The Art of Doing Science and Engineering
Richard Hamming
14 people recommended it in 8 threads, 2019–2026.
What people on Hacker News said
There are so many gems in this book: from the emphasis on fermi numbers for quick approximations, to a simple demonstration of the distance covered by a random walk as opposed to the distance covered by choosing a direction, to asking the question: "Am I working on the most important thing I could be? If not, why not?".
All in all it's a wonderful book on how to think about things in science and engineering.
I have accomplished more in 5 years after reading it than I did in 15 years before. Much of it I attribute to the change of perspective the book brought about for me and to the fact that I have a vision of my future now.
This has chapters on a variety of science, engineering, and math topics, and each one has what I found to be pretty good insights and views on them.
Richard Hamming's "The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn" is an insider's (Manhattan Project, Bell Labs) view of how computer science as we know it developed.
Oustanding book that covers problem solving approaches, traps to avoid, and how human interactions deal with tech.
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