including Lakatos’s Lectures on Scientific Method and the Lakatos-Feyerabend Correspondence (1999), Chicago: University of Chicago Press

[ChaitanyaSai]

What a great question!

The book that got me into neuroscience was Phantoms in the Brain by V. S Ramachandran and Sandra Blakeslee. A 22-year old book that wowed 20-year-old me. Principles of Neural Design by Peter Sterling and Simon Laughlin is a more recent book. It is brilliant, beautifully written and probably should be required reading for anyone looking to do graduate studies in neuroscience. In a field inundated with data and siloes and jargon, it bats for a focus on jargon-free understanding of principles that can explain much of the complexity. It was hugely inspirational for us when doing our own book (plug alert!).

I hope that Journey of the Mind: How Thinking Emerged from Chaos, a book I co-authored, a book which drew inspiration from these two books, is able to do the same for many looking to study neuroscience and AI now.

Phantoms in the Brain https://www.amazon.com/Phantoms-Brain-Probing-Mysteries-Huma...

Principles of Neural Design https://www.amazon.com/Principles-Neural-Design-MIT-Press/dp...

Journey of the Mind https://www.amazon.com/Journey-Mind-Thinking-Emerged-Chaos/d...

[porknubbins]

Code by Charles Petzold then doing Nand to Tetris has given me an abiding (though amateur) fascination with computer architecture, which lead to building a 6502 machine and reading about lots of other architectures.

[redwoolf]

I came here to mention this book. I think it's a great introduction to how computers work and well written.

[bennysomething]

I went through the nand book too,it's amazing. What do you mean exactly by building a 6502 machine? In real hardware? You bought a 6502 and created a whole computer from other bits?

[zeta0134]

My "field of study" is more like a hobby, but the definitive book is "Racing the Beam" by Ian Bogost and Nick Montfort. If you're at all interested in retro game consoles and especially the clever tricks old programmers used to push these systems to their limits, it's an incredibly fun dive.

[ericd]

(Racing the Beam) :-) and agreed, amazing book.

[mkaic]

Rebel Without a Crew by Robert Rodriguez. I'm a filmmaker and that book glorifies guerrilla filmmaking like no other. Really fun book by the guy who unfortunately didn't go on to make very many critical successes but did create the masterpiece of cinema that is Sharkboy and Lavagirl

[ghostpepper]

I am not a cryptographer but I do work in security and The Code Book by Simon Singh is an excellent history of the history of cryptography/cryptanalysis presented as periods through history where the pendulum swung between giving the edge to the code makers or breakers. The code makers have been ahead since about the 1970s.

[anyfactor]

Accounting...

The rule of accouting is that if anything excites you about accounting you shouldn't do accounting. The most fun I had studying accounting was learning about tax evasion, money laundering, defrauding stakeholders etc. Any academic book about forensic accounting could be deemed interesting if you just read only the case studies.

[cercatrova]

Lingua Latina Per Se Illustrata

It teaches Latin in a very cool way, where the entire book is written in Latin but it starts off with simple sentences anyone with a Romance language background can understand, before diving into deeper sentences, all while being illustrated so one can still follow the plot if they're stuck.

It contrasts with very dense Latin books that focus on grammar and spelling, which often bore students. LLPSI instead takes readers on an entertaining journey.

[jeffreyrogers]

This book is awesome. I wish they made something similar for other languages (actually French has a video series, French in Action, that is similar but not quite as effective as LLPSI).

[0x7E3]

It seems that people who recommend LLSI rarely mention the accompanying workbooks. Do you feel like they are a good value add, or is Famillia Romana strong enough on its own?

Consider the perspective someone who does not know anything about this book previous to reading your comment. Searching Amazon for Hans H. Ørberg is not likely to make it clear which book (or books) you are actually recommending.

[imperistan]

That sounds amazing. I'll check it out. Does anybody if there are similar books for the original languages of the bible?(Hebrew and Koiné Greek mainly). Of course there is the added burden of different writing systems. But maybe someone came up with a clever solution for that too :)

[billfruit]

This seems widely recommended here, but there exists more traditional textbooks treatments too, which some people may be more comfortable with:

- Benjamin Kennedy's Revised Latin Primer

- Wheelock also remains a standard treatment.

[pyuser583]

I occasionally pickup and read my old Wheelocks Latin.

[poulpy123]

I've heard about this book, but does it really work even just for reading ? And is there an companion audio ?

[sterlind]

The Algorithm Design Manual by Skeina got me hooked on algorithm design, after the CLRS book discouraged me. Skeina does a fantastic job of conveying the intuition behind how each algorithm works, so it's not a cookbook or nitpicky textbook. He also has these wonderful war stories of problems he solved, and example problems like "which telephone exchanges do you need to bomb in order to take the grid down?"

[an-selm]

Measurement/A mathematicians lament by Paul Lockhart. The first is not by any means very advanced/interesting mathematics per se, but it is written by somebody with an incredible passion for mathematics, which you can feel throughout the whole book, and which was totally novel for me coming from schoolish mathematics drudgery. Also, the way he approaches mathematics and teaching is quite interesting. Nothing for somebody who is already into mathematics, but as an entry point it is absolutely great. The second is a critique of school math, freely available online (https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/devlin/Lockharts...), that absolutely hits home on a lot of problems of math and school in general, but in a way that basically says "Look, its so cool, why are we ruining it? Lets do this better." which is much better than another bitter, destructive critique. And its well written and only twenty pages. Definitely recommend.