Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio? • Hacker News Board

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

#111

Post by summerdown2 » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 6:00 PM UTC

sanderjd wrote: post #108

summerdown2 wrote: post #48

For writing fiction and simply how to use words effectively: The way to write by Joan Moat http://www.amazon.co.uk/Way-Write-Ted-Hughes/dp/0140272704/ For understanding computer networking, Computer networks by Andrew Tanenbaum: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Computer-Networks-Andrew-S-Tanenbaum... For physics (though old now), Feynman's lectures: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Feynman-Lectures-Physics-boxed-set/d...

"The Way To Write" is actually John Moat. I tried to look Joan Moat up on Goodreads, and couldn't find it.

oops, sorry. For some reason it isn't giving me an edit option, so thanks for your correction.

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

#112

Post by cloverich » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 6:06 PM UTC

efuquen wrote: post #77

cjf4 wrote: post #19

I think if you're really looking to get a sense of how the world works, the best stuff to read are journalistic accounts and histories. Just pick a subject your interested in, do a bit of googling on well regarded accounts of that subject, than go to town. The reason I think these are more valuable than the pop psychology/business airport books is they don't operate under the pretense that the world's great truths ca…

I've also been reading The Battle Cry of Freedom and it's been amazing. The analysis and insights the author can pack into every single page is just incredible. And all those political, social, and historical insights have just as much applicability today. It really has been essential reading for understanding the major fault lines that have defined American life, and continue to do so in major ways.

I've been (slowly) working through the series (Oxford History of the United States) and want to put a mention in for "What Hath God Wrought", covering 1815-1848. Similar in scope and depth to Battle Cry, gave me similar feelings of "How can a book so long feel like it's barely abel to get all this information in."

Thats the period I was least interested in going in, but have ranked as the best History book I've read.

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

#113

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 6:06 PM UTC

efuquen wrote: post #77

cjf4 wrote: post #19

I think if you're really looking to get a sense of how the world works, the best stuff to read are journalistic accounts and histories. Just pick a subject your interested in, do a bit of googling on well regarded accounts of that subject, than go to town. The reason I think these are more valuable than the pop psychology/business airport books is they don't operate under the pretense that the world's great truths ca…

I've also been reading The Battle Cry of Freedom and it's been amazing. The analysis and insights the author can pack into every single page is just incredible. And all those political, social, and historical insights have just as much applicability today. It really has been essential reading for understanding the major fault lines that have defined American life, and continue to do so in major ways.

[deleted]

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

#114

Post by hga » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 6:08 PM UTC

samsolomon wrote: post #105

kp25 wrote: post #54

Zero to One - Peter Thiel The Lean Startup - Eric Ries

If you're into technology startups—I assume you are—Zero to One is absolutely what you're looking for.

Ah, for startups in general, you should look at The E-Myth by Michael Gerber, no matter what you're doing it'll have some essential advice, and you should examine your business model in the light of his general thesis that you should make your business "franchiseble". At the very least, observe the principles of leverage, "no one ever got rich typing".

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

#115

Post by mildredmorgan » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 6:18 PM UTC

I love "Predictably Irrational" by Dan Ariely and "Influence" by Robert Cialdini, both fascinating reads about how the mind works that yield useful insights for UI design and marketing.

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

#116

Post by guelo » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 6:19 PM UTC

The best history book I've read is The Origins of Political Order. Disguised as an academic political science book it is a sweeping history of human civilization starting in China and going through Arab and European states. It is chock full of intersting facts and surprising theories and implications for today.

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

#117

Post by lucajona » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 6:19 PM UTC

DoctorZeus wrote: post #102

timbuckley wrote: post #56

"Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined" by Steven Pinker Bill Gates calls it one of the most important books he's read in his life. "People often ask me what is the best book I’ve read in the last year. Steven Pinker’s The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined stands out as one of the most important books I’ve read – not just this year, but ever." http://www.gatesnotes.com/Books/The-…

I encourage anyone who reads Pinker's book to also consider Nassim Taleb's critique http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/longpeace.pdf

... and then read Pinker's reply http://stevenpinker.com/files/pinker/files/comments_on_taleb... TLDR: The book’s structure was lost on Taleb, who blends the different chapters and then criticizes his own confusion.

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

#118

Post by forgetsusername » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 6:26 PM UTC

"There's very little fluff in these books"

Very little fluff in a book that claims to be able to provide "40 percent of a two-year MBA program in ten days", at a fraction of the price?

If you want no-fluff writing on technical subjects, look for a good textbook on the subject of interest. I think people are averse to it, probably an artifact of formal education. But if you can find a well-written, introductory text, on any subject, I think you'll be amazed at how much you can learn from them, while actually enjoying the experience.

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

#119

Post by thewarrior » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 6:28 PM UTC

forgetsusername wrote: post #118

"There's very little fluff in these books" Very little fluff in a book that claims to be able to provide "40 percent of a two-year MBA program in ten days", at a fraction of the price? If you want no-fluff writing on technical subjects, look for a good textbook on the subject of interest. I think people are averse to it, probably an artifact of formal education. But if you can find a well-written, introductory text,…

That claim is overblown but it has a lot of useful content. You'll get what I'm talking about if you read it. Don't think of it as a substitute MBA. Think of it as a fun way to get a good overview of what it takes to run a business.

It's that sweet spot where it's not as dry as a textbook but not full of fluff like some pop psychology book.

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

#120

Post by sampo » Sat, Aug 08, 2015, 6:35 PM UTC

__Joker wrote: post #51

myth_buster wrote: post #33

For me it was Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared Diamond. It blew my mind on almost every section! I loved it I suppose coz it answered a lot of questions I'd growing up and a bit more. I've recommended it to everyone in my family. One critique I received was that there is repetition of ideas but I think its because primarily humans carry past successes anf failures so most of the changes a…

While no doubt Guns, Germs, and Steel is a good work, I will be hesitant to subscribe to ideas it presents, carte blanche. Please see this reddit discussion[1] [1] https://www.reddit.com/r/AskAnthropology/comments/1rzm07/wha...

The first link in that reddit comment points to [1] which is a critique of another Diamond's book. But if you let me give two comments on it:

(1) In the first sentences, the author (a PhD student in history) cannot really hide his irritation that someone with a background in animal physiology has written a popular book about history. I have seen this ad hominem several times about Jared Diamond. Somehow those historians cannot stand that someone with no degree in history has written such a popular book.

(2) "Guns, Germs, and Steel attacked the notion that racial superiority explained Western global pre-eminence, a view taken seriously by almost no one who’s taken seriously"

Actually, what Guns, Germs, and Steel did, was to provide a first comprehensive theory (that I have heard of, anyway) that explains why Europe, and not someone else, rose to dominance. This is the merit. The main merit is not that it, as a side product, discredited the racially based theories.

Failing to understand this difference does not speak highly of the writer of the review.

[1] http://www.columbia.edu/~saw2156/HunterBlatherer.pdf