Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I picked it up for the first time in the 7th grade and have reread it about a dozen times since. The book is deeply t

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. I picked it up for the first time in the 7th grade and have reread it about a dozen times since. The book is deeply thought provoking about what constitutes knowledge and served as a light introduction to epistemology and metaphysics. I later went on to study philosophy and computer science in college, largely because of this book. The long discussions about the scientific method still resonate with me, and every time an experiment “goes wrong” I remember that one of the lessons in the book is that there really is no such thing as a failed experiment as long as you are open to what the world is telling you. The book is also an easy read because the entire thing is told in the form of a father-son travelogue. The fact that the author pulled off a travelogue about the philosophy of science is an amazing feat of exposition. So another lesson is about the value of good communication.