{"id":133,"date":"2009-06-15T00:45:00","date_gmt":"2009-06-15T00:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dresan.com\/blog\/?p=133"},"modified":"2009-06-15T00:45:00","modified_gmt":"2009-06-15T00:45:00","slug":"15-books","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/2009\/06\/15\/15-books\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Books"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dresan.com\/images\/shouldercat.jpg\" alt=\"shoulder cat sees farther\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.dresan.com\/images\/shouldercat.jpg\" alt=\"shoulder cat sees farther\" border=\"0\" width=\"600\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Recently I got nailed with the following note on Facebook or Myspace or some other damn thing:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Don&#8217;t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you&#8217;ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes. Copy the instructions into your own note, and be sure to tag the person who tagged you.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Well, neo-Luddite that I am, I don&#8217;t want to encourage this whole walled-garden social networking thing, so I&#8217;m not going to post a note there until I can effortlessly crosspost with my blog and everywhere else.  But I can come up with 15 books:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Godel-Escher-Bach-Eternal-Golden\/dp\/0465026567\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251065062&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Godel, Escher Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Douglas_Hofstadter\">Douglas Hofstadter<\/a><br \/>Convinced me to get into Artificial Intelligence.  I&#8217;ve probably read it half a dozen times.  Has a fantastic layered structure that Hofstadter uses to great effect.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Society-Mind-Marvin-Minsky\/dp\/0671657135\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251065103&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Society of Mind<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Marvin_minsky\">Marvin Minsky<\/a><br \/>Opened my mind to new ways of thinking about thinking and AI.  Also read it several times.  Has a fantastic one-chapter-per-page format that really works well to communicate complicated ideas very simply.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Feynman-Lectures-Physics-including-Feynmans\/dp\/0805390456\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251065139&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Feynman Lectures on Physics<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richard_feynman\">Feynman<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Robert_B._Leighton_%28physicist%29\">Leighton<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Matthew_Sands\">Sands<\/a><br \/>Taught me more about physics than the half-dozen classes I took at Georgia Tech.  I&#8217;ve read it now about four times, once on paper (trying to work out as many derivations as I could as I went) and three times on audiobook.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Programming-Pearls-2nd-ACM-Press\/dp\/0201657880\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251064923&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Programming Pearls<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jon_Bentley\">Jon Bentley<\/a><br \/>Opened my mind to new ways about both thinking and programming.  The chapter on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.softpanorama.org\/Bookshelf\/Classic\/programming_pearls.shtml\">estimation<\/a> blew my mind.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand\/dp\/0452011876\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251090839&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Atlas Shrugged<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ayn_rand\">Ayn Rand<\/a><br \/>A true epic, though it&#8217;s probably better to start with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Virtue-Selfishness-Signet-Ayn-Rand\/dp\/0451163931\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251090868&amp;sr=1-1\">Virtue of Selfishness<\/a> if you want to understand her philosophy.  Every time I think some of Atlas Shrugged&#8217;s characters are ridiculous parodies, I meet someone like them in real life.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Decision-at-Doona-Anne-McCaffrey\/dp\/0345353773\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251090917&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Decision at Doona<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Anne_mccaffrey\">Anne McCaffrey<\/a><br \/>I must have read this a dozen times as a child.  I still remember two characters: a child who was so enamored of the catlike aliens he started wearing a tail, and a hard-nosed military type who refused to eat local food so he could not develop cravings for the foods of (or attachments to the cultures of) the worlds he visited.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Pawn-Prophecy-Belgariad-David-Eddings\/dp\/0345468643\/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251091716&amp;sr=1-3\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Belgariad<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/David_Eddings\">David Eddings<\/a><br \/>A great fantasy epic, with all of the scale but none of the bad writing and pointless digressions of The Lord of the Rings.  I&#8217;ve heard someone dismiss Eddings as &#8220;third carbon Tolkien&#8221; but, you know what? Get over yourselves.  Tolkien wasn&#8217;t the first person to write in the genre, and he won&#8217;t be the last.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Hobbit-70th-Anniversary-J-R-R-Tolkien\/dp\/0618968636\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251091884&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Hobbit<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/J._R._R._Tolkien\">J.R.R. Tolkien<\/a><br \/>All of the adventure of the Lord of the Rings, but none of its flaws.  The long journey through the great dark forest and the Battle of Five Armies still stick in my mind.  I like this the best out of what Tolkien I&#8217;ve read (which includes The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings, and the Silmarillion, and some other darn thing I can&#8217;t remember).