Rhetoric, Politics, and/or Ethics by Aristotle
Ask HN: Which non-fiction books had the biggest impact on you?
31–40 of 101 posts
Re: Ask HN: Which non-fiction books had the biggest impact on you?
#32Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
lots of great recommendations already, but this is a relatively quick read and a great story.
How To Build A Car
If you're into F1 -- or precision engineering -- it's a cool book that gives you insight into a fantastic designer and his approach to producing machines
I could go on but those are two books I thought about while going about my day today
Re: Ask HN: Which non-fiction books had the biggest impact on you?
#33I’d like to say - Factfulness or - Sapiens or - Richard Feynman’s various writings …but the most measurable impact was probably from something like - “Strunk and white The Elements of Style” or - “How to win friends and influence people” or - “Oh! Pascal!” Or - “the dictionary” or - some specific bus timetable that enabled a pivotal moment in my life
“Oh! Pascal!” is on my short list and I can see the influence of 'Elements', and Feynman as well.
Re: Ask HN: Which non-fiction books had the biggest impact on you?
#34James Gleick's books in general, Chaos being a favorite.
Sartre's essays on existentialism, Camus's big essays too.
Jiddu Krishnamurti's Awakening intelligence is also very good.
Edit0:
How nonviolence protects the state, Peter Gelderloos.
Very measured look at the discourse around violence and nonviolence. Fruitful read.
Free here: https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/peter-gelderloos-how...
Edit1: Freud's Totems and taboos, and some Jung, but I forget what exactly.
Re: Ask HN: Which non-fiction books had the biggest impact on you?
#35"The art of electronics" by Horowitz and Hill
I've read that, it's a great book if you're already into electronics. It filled a huge knowledge void that I wasn't aware I had... but the thing that got me started was "The Boy's Second Book of Electronics", which launched me into the world of electronics in the early 1970s, before PCs were a thing.
Re: Ask HN: Which non-fiction books had the biggest impact on you?
#36Guns, Germs, and Steel
Although, be careful about that one, because a lot of the claims Diamond makes are to be taken with a grain of salt. I would suggest the works of Richard Bulliet such as "Cotton, Climate, and Camels" and "Hunters, Herders, and Hamburgers" as counterpoints. Some historians really like the "A, B, and C" title format, don't they?
"women, fire, and dangerous things" by Lakoff for the meta on categories in general :)
Re: Ask HN: Which non-fiction books had the biggest impact on you?
#37I liked "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance"
I have tried reading this twice but couldn't get past 30 pages or so. I was enjoying the read but not sure what made me drop it both times. I was much younger though, so perhaps a 3rd attempt is in order.
Re: Ask HN: Which non-fiction books had the biggest impact on you?
#38The four gospels: Mathew, Mark, Luke and John
[dead]
Re: Ask HN: Which non-fiction books had the biggest impact on you?
#39The Ascent of Humanity: Civilization and the Human Sense of Self by Charles Eisenstein
Re: Ask HN: Which non-fiction books had the biggest impact on you?
#40This Is Your Brain on Music
-by Daniel Levitin
--helped me understand why listening to music has such a varied and profound effect on me.
Hallucinations -by Oliver Sack
--piqued my interest in the brain and the notion that it is running the show behind the scenes and what we perceive to be reality is merely a construct of our neural activity.