Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?

#51

Post by cs702 » Sat, May 13, 2023, 4:41 PM UTC

Off the cuff, here are a couple of textbooks not yet mentioned elsewhere on this page (so far):

* "An Introduction to Statistical Learning" by James, Witte, Hastie, and Tibshirani: possibly the best intro to the topic I've seen.

* "Introduction to Linear Algebra" by Gilbert Strang: possibly the best intro to the topic I've seen.

Also, here are some books that are not properly textbooks but could be used as such:

* "Robot: Mere Machine to Transcendent Mind" by Hans Moravec: remarkably prescient, in hindsight.

* "On the Origin of Species" by Charles Darwin: I was surprised at how readable it is.

* "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins: It made me question a lot about a lot.

* "The Better Angels of Our Nature" by Steven Pinker: I was shocked at the violence in our past.

* "Gödel, Escher, Bach" by Doug Hofstadter: an intellectual tour de force.

Re: Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?

#52

Post by throwaway5959 » Sat, May 13, 2023, 4:45 PM UTC

Not a textbook but when I actually read the Bible I realized it was total nonsense and left religion.

Re: Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?

#53

Post by kgwgk » Sat, May 13, 2023, 4:46 PM UTC

Probability Theory: The Logic of Science

Re: Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?

#54

Post by dpflan » Sat, May 13, 2023, 4:47 PM UTC

- The Shape of Space by Jeffrey R. Weeks -- from geometry to cosmology, exercises your mind into visualizing the shape of the universe.

- Algorithms by S. Dasgupta, C. H. Papadimitriou, and U. V. Vazirani. -- compact book that goes from the basics to divide-and-conquer, graphs, dynamic programming, linear programming, NP-completeness, and Quantum.

Re: Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?

#55

Post by kqr » Sat, May 13, 2023, 4:48 PM UTC

Perhaps not a perfect fit, but if I had to select one it would be Out of the Crisis by Deming.

Other than that, basically all of them to some degree.

Re: Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?

#56

Post by electriccatblan » Sat, May 13, 2023, 4:51 PM UTC

jdreaver wrote: post #35

The Elements of Computing Systems: Building a Modern Computer from First Principles [0] [1] Easily one of the most interesting and engaging textbooks I've read in my entire life. I remember barely doing any work for my day job while I powered through this book for a couple weeks. Also, another +1 to Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces [2], which was mentioned in this thread. I read this one cover to cover. Lastly, S…

Would Statistical Rethinking help me interpret web app metrics? E.g. if I have a canary out and the response times are longer after x requests, is that significant?

Re: Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?

#57

Post by lksjdflksdj9 » Sat, May 13, 2023, 4:51 PM UTC

ada1981 wrote: post #19

bckmn wrote: post #12

The Timeless Way of Building by Christopher Alexander. It really made me reconsider the process and ultimate goals of building systems beyond housing, and how to make pattern languages for any system I build, especially software systems.

I studied urban planning in grad school, but didn't discover Alexander until I learned that my favorite band Phish had modeled their work on a Pattern Language.

very cool nugget. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?

#58

Post by themodelplumber » Sat, May 13, 2023, 4:52 PM UTC

Luc wrote: post #34

themodelplumber wrote: post #13

There was a horticulture textbook that showed a zoomed-out plot of land on the cover, which with its divisions and sectional diversity effectively looked something like an illustration of the inside of a CPU. It wasn't intentional as far as I know, but I have to admit that stuck in my head ever since as a really eye-opening metaphor. And the contents of the book were really new to me and even more eye-opening. Wish I…

Could it be 'The Self-Sufficient Backyard'? I also remember seeing a CPU at first glance: https://www.amazon.com/-/en/dp/1732557160/

Wow, that's fascinating. It's definitely not the textbook I was using (1990s era design style, quite a bit less decorative and the illustration style was also different) but the effect is similar. I wonder if the illustration on my textbook could have been based on this one.

Re: Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?

#59

Post by pedrosbmartins » Sat, May 13, 2023, 4:54 PM UTC

Algorithms Illuminated by Tim Roughgarden really helped me understand algorithm design and analysis. Used it to prep for a masters in computer science, with no previous degree in the area.

https://www.algorithmsilluminated.org/

The author even shares free video classes and other extra material.

Re: Ask HN: What are the most eye-opening textbooks you have ever read?

#60

Post by deepersprout » Sat, May 13, 2023, 4:55 PM UTC

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss. It made me change how I aproach a negotiation in about every aspect of my life.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062407805