

Ask HN: Good business or technology book recommendations? - ryanjodonnell

Going on vacation soon so I&#x27;ll have some free time on my hands to read - any good book recs for an engineer&#x2F;product person? My friend recommended Tufte&#x27;s data visualization book: http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.amazon.com&#x2F;Visual-Display-Quantitative-Information&#x2F;dp&#x2F;0961392142
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pjungwir
The Tufte book is a pleasure but hard to tote to the beach. If you try to
carry it on a plane they might charge you extra. :-) Some other ideas:

Managing the Professional Service Firm by David Maister. I can't keep this one
on my shelf because I keep giving it away.

Cryptography Engineering by Bruce Schneier. Very accessible. Probably not very
practical if you're not building a cryptosystem, but it's a nice way to get a
lay understanding---and scare you enough about how many pitfalls there are.
When you finish read this loving criticism also:
[http://sockpuppet.org/blog/2013/07/22/applied-practical-
cryp...](http://sockpuppet.org/blog/2013/07/22/applied-practical-
cryptography/)

Forever Undecided by Raymond Smullyan. Fun "puzzle guide to Gödel". Out of
print but Amazon has used copies.

Quantum Computing since Democritus by Scott Aaronson. Fun survey but requires
some familiarity with P/NP, quantum mechanics, linear algebra.

Programmers at Work by Susan Lammers. Interviews with computer pioneers.
Interesting to see how they think and what they have in common.

Time Management for System Administrators by Thomas Limoncelli. Short, easy
read with lots of practical advice for all of us.

The Mac is Not a Typewriter by Robin Williams. Very slim. Learn the difference
between hyphens, en-dashes, and em-dashes.

If you do product design you might enjoy a slow musing read through Apple's
original Human Interface Guidelines.

Those last three combined probably weