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Ask HN: Which books have made you a better thinker and problem solver? ↗

The books people recommended

2022-11-30 · 354 points · 237 comments · 97 books named by at least one person here and at least 3 people overall. The number on the left is how many people named it in this thread.

  1. 4

    Thinking, Fast and Slow

    Daniel Kahneman

    4 here · 178 all-time · #6 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 48,679 ratings on Amazon
  2. 3

    Antifragile

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb

    3 here · 100 all-time · #29 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,430 ratings on Amazon
  3. 2

    Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs

    Harold Abelson

    2 here · 316 all-time · #2 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 742 ratings on Amazon
  4. 2Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

    Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality

    Eliezer Yudkowsky

    2 here · 101 all-time · #27 overall

    Buy on Amazon
  5. 2

    Principles

    Ray Dalio

    2 here · 49 all-time · #88 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 19,363 ratings on Amazon
  6. 2The Art of War

    The Art of War

    Sun Tzu

    2 here · 43 all-time · #110 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 9,633 ratings on Amazon
  7. 2

    How to Solve It

    George Polya

    2 here · 42 all-time · #115 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,615 ratings on Amazon
  8. 2

    Seeing Like a State

    James C. Scott

    2 here · 33 all-time · #173 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 846 ratings on Amazon
  9. 2How Not to Be Wrong

    How Not to Be Wrong

    Jordan Ellenberg

    2 here · 8 all-time · #843 overall

  10. 2Scale

    Scale

    Geoffrey West

    2 here · 6 all-time · #1160 overall

  11. 2The Scout Mindset

    The Scout Mindset

    Julia Galef

    2 here · 5 all-time · #1362 overall

  12. 2Psychology of Intelligence Analysis

    Psychology of Intelligence Analysis

    Richard Heuer

    2 here · 4 all-time · #1743 overall

  13. 1

    Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas Hofstadter

    1 here · 347 all-time · #1 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 2,713 ratings on Amazon
  14. 1

    Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

    Robert Pirsig

    1 here · 193 all-time · #5 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 13,921 ratings on Amazon
  15. 1

    How to Win Friends and Influence People

    Dale Carnegie

    1 here · 175 all-time · #8 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 106,505 ratings on Amazon
  16. 1

    Atlas Shrugged

    Ayn Rand

    1 here · 173 all-time · #9 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 22,012 ratings on Amazon
  17. 1

    Meditations

    Marcus Aurelius

    1 here · 165 all-time · #10 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 21,552 ratings on Amazon
  18. 1

    Black Swan

    Nassim Nicholas Taleb

    1 here · 110 all-time · #19 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 8,277 ratings on Amazon
  19. 1

    Designing Data-Intensive Applications

    Martin Kleppmann

    1 here · 104 all-time · #24 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.8 out of 5, 5,595 ratings on Amazon
  20. 1

    The Fountainhead

    Ayn Rand

    1 here · 90 all-time · #36 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 12,667 ratings on Amazon
  21. 1

    Zero to One

    Peter Thiel, Blake Masters

    1 here · 89 all-time · #37 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 40,093 ratings on Amazon
  22. 1The Goal

    The Goal

    Eliyahu M. Goldratt

    1 here · 70 all-time · #49 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 4,661 ratings on Amazon
  23. 1

    Masters of Doom

    David Kushner

    1 here · 69 all-time · #53 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 3,851 ratings on Amazon
  24. 1

    The Righteous Mind

    Jonathan Haidt

    1 here · 57 all-time · #66 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 12,156 ratings on Amazon
  25. 1

    Thinking in Systems

    Donella H. Meadows

    1 here · 55 all-time · #72 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 6,475 ratings on Amazon
  26. 1

    The Little Schemer

    Daniel P. Friedman, Matthias Felleisen

    1 here · 51 all-time · #81 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 185 ratings on Amazon
  27. 1

    The Power Broker

    Robert Caro

    1 here · 50 all-time · #86 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 3,176 ratings on Amazon
  28. 1

    Nonviolent Communication

    Marshall B. Rosenberg

    1 here · 47 all-time · #92 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 12,436 ratings on Amazon
  29. 1

    Economics in One Lesson

    Henry Hazlitt

    1 here · 45 all-time · #100 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 4,979 ratings on Amazon
  30. 1

    Outliers

    Malcolm Gladwell

    1 here · 44 all-time · #103 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 39,353 ratings on Amazon
  31. 1

    The Making of the Atomic Bomb

    Richard Rhodes

    1 here · 42 all-time · #114 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 4,174 ratings on Amazon
  32. 1

