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

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

#131

Post by mecsred »

juujian wrote: post #68
mecsred wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always wonder when I see this, do people learn to lay comments out like a reverse psychology bait from these books, or are people who are already predisposed to that just drawn to owning them. Any chance the book goes over that? Not disparaging, I appreciate you sharing a recommendation. I just found the observation funny.

Ironically enough, I have a textbook for that: Jeff Pfeffer -- Power: why some people have it -- and others don't . It's good, and not what you would expect from the title.

I'm almost sold on that one from the author alone. Jeff Pfeffer has a great sound to it.

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

#133

Post by wwarner »

throwaway5959 wrote: post #52

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

I had exactly the opposite reaction, though I came in thinking it all be fire and brimstone. Genesis is a wonderful take on the attitude one should adopt toward the natural world. Regardless of what our scientific understanding of nature is (today’s will certainly look weird 3000 years from now), we know to behold it is good.

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

#136

Post by ada1981 »

lksjdflksdj9 wrote: post #57
ada1981 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

If you are a Phish fan, here is an interesting thread from fans about it.

https://forum.phish.net/forum/show/1378868388

And here is a podcast episode about it, it’s actually the season 1 episode 1 opener of Long May They Run - A Pattern Language.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3H5olGsalhWfMbEhyzOu9P?si=p...

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

#137

Post by lolc »

michalu wrote: post #118
nrclark wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW, the modern Catholic church's official stance is that Genesis should not be taken literally, and Catholics make up about half of the world's Christians. I think biblical literalism is mostly an American Evangelical thing.

FYI the church fathers explicitly say it should be taken literally. I don't know what's "modern church" does the faith change according to developments of science? Then it has never been true. Saying that as a christian.

Who are "the church fathers"?

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

#138

Post by rgoulter »

kortilla wrote: post #77
rgoulter wrote: post #75

"You Just Don't Understand" by Deborah Tannen. The author discusses that often when conflict in communication arises between men/women, it resembles the same tensions in cross-cultural communication. The author discusses that some communication styles are competitive (with a heavy lens around status and confrontation), other styles are cooperative (with a heavy emphasis on belonging, relatedness, similarities). The a…

How is helping someone with a solution “status and confrontation”?

Offering a solution/help may in some cases be interpreted as that the person receiving the suggestion is in a position where they need help. -- It's nicer to be in a position where you're a superior receiving help from subordinates, than to receive help because you're in an inferior position.

It's not likely an inexperienced junior will be able to offer meaningful suggestions of improvement to an experienced senior. If the junior makes suggestions to the senior, it's possible the senior will feel disrespected, or that his seniority/experience isn't acknowledged/appreciated. -- By making a suggestion, you're implying that the recipient doesn't know about (or didn't think about) it.

If someone asks for help and doesn't receive it.. it's like they're -1, and not being given a +1.

I don't think author's point is as concrete as "giving help = status related". Just more of an observation that, sometimes people get upset in communication, and mismatching expectations (different cultural styles) around that lead to stepping on toes.

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

#139

Post by sema4hacker »

bch wrote: post #30
sema4hacker wrote: post #22

The Elements of Programming Style by Kernighan and Plauger Software Tools by Kernighan and Plauger The Psychology of Computer Programming by Weinberg A cartoon-illustrated DIY Honda Civic repair book from the 80's I no longer remember the name of.

> cartoon-illustrated DIY Honda Civic repair book from the 80's I no longer remember the name of. Sounds like the Honda version of “How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive […] For the Compleat Idiot”.[0] [0] https://www.ssaircooled.com/vw-how-to-keep-your-vw-alive-com...

You're right! It was https://www.abebooks.com/9780912528250/Keep-Honda-Alive-Manu...

My wife and I actually managed a DIY clutch job thanks to that book, which was far better than any other service manual I ever saw.

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

#140

Post by replicant »

debanjan16 wrote: post #67
dangwhy wrote: post #66

spivak calculus opened my eyes to what exactly truth is and how to prove truth by build proofs from parts.

Spivak is single variable calculus only, right? What did you use for multivariable calculus?

Not the person you are responding, but I also used Spivak for single variable. For multivariable calculus I used Marsden and Tromba. The other Spivak is a great book, but maybe too much for a first approach to the subject.
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