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Dragon-Circle-Stephen-Krensky\/dp\/0689713657\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251091979&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Dragon Circle<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.stephenkrensky.com\/\">Stephen Krensky<\/a><br \/>Loved it as a child.  Still have a stuffed dragon named &#8220;Shortflight&#8221; after this book.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Elfquest-Archives-Vol-Wendy-Pini\/dp\/1401201288\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251065006&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Elfquest<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wendy_and_Richard_Pini\">Wendy and Richard Pini<\/a><br \/>Another true epic, this time a graphic novel.  Resonates with me in a way that few other fantasy epics do.  I have the first 20-issue series in a massive hardbound volume which is now apparently worth a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Elfquest-Book-Limited-Hardcover-Slipcase\/dp\/B00117SYYA\/ref=sr_1_9?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251092150&amp;sr=1-9\">shitload of money<\/a>.  Out of my cold dead fingers, pry it will you.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Paradigms-Artificial-Intelligence-Programming-Studies\/dp\/1558601910\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251064799&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Paradigms of Artificial Intelligence Programming: Case Studies in Common Lisp<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Peter_Norvig\">Peter Norvig<\/a><br \/>Yes, your programming can kick ass.  Let Peter show you how.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Reason-Human-Affairs-Harry-Lectures\/dp\/0804718482\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251092253&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Reason in Human Affairs<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Herbert_Simon\">Herbert Simon<\/a><br \/>Helped me understand the powers and the limits of human reason, and why we need emotion to survive in this complicated world.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Habits-Highly-Effective-People\/dp\/0743269519\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251092322&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Stephen_Covey\">Stephen Covey<\/a><br \/>More than anything, I appreciate this book for a few key vignettes that made me realize how important it was to understand other people and where they are coming from, and not to impose my own preconceptions upon them.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Art-Fiction-Guide-Writers-Readers\/dp\/0452281547\/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid\n=1251092369&amp;sr=1-1\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Art of Fiction<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">: A Guide for Writers and Readers<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ayn_rand\">Ayn Rand<\/a><br \/>Straight talk about fiction from one of its most effective writers.  You don&#8217;t have to agree with Ayn Rand&#8217;s personal philosophy or even like her fiction books to learn from this book; half her examples are drawn from authors she personally doesn&#8217;t agree with.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Arena-Nixon\/dp\/0671729349\/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1251092409&amp;sr=1-2\"><span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">In the Arena<\/span><\/a> by <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Richard_nixon\">Richard Nixon<\/a><br \/>Straight talk about surviving in politics from one of its most flawed yet effective masters.  A glimpse into the workings of a brilliant mind, broken down into different sections on different aspects of life.  Don&#8217;t bother reading this if you feel you owe a debt to your personal political leanings to say something nasty about Richard Nixon in every sentence in which you mention him simply because Nixon did some bad things.  (Note: I think that Nixon&#8217;s alleged crimes are the worst of any President, because they attacked his political opponents, undermining our democracy.  However, his political philosophy, once divorced from his personal paranoia, is something very important people need to understand).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>What did I forget?  <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Bible<\/span>, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Chronicles of Narnia<\/span> by C.S. Lewis, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Das Energi<\/span> by Paul Wilson, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Celestine Prophecies<\/span> by James Redfield, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Jonathan Livingston Seagull<\/span> by Richard Bach, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">One Two Three Infinity<\/span> by George Gamow, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Screwtape Letters<\/span> by C.S. Lewis, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Unfinished Synthesis<\/span> by Niles Eldredge, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Neutron Star<\/span> by Larry Niven, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">The Gods Themselves<\/span> by Isaac Asimov, the collected works of Martin Gardner, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Usagi Yojimbo<\/span> by Stan Sakai, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Albedo Anthropomorphics<\/span> by Steven Galacci, and of course, <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Van Nostrand&#8217;s Scientific Encyclopedia<\/span>, the <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">Volume Library<\/span>, and before that, back in the dawn of time, the <span style=\"font-weight: bold;\">World Book Encyclopedia<\/span>.  Read into that list what you will. <\/p>\n<p>Blogosphere, consider yourselves tagged &#8211; your turn.<\/p>\n<p>-the Centaur<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently I got nailed with the following note on Facebook or Myspace or some other damn thing: &#8220;Don&#8217;t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you&#8217;ve read that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5],"class_list":["post-133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-we-call-it-living","ratio-2-1","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dresan.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}