    The Beginning of Infinity

    David Deutsch

    1 here · 38 all-time · #128 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,382 ratings on Amazon
  33. 1

    The 48 Laws of Power

    Robert Greene

    1 here · 36 all-time · #136 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 90,218 ratings on Amazon
  34. 1

    Predictably Irrational

    Dan Ariely

    1 here · 35 all-time · #144 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 11,450 ratings on Amazon
  35. 1

    The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

    Thomas S. Kuhn

    1 here · 33 all-time · #167 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 2,045 ratings on Amazon
  36. 1

    Basic Economics

    Thomas Sowell

    1 here · 33 all-time · #172 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.9 out of 5, 5,209 ratings on Amazon
  37. 1

    Chaos

    James Gleick

    1 here · 31 all-time · #181 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 3,339 ratings on Amazon
  38. 1

    How to Read a Book

    Mortimer J. Adler

    1 here · 31 all-time · #182 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,081 ratings on Amazon
  39. 1

    The Dictator's Handbook

    Bruce Bueno de Mesquita, Alastair Smith

    1 here · 29 all-time · #196 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 2,461 ratings on Amazon
  40. 1

    How to Measure Anything

    Douglas Hubbard

    1 here · 27 all-time · #214 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 595 ratings on Amazon
  41. 1

    Steve Jobs

    Walter Isaacson

    1 here · 24 all-time · #245 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.7 out of 5, 26,863 ratings on Amazon
  42. 1Rationality: From AI to Zombies

    Rationality: From AI to Zombies

    Eliezer Yudkowsky

    1 here · 24 all-time · #246 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 242 ratings on Amazon
  43. 1

    The Information

    James Gleick

    1 here · 24 all-time · #248 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 1,588 ratings on Amazon
  44. 1

    Feeling Good

    David D. Burns

    1 here · 20 all-time · #315 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 8,950 ratings on Amazon
  45. 1Algorithms to Live By

    Algorithms to Live By

    Brian Christian

    1 here · 19 all-time · #330 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 6,632 ratings on Amazon
  46. 1

    An Introduction to General Systems Thinking

    Gerald M. Weinberg

    1 here · 19 all-time · #336 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.0 out of 5, 155 ratings on Amazon
  47. 1

    Becoming a Technical Leader

    Gerald M. Weinberg

    1 here · 19 all-time · #338 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 363 ratings on Amazon
  48. 1Peak

    Peak

    Anders Ericsson

    1 here · 18 all-time · #358 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 3,635 ratings on Amazon
  49. 1Critique of Pure Reason

    Critique of Pure Reason

    Immanuel Kant

    1 here · 16 all-time · #397 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 1,334 ratings on Amazon
  50. 1The Book of Why

    The Book of Why

    Judea Pearl

    1 here · 16 all-time · #408 overall

    Buy on Amazon
  51. 1Are Your Lights On?

    Are Your Lights On?

    Donald C. Gause

    1 here · 15 all-time · #421 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.0 out of 5, 264 ratings on Amazon
  52. 1The Nicomachean Ethics

    The Nicomachean Ethics

    Aristotle

    1 here · 14 all-time · #463 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 1,048 ratings on Amazon
  53. 1Enchiridion

    Enchiridion

    Epictetus

    1 here · 14 all-time · #473 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 557 ratings on Amazon
  54. 1Superforecasting

    Superforecasting

    Philip Tetlock

    1 here · 13 all-time · #488 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 4,641 ratings on Amazon
  55. 1The Story of Civilization

    The Story of Civilization

    Will Durant

    1 here · 12 all-time · #533 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 427 ratings on Amazon
  56. 1Secrets of Consulting

    Secrets of Consulting

    Gerald M. Weinberg

    1 here · 11 all-time · #562 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 370 ratings on Amazon
  57. 1Stumbling on Happiness

    Stumbling on Happiness

    Daniel Gilbert

    1 here · 11 all-time · #595 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.2 out of 5, 3,802 ratings on Amazon
  58. 1Test Driven Development

    Test Driven Development

    Kent Beck

    1 here · 11 all-time · #615 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 539 ratings on Amazon
  59. 1Purely Functional Data Structures

    Purely Functional Data Structures

    Chris Okasaki

    1 here · 10 all-time · #625 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.5 out of 5, 101 ratings on Amazon
  60. 1Pragmatic Thinking and Learning

    Pragmatic Thinking and Learning

    Andy Hunt

    1 here · 10 all-time · #626 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.4 out of 5, 506 ratings on Amazon
  61. 1Out of the Crisis

