Ask HN: What books got you curious and inspired about fields other than CS?

#1

Post by ahmedbaracat » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 8:40 AM UTC

For example, in my case I got interested in: - Design when I read “The Design of Everyday Things” and “Design for the Real World”

- Cognitive psychology when I read “Thinking Fast and Slow”

- Computers & Education when I read “Mindstorms: Children, Computers, and Powerful Ideas”

Would love to know about the books that got you inspired and curious about other fields :)

Re: Ask HN: What books got you curious and inspired about fields other than CS?

#2

Post by ffggtgf » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 9:03 AM UTC

limitless mind rusell targ

Re: Ask HN: What books got you curious and inspired about fields other than CS?

#3

Post by routerl » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 10:40 AM UTC

Ages ago, "Gödel, Escher, and Bach" turned me from a kid who liked computers into someone very into music, math, philosophy, and literature. It does a great job of showing the reader the joy of playing with abstract concepts across several fields, including writing.

Re: Ask HN: What books got you curious and inspired about fields other than CS?

#4

Post by oseityphelysiol » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 11:18 AM UTC

Probably known to most people, but "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond turned me on to a lot of things. The work covers many topics, including history, geography, evolution, giving a very wide view, which serves as a good starting point to start exploring some of these topics deeper.

Re: Ask HN: What books got you curious and inspired about fields other than CS?

#5

Post by type0 » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:01 PM UTC

- Structural engineering -

"Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down"

J.E. Gordon

- Rocket engineering and history -

"Ignition!: An informal history of liquid rocket propellants"

John Drury Clark

Re: Ask HN: What books got you curious and inspired about fields other than CS?

#6

Post by phyalow » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:21 PM UTC

https://www.amazon.com/More-Money-Than-God-Relations/dp/0143...

Re: Ask HN: What books got you curious and inspired about fields other than CS?

#7

Post by entha_saava » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 12:26 PM UTC

Physics for Entertainment by Yakov Perelman

Re: Ask HN: What books got you curious and inspired about fields other than CS?

#8

Post by StrangeDoctor » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 1:18 PM UTC

innovator's dilemma Got me interested in the science of running technical businesses.

Re: Ask HN: What books got you curious and inspired about fields other than CS?

#9

Post by I_complete_me » Fri, Jul 03, 2020, 5:07 PM UTC

The Wild Trees by Richard Preston about climbing Giant Redwood trees in California. It started my own tree climbing which I learnt entirely from YouTube and some falls. In the book the author describes making love in a hammock high in the trees. Hell, what could be better than that?

Re: Ask HN: What books got you curious and inspired about fields other than CS?

#10

Post by Phithagoras » Sat, Jul 04, 2020, 4:09 AM UTC

- Yakov Perelman's "Physics for entertainment" was fun, and repeating an experiment at work once almost got me fired

- "Made to stick" by Chip and Dan Heath

- "The Dissapearing Spoon" got me curious about chemistry

-"Uncle Tungsten" by Oliver Sacks got me started on the rest of his books, taking my fascination in chemistry and nudging it towards medicine, neurology and psychology.

- "The Social Animal" and "Influence" showed me more about psychology

- Borrowing a copy of the classic textbook Gray's Anatomy while recuperating from a serious accident showed me how fascinating the human body is