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A few of my top non-programming books that have had a major impact on my career: The Art of Doing Science and Engineering How to Solve It Anything by Tufte

by gfodor 12y ago

A few of my top non-programming books that have had a major impact on my career: The Art of Doing Science and Engineering How to Solve It Anything by Tufte The Millionaire Fastlane (terrible title, brilliant book) and since I'm in VR, I have to mention Ready Player One.

Stratoscope 12y ago
Greg, was it you who recommended Ready Player One to me? Looks like I already bought it on my Kindle on $MYSTERYPERSON's recommendation, so now I'd better read it! Here's an odd one of mine: The Trachtenberg Speed System of Basic Mathematics I checked this out from the Scottsdale library when I was 11. I'd learned all the usual algorithms to multiply and divide and do basic arithmetic, but like most kids, I assumed that those were the only ways to do those things - that the steps we learned were truly fundamental and the one and only way to get the result. Then I read Trachtenberg and learned that there were other procedures you could use to get the very same results. The techniques we'd learned were not the only ones! Oh, there were tradeoffs - you might have to remember more stuff and more special cases - but once you had those down you could zip right through a calculation that would have taken a long time otherwise. So that's how I learned that there was more than one way to do it.
- kinleyd 12y ago
  +1 for The Trachtenberg Speed System of Basic Mathematics. I remember learning that system decades ago, and have always kicked myself for lending my copy of the book. I never got it back, and have stopped lending any books I value no matter who. Funnily, after applying the Trachtenberg system for many years, I came to realize the traditional methods were pretty good too.
- gfodor 12y ago
  Maybe! Thanks for the rec, might be a nice companion to the ideas presented in how to solve it.
nemesisrobot 12y ago
'How to Solve It' looks to be just the book I've been looking for. I would say I'm fairly good at problem solving, but I've always felt that I do a lot more stumbling around than I should on my way to solving most problems, and I really should be methodical about it.
geoelectric 12y ago
One of the non-technical books that changed -my- career was The No Asshole Rule. First, I became less of an asshole. Second, I learned to not work for assholes. Third, I learned that if I do choose to work for an asshole as a trade-off, I own that choice. I'm never trapped. My job satisfaction has gone way up for those three improvements.

by gfodor 12y ago

Stratoscope 12y ago

Greg, was it you who recommended Ready Player One to me? Looks like I already bought it on my Kindle on $MYSTERYPERSON's recommendation, so now I'd better read it! Here's an odd one of mine: The Trachtenberg Speed System of Basic Mathematics I checked this out from the Scottsdale library when I was 11. I'd learned all the usual algorithms to multiply and divide and do basic arithmetic, but like most kids, I assumed that those were the only ways to do those things - that the steps we learned were truly fundamental and the one and only way to get the result. Then I read Trachtenberg and learned that there were other procedures you could use to get the very same results. The techniques we'd learned were not the only ones! Oh, there were tradeoffs - you might have to remember more stuff and more special cases - but once you had those down you could zip right through a calculation that would have taken a long time otherwise. So that's how I learned that there was more than one way to do it.

kinleyd 12y ago
+1 for The Trachtenberg Speed System of Basic Mathematics. I remember learning that system decades ago, and have always kicked myself for lending my copy of the book. I never got it back, and have stopped lending any books I value no matter who. Funnily, after applying the Trachtenberg system for many years, I came to realize the traditional methods were pretty good too.
gfodor 12y ago
Maybe! Thanks for the rec, might be a nice companion to the ideas presented in how to solve it.

nemesisrobot 12y ago

'How to Solve It' looks to be just the book I've been looking for. I would say I'm fairly good at problem solving, but I've always felt that I do a lot more stumbling around than I should on my way to solving most problems, and I really should be methodical about it.

geoelectric 12y ago

One of the non-technical books that changed -my- career was The No Asshole Rule. First, I became less of an asshole. Second, I learned to not work for assholes. Third, I learned that if I do choose to work for an asshole as a trade-off, I own that choice. I'm never trapped. My job satisfaction has gone way up for those three improvements.