    Out of the Crisis

    W. Edwards Deming

    1 here · 10 all-time · #629 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.6 out of 5, 549 ratings on Amazon
  62. 1Proofs and Refutations

    Proofs and Refutations

    Imre Lakatos

    1 here · 10 all-time · #644 overall

  63. 1The Art of Thinking Clearly

    The Art of Thinking Clearly

    Rolf Dobelli

    1 here · 9 all-time · #694 overall

  64. 1How to Lie with Statistics

    How to Lie with Statistics

    Darrell Huff

    1 here · 9 all-time · #703 overall

  65. 1Thinking in Bets

    Thinking in Bets

    Annie Duke

    1 here · 9 all-time · #735 overall

    Buy on Amazon4.3 out of 5, 5,347 ratings on Amazon
  66. 1Make It Stick

    Make It Stick

    Peter C. Brown

    1 here · 9 all-time · #736 overall

  67. 1Why Information Grows

    Why Information Grows

    Cesar Hidalgo

    1 here · 9 all-time · #766 overall

  68. 1The Inmates Are Running the Asylum

    The Inmates Are Running the Asylum

    Alan Cooper

    1 here · 8 all-time · #781 overall

  69. 1Hooked

    Hooked

    Nir Eyal

    1 here · 8 all-time · #812 overall

  70. 1Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking

    Intuition Pumps and Other Tools for Thinking

    Daniel C. Dennett

    1 here · 8 all-time · #859 overall

  71. 1Apology

    Apology

    Plato

    1 here · 7 all-time · #982 overall

  72. 1The Metaphysics

    The Metaphysics

    Aristotle

    1 here · 7 all-time · #983 overall

  73. 1Why Buddhism Is True

    Why Buddhism Is True

    Robert Wright

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1060 overall

  74. 1Language in Thought and Action

    Language in Thought and Action

    S. I. Hayakawa

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1071 overall

  75. 1Surfaces and Essences

    Surfaces and Essences

    Douglas Hofstadter and Emmanuel Sander

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1074 overall

  76. 1Bad Science

    Bad Science

    Ben Goldacre

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1107 overall

  77. 1The Reasoned Schemer

    The Reasoned Schemer

    Daniel P. Friedman, William E. Byrd, Oleg Kiselyov

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1117 overall

  78. 1The Little Typer

    The Little Typer

    David Reegory, Daniel P. Friedman

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1144 overall

  79. 1The WEIRDest people in the world

    The WEIRDest people in the world

    Joseph Henrich

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1146 overall

  80. 1The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error

    The Field Guide to Understanding Human Error

    Sidney Dekker

    1 here · 6 all-time · #1226 overall

  81. 1The Pyramid Principle

    The Pyramid Principle

    Barbara Minto

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1244 overall

  82. 1The Art of Living

    The Art of Living

    William Hart

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1303 overall

  83. 1Normal Accidents

    Normal Accidents

    Charles Perrow

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1304 overall

  84. 1The Secret of Our Success

    The Secret of Our Success

    Joseph Henrich

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1305 overall

  85. 1Ways of Seeing

    Ways of Seeing

    John Berger

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1320 overall

  86. 1The Lucifer Principle

    The Lucifer Principle

    Howard Bloom

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1321 overall

  87. 1The Lady Tasting Tea

    The Lady Tasting Tea

    Salsburg

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1337 overall

  88. 1Against Method

    Against Method

    Paul Feyerabend

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1369 overall

  89. 1A Theory of Justice

    A Theory of Justice

    John Rawls

    1 here · 5 all-time · #1463 overall

  90. 1The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

    The Almanack of Naval Ravikant

    Naval Ravikant

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1558 overall

  91. 1It's Not Luck

    It's Not Luck

    Eliyahu M. Goldratt

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1559 overall

  92. 1The Art of Insight in Science and Engineering

    The Art of Insight in Science and Engineering

    Sanjoy Mahajan

    1 here · 4 all-time · #1860 overall

  93. 1Engineering a Safer World

    Engineering a Safer World

    Nancy Leveson

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2140 overall

  94. 1The Little Prover

    The Little Prover

    Daniel P. Friedman, David Repegory

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2177 overall

  95. 1The Garbage Collection Handbook

    The Garbage Collection Handbook

    Richard Jones, Antony Hosking, Eliot Moss

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2178 overall

  96. 1The Path to Power

    The Path to Power

    Robert Caro

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2338 overall

  97. 1My 60 Memorable Games

    My 60 Memorable Games

    Bobby Fischer

    1 here · 3 all-time · #2363 overall