Ones I read as a teenager that have a lasting, if not nostalgic, effect: - Blaise Pascal's "Pensées" (Thoughts) - René Descartes' "Discours de la méthode" (Di

Ones I read as a teenager that have a lasting, if not nostalgic, effect: - Blaise Pascal's "Pensées" (Thoughts) - René Descartes' "Discours de la méthode" (Discourse on the method) - Henri Poincaré's "L'avenir des mathématiques" (The future of mathematics) The way they wielded words pleased me. Their hopes and doubts moved me. Their intellect shattered my brain.