Ask HN: Non-fiction books written by people with lots of experience in the field

#1

Post by gymshoes » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 7:11 PM UTC

I see a lot of non-fiction recommendations that are mostly generalizations about something and references to source material they researched, and they turn out to be pretty hollow in terms of reading.

However, books that have been written by people who have worked years in that field or on that topic have mostly been a good experience.

Looking for some more of those types of books

Re: Ask HN: Non-fiction books written by people with lots of experience in the field

#2

Post by trifit » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 7:25 PM UTC

AI 2041 is good book on future of AI written as short science fiction stories. The authors worked in VC and Google.

Re: Ask HN: Non-fiction books written by people with lots of experience in the field

#3

Post by cpach » Sat, Apr 23, 2022, 8:19 PM UTC

Not sure exactly what you mean with this question…?

Maybe The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins would fit the bill.

Re: Ask HN: Non-fiction books written by people with lots of experience in the field

#4

Post by Blackstrat » Sun, Apr 24, 2022, 1:04 AM UTC

Depends on the domain you are interested in. For example, in the physics realm, books by Susskind, Penrose, Weinberg, certainly are not generalizations. Even Smolin, Greene, and Carroll are very experienced in their fields though more accessible than Penrose. Same with computers and programming, innumerable choices are available. Math? Anyone from Ian Stewart to Tao to Hardy. Generally, I’ve found the answer on the overleaf. If the book is written by a science journalist, a reporter, etc., it’s usually a bit light while books written by academics in particular fields, even if written for the general public, are typically “beefier”.

Re: Ask HN: Non-fiction books written by people with lots of experience in the field

#5

Post by vba616 » Mon, Apr 25, 2022, 5:26 AM UTC

Sidetracked Home Executives by Pam Young and Peggy Jones.

I don't follow every bit of their advice, but some of the principles have stayed with me.