Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

news.ycombinator.com

511–515 of 515 posts

Re: Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

#511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

lol was about to post this. be careful, there are VCs amongst us

As a capitalist I would still say it's recommended reading. That said, if you're only reading that and not Hayek/Friedman/Sowell then you're doing yourself a disservice but that's your problem.

those writers make perfect logical sense within the confines of capitalism. once you stray outside of those boundaries, their ideas start to break down.

Re: Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

#512

I'm a software engineer, but these have been instrumental in my success in a way no coding book can compare to(though John Ousterhout's "A Philosophy of Software Design" would have, if it came out earlier in my life). Personal time/task management- The classic, Getting Things Done( https://www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Stress-Free-Produ... ). The power this has on people cannot be understated. Turns out that mos…

Sir, I have started reading The Art of Getting Things Done and boy that book is pure gold!

I've been missing it all my life! I'm on my way on getting wealthy and rich!

Re: Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

#513
post #71

Engineering: Third year math phys and its accompanying book (McQuarrie). It blew my mind when I learned McQuarrie is a chemist. Engineering's role in society: Schumacher's "Small is beautiful" and "Guide for the perplexed" was the straw finally broke me free of the technocrat worldview. (Although Illich's argument that a car's average speed is 3mph made me question my love for cars)

Chemist here. TIL McQuarrie wrote a mathphys book and engineers read it. His books on Physical chem are exceptional.

I know. I bought his phys chem and his stats thermo when I learned he's a chemist!

Id say his math book is his best book too - then again, I love math and don't really appreciate chemistry as much as I should.

Re: Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

#514
Speed Secrets - basics on how to drive car fast

The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software - all of IT. I could only get through half of it, but it's THE book that made me understand "everything" about how computers work.

Re: Ask HN: Do you recall any book or course that made a topic finally click?

#515

Andrew Ng's machine learning course on Coursera from almost 10 years changed the trajectory of my entire career. https://www.coursera.org/specializations/machine-learning-in... Statistical rethinking by Richard McElreath also helped me to understand bayesian analysis and simulation -- possibly the best hands on bayesian analysis book for beginners https://xcelab.net/rm/statistical-rethinking/ edit: added links

That course was absolute trash from my perspective - nothing clicked. I am not sure why it's so highly praised, despite covering fundamentals. Pacing and everything was off, and this is from someone with a ton of coding experience and stats background.
Post reply on HN