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There's also How To Solve It by Polya. Small, accessible, casually written.

• vram22 9y ago
  That Polya book is very good. [1] [2] I had read it many years ago. It may be influential beyond what people know. There is a version inspired by it, for programming, called How to Solve it by Computer [3], by R. G. Dromey, who, IIRC, was/is a professor at an Australian university (Wollongong?). I had the Dromey book. It is not exactly parallel to the Polya book, because it shows the details of how to come up with a solution, either in pseudocode or in a Pascal-like language, while the Polya book, IIRC, is more about principles and techniques for general problem-solving. [1] https://press.princeton.edu/titles/669.html https://press.princeton.edu/titles/669.html [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_It [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_it_by_Computer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Solve_it_by_Computer I'm pasting below the first few paragraphs from the URL [1] above: [ A perennial bestseller by eminent mathematician G. Polya, How to Solve It will show anyone in any field how to think straight. In lucid and appealing prose, Polya reveals how the mathematical method of demonstrating a proof or finding an unknown can be of help in attacking any problem that can be "reasoned" out—from building a bridge to winning a game of anagrams. Generations of readers have relished Polya's deft—indeed, brilliant—instructions on stripping away irrelevancies and going straight to the heart of the problem. First published in 1945. George Polya (1887–1985) was one of the most influential mathematicians of the twentieth century. His basic research contributions span complex analysis, mathematical physics, probability theory, geometry, and combinatorics. He was a teacher par excellence who maintained a strong interest in pedagogical matters throughout his long career. Even after his retirement from Stanford University in 1953, he continued to lead an active mathematical life. He taught his final course, on combinatorics, at the age of ninety. John H. Conway is professor emeritus of mathematics at Princeton University. He was awarded the London Mathematical Society's Polya Prize in 1987. Like Polya, he is interested in many branches of mathematics, and in particular, has invented a successor to Polya's notation for crystallographic groups. ] The John Conway mentioned is the one who invented the Game of Life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Horton_Conway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Horton_Conway https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conway%27s_Game_of_Life