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Reading List Suggestions

Horton

Cat
Administrator
Post suggestions and commentary here.
 
Ok, added Math and Physics, @Vorpal will have to help with suggestions there. :)
 
OK, I've got one for the economics section:

Name: An Enquiry Into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain
Author: Henry Thornton
Date: 1802
Subject: economics, money, banking, credit
Category: Economics
Level: popular

This one is very old, but that's what is good about it - it explains the beginnings of the modern banking system, without all the modern complications. Very good source for understanding the fundamentals of our banking system, and its evolution (I usually have a problem to understand a topic until I know how it has evolved and the reasons for its existence).
Another good thing about this book is that since it's so old, it can be downloaded online for free. There are several editions with annotations, forewords by modern economists...
An online source, another one...
 
And one for the physics list (hope Vorpal will agree):

Name: The Feynman Lectures on Physics
Author: Richard P. Feynman, Leighton, Sands
Date: 1963-65
Subject: physics, pure awesomeness of RPF
Category: Physics
Level: undergraduate

These are IMO the authoritative physics textbooks. Also available online for free.
 
And one for the physics list (hope Vorpal will agree):

Name: The Feynman Lectures on Physics
Author: Richard P. Feynman, Leighton, Sands
Date: 1963-65
Subject: physics, pure awesomeness of RPF
Category: Physics
Level: undergraduate

These are IMO the authoritative physics textbooks. Also available online for free.
Urgh. One day, I'll have to try and read these again. My dad shoved them (really old editions of these) in my face quite a few times as I was a teenager, and it never really clicked for me.
 
Urgh. One day, I'll have to try and read these again. My dad shoved them (really old editions of these) in my face quite a few times as I was a teenager, and it never really clicked for me.
Haha :D My dad did exactly the same thing when I was about 17 or 18 yo (there are Slovak translations and he, of course, has them). I read some of it and it was absolutely wonderful compared to our usual textbooks with a lot of equations and very few explanations. Then I read some more of it when I was at the uni, and since then I read some of them (now usually the English original) from time to time, just for fun. Some I get, some I don't, but it's always an interesting read.
 
Haha :D My dad did exactly the same thing when I was about 17 or 18 yo (there are Slovak translations and he, of course, has them). I read some of it and it was absolutely wonderful compared to our usual textbooks with a lot of equations and very few explanations. Then I read some more of it when I was at the uni, and since then I read some of them (now usually the English original) from time to time, just for fun. Some I get, some I don't, but it's always an interesting read.
Yeah, took me some time but I eventually recognized physics ain't my thing. It just doesn't feel enjoyable.
 
Anthem by ayn rand.
I'm excluding politics here, subjects linked to politics are allowed, I guess philosophy?

OK, I've got one for the economics section:

Name: An Enquiry Into the Nature and Effects of the Paper Credit of Great Britain
Author: Henry Thornton
Date: 1802
Subject: economics, money, banking, credit
Category: Economics
Level: popular

This one is very old, but that's what is good about it - it explains the beginnings of the modern banking system, without all the modern complications. Very good source for understanding the fundamentals of our banking system, and its evolution (I usually have a problem to understand a topic until I know how it has evolved and the reasons for its existence).
Another good thing about this book is that since it's so old, it can be downloaded online for free. There are several editions with annotations, forewords by modern economists...
An online source, another one...
Ok, I'll have to check that one out, just noticed the sites it's hosted on. Mises are...quite extreme, they range from "massively shrink the government" to "abolish the government" in views.

Liberty Fund looks the same.
 
Ok, I'll have to check that one out, just noticed the sites it's hosted on. Mises are...quite extreme, they range from "massively shrink the government" to "abolish the government" in views.

Liberty Fund looks the same.
I don't know either of the sites, it's what google gave me. I've read the book and it's pretty apolitical (and predating modern economic policies by over 100 years), but by all means check it.
 
Parasitic Mind: How Infectious Ideas Are Killing Common Sense
Written by Gad Saad

ISBN-10 162157959X

I consider it an excellent critique of post-modernism.


The God Delusion
Written by Richard Dawkins.

ISBN-10 9780552773317

This is a famous (or infamous depending on the circles you travel) book.
I read it and enjoyed it.
But the checky person living in my head compels me to point out the whole thing is a pointless debate.
You either say. "There is a God" or "I know there is no god"
Belief is a binary choice. One of the only absolutes there is.
 
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Physics for Scientists and Engineers by Raymond Serway

College physics textbook (corresponds to the first two years of an American physics or engineering degree).

The section on electricity and magnetism is by far my favorite part. It manages to keep the math simple (only single-variable calculus) by focusing on electric circuits rather than pure theory. The first 14 chapters on Newtonian mechanics are also a decent first introduction to that topic.

However, the restriction to single-variable calculus does feel contrived at certain points in the book, especially in the last chapters on optics and modern physics. Personally I don't recommend touching those topics unless you have some experience with the wave equation and fourier analysis (as an absolute bare minimum).

Keep in mind that however that I've linked the 9th edition of the book; I only have first-hand experience with the 2nd edition.
 
Still trying to get through The Wages of Destruction.
 
Linear Algebra and its applications, by David C. Lay, et al.

Got assigned this textbook for my Linear Algebra class. Normally I end up hating assigned textbooks, but this is the rare exception. What I like the most about this book is how it is able to communicate the depth of linear algebra and its centrality to modern mathematics and engineering without getting mind-numbingly dry and technical. The basic mode of exposition in the book is definition-theorem-proof, but unlike other textbooks that use this format it also explains why the definitions and theorems are important rather than taking it for granted that they are. As the title suggests, the book contains many examples of applications. These include applications to physics, engineering, economics, etc., but also to other areas of mathematics, which I actually find more informative and revealing even as an engineering student.

Basically, this book has made me fall in love with linear algebra.

Unfortunately, there isn't a free pdf of the book available online from what I can find. The book is very expensive when bought new, but you can find a used copy on Amazon for under $60, which isn't too terrible.
 
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