Hygro
soundcloud.com/hygro/
That in no way follows, though.
Recommend Six Must-read books.
- Thread starter JonBonham
- Start date
That in no way follows, though.
Miles Teg
Nuclear Powered Mentat
For the uninitiated, what's wrong with Pomeranz?
If it's self-education you're looking for, I can share the books that have helped me the most in my own personal learning.
Ecclesiates
The Bhagavad Gita
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour
and I will second 1776 by David McCollough as Antilogic mentioned. An excellent history book.
Ecclesiates
The Bhagavad Gita
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Education of a Wandering Man by Louis L'Amour
and I will second 1776 by David McCollough as Antilogic mentioned. An excellent history book.
Ok let's see here...
non-fiction
The Search of Modern China by Jonathan Spence
Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader
Dilemmas of Victory: The Early Years of the People's Republic of China by Jeremy Brown & friends
Republic of Drivers: A Cultural History of Automobility in America by Cotten Seiler
Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami
A History of Christian Thought by Jonathan Hill
fiction
Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Watchmen by Allan Moore
Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (although getting any of the number of short story anthologies is also a great buy)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Fatherland by Robert Harris
The Peshawar Lancers by S.M. Stirling
non-fiction
The Search of Modern China by Jonathan Spence
Africa: A Biography of the Continent by John Reader
Dilemmas of Victory: The Early Years of the People's Republic of China by Jeremy Brown & friends
Republic of Drivers: A Cultural History of Automobility in America by Cotten Seiler
Underground: The Tokyo Gas Attack and the Japanese Psyche by Haruki Murakami
A History of Christian Thought by Jonathan Hill
fiction
Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury
Watchmen by Allan Moore
Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (although getting any of the number of short story anthologies is also a great buy)
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
Fatherland by Robert Harris
The Peshawar Lancers by S.M. Stirling
Ice_Tyrant
Prince
I am not much of a reader but if I had to say any book has had an impact on me, well, I'd say the Persepolis graphic novels by Marjane Satrapi counts.
warpus
Sommerswerd asked me to change this
On a really slow internet connection here, so going by memory:
Cooking with bacon by some guy in a hat
The Fabric of Stuff by Brian Greene
Dune by Frank Herbert
Escher, Goedel, Bach by my mom
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. Z. Tolkien
Cooking with bacon by some guy in a hat
The Fabric of Stuff by Brian Greene
Dune by Frank Herbert
Escher, Goedel, Bach by my mom
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
The Lord of the Rings by J. R. Z. Tolkien
It's a book of philosophy containing some questionable views on facts, just as the other two are (Marx being economics containing some questionable grasp on reality). Despite their innaccuracies, we say taht they are non-fiction because they are intended as instructional; it's the same with the Bible.
SalmonSoil
Prince
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I'm young, I haven't read much, I feel like some of these books don't deserve to make the list.
Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell: The classic antitotalitarian book, eternally relevant.
Status Anxiety, Alain Du Button: An examination of a key and often ignored facet of society, the drive for status.
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond: Despite some peoples negative views of Diamond, this book is still an important analysis of how dangerous neglecting the enviroment can be.
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury: Although snobbish at points, this novel highlights the dangers of a tyranny of the majority, censorship, and hatred of intellectuals.
Euthyphro, Plato: There might be better Socratic dialogues to read, but this one is an excellent example of the Socratic Method. Just to remind your ideas are riddled with contradictions.
Politics and the English Language, George Orwell: I feel a bit dirty including Orwell twice, and this is only an essay, but excellent if you want to understand how people, conciously and unconciously, use language to disguise their true views and purposes.
Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell: The classic antitotalitarian book, eternally relevant.
Status Anxiety, Alain Du Button: An examination of a key and often ignored facet of society, the drive for status.
Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, Jared Diamond: Despite some peoples negative views of Diamond, this book is still an important analysis of how dangerous neglecting the enviroment can be.
Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury: Although snobbish at points, this novel highlights the dangers of a tyranny of the majority, censorship, and hatred of intellectuals.
Euthyphro, Plato: There might be better Socratic dialogues to read, but this one is an excellent example of the Socratic Method. Just to remind your ideas are riddled with contradictions.
Politics and the English Language, George Orwell: I feel a bit dirty including Orwell twice, and this is only an essay, but excellent if you want to understand how people, conciously and unconciously, use language to disguise their true views and purposes.
Integral
Can't you hear it?
Ooh, seconded. And Jonathan is a really good guy to boot!
Hygro
soundcloud.com/hygro/
PUGLOVER!!!!!!!!!!
Sketchy-ass reasoning that's insufficiently generalizable. I'll say more in a few days if I remember.
Kill the Draka-ite!
yeah he seems like the kinda guy thatd be easy to hang out with over a pint of bitter herp
Narz
keeping it real
How about eight? I had seven in my sig, this thread reminded me to add a recent one I found compelling.
Of course, I've been positively influenced by hundreds of books but those stick out in my mind.
Of course, I've been positively influenced by hundreds of books but those stick out in my mind.
As some people have already mentioned, anything and everything by Richard Dawkins. The Selfish Gene, Ancestor's Tale, The Extended Phenotype, The God Delusion spring to mind. All great books. He's a fantastic writer, and a brilliant biologist. And please let's not get into the same debate that always comes up when he is mentioned. Like him or loathe him, no one can deny that his books are worth reading.
Not by him, but Bad Science is a really excellent book, and will instantly improve your BS detector.
Not by him, but Bad Science is a really excellent book, and will instantly improve your BS detector.
Nothing too in-depth.
- Tanenbaum: Modern Operating Systems
- LaVey: The Satanic Bible
- Covey: Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
- Anderson: Security Engineering
- Hofstadter: Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid
- Stirner: The Ego and Its Own
GoodGame
Red, White, & Blue, baby!
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- 13,725
FlyingPig does have a good point in that a Platonic dialogues and other Classics are charged with mythical narrative, though rather than listing the Bible as "non-fiction", I'd include it under the Classics. Do we list The Aenid, Theogony, etc... as fiction or classics?
My List
Molecular Biology of the Gene by James Watson, et al
Molecular Biology of the Cell by Bruce Alberts, et al (authors/editors list changes over the years)
Lehninger's Biochemistry by different authors/editors (originally Lehninger)
The Republic by Plato
The Sophist by Plato
The Origins and History of Consciousness by Erich Neumann
Honorable Mention:
Isaac Asimov's Foundationtrilogy: first really large body of writing that I ever read successfully
JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy: first really large body of writing that I tried to read completely page for page, but failed.
"Good News" Bible (read page for page in series)
That would be a much better categorisation, with the caveat that in the UK 'Classics' means the study of Greek and Roman literature; I'm not sure where things like Sun Tzu go but you could probably put it there if you were using the strict definition of the term.
Kill the Draka-ite!
Yea, to be honest I pulled this outta my butt because I didn't have my fiction books around me to think of a better one. The setting is interesting enough, even if the writing is kinda weak...still, better than Turtledove
Hmm let my suggest some phonetics/linguistics books:
*A Course in Phonetics by Peter Ladefoged and Keith Johnson & A Practical Introduction to Phonetics by J. C. Catford. Both excellent introductions to phonetics (I can't think of a 'layman's' or a 'popular' introduction to the subject).
*Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet is a good resource as well.
*There is David Crystal's The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language and The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, both good reference of those subjects. A scholarly version is The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics; it probably best to just go to your local university library for that one
.
*The Linguistics Wars by Randy Allen. This book is a history of late-20th century American linguistics, from the fall of Bloomfieldian structuralism, the rise of Chomsky and his mentalist-nativist program and split within that program between the interpretive and generative semantics. Great stuff.
There are probably some other ones out there.
*A Course in Phonetics by Peter Ladefoged and Keith Johnson & A Practical Introduction to Phonetics by J. C. Catford. Both excellent introductions to phonetics (I can't think of a 'layman's' or a 'popular' introduction to the subject).
*Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet is a good resource as well.
*There is David Crystal's The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language and The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, both good reference of those subjects. A scholarly version is The Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics; it probably best to just go to your local university library for that one
.*The Linguistics Wars by Randy Allen. This book is a history of late-20th century American linguistics, from the fall of Bloomfieldian structuralism, the rise of Chomsky and his mentalist-nativist program and split within that program between the interpretive and generative semantics. Great stuff.
There are probably some other ones out there.
TheDanish
Prince
I'll suggest some history and sociology books. If I repeat any, just consider it a second recommendation 
Racism: A Short History by George M. Frederickson
The Forging of Races by Colin Kidd
The first explains the origins of modern racism. The second - which I am in the process of reading - delves into how ideas of race were formed, especially during the Enlightenment, and the relationships between race and scripture. They both explain how race is a social construction and cast light on the various economic and religious factors that contributed to that construction in Europe and the Americas.
The Sacred Canopy by Peter L. Berger
This one is old, and it has its detractors. It's very repetitive and Berger likes to make up new definitions for existing words, but it's a very good take on the function of religion in society.
Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee
This one is fiction. A great read, I really can't do it justice with a summary.
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
A very readable take on the "Why Europe" question. Whether or not you accept Diamond's geodeterminist explanation for how Europeans came to conquer much of the world, it's well-written.
Anything by Pierre Bourdieu.
I hate his writing style and his stuff is a pain to slog through, but Bourdieu is still influential in sociology, anthropology, and history.
Racism: A Short History by George M. Frederickson
The Forging of Races by Colin Kidd
The first explains the origins of modern racism. The second - which I am in the process of reading - delves into how ideas of race were formed, especially during the Enlightenment, and the relationships between race and scripture. They both explain how race is a social construction and cast light on the various economic and religious factors that contributed to that construction in Europe and the Americas.
The Sacred Canopy by Peter L. Berger
This one is old, and it has its detractors. It's very repetitive and Berger likes to make up new definitions for existing words, but it's a very good take on the function of religion in society.
Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee
This one is fiction. A great read, I really can't do it justice with a summary.
Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
A very readable take on the "Why Europe" question. Whether or not you accept Diamond's geodeterminist explanation for how Europeans came to conquer much of the world, it's well-written.
Anything by Pierre Bourdieu.
I hate his writing style and his stuff is a pain to slog through, but Bourdieu is still influential in sociology, anthropology, and history.
