Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#1

Post by thewarrior » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 12:53 PM UTC

I like reading non fiction but a lot of it is like pop psychology with not a lot of informational content.

I've picked up two books recently and I've learnt a lot :

The Selfish Gene By Richard Dawkins

The 10 Day MBA By Steven Silbiger

There's very little fluff in these books and you learn something useful on almost every other page. I'd like to read more such books , especially on technical subjects.

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#2

Post by pshapiro99 » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 12:58 PM UTC

The Open Organization, by Jim Whitehurse

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#3

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 1:22 PM UTC

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#4

Post by nerdynapster » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 2:12 PM UTC

1. Walter Lewin's For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge Of Time - A Journey Through the Wonders of Physics

2. Subroto Bagchi’s MBA At 16: A Teenager’s Guide To Business

3. Jugaad Innovation: A frugal and flexible approach to innovation for the 21st century by Navi Radjou, Jaideep Prabhu, and Simone Ahuja

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#5

Post by jayess » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 2:15 PM UTC

Reclaiming History by Vincent Bugliosi.

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#6

Post by davidjhall » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 2:31 PM UTC

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#7

Post by tjr » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 2:34 PM UTC

The Idea Factory, by Pepper White

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#8

Post by arrmn » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 2:39 PM UTC

davidjhall wrote: post #6

Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman.

I've finally started reading the book after reading about it on every corner. I'm halfway through and it's really good. A lot of information without unneeded fluff.

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#9

Post by gp7 » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 2:50 PM UTC

Literary Theory: An Introduction, Terry Eagleton

Re: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio?

#10

Post by wanderingstan » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 2:53 PM UTC

Good idea. Too many these books these days read like a long-form magazine articles (or blog posts) that have been stuffed with fluff to get to a book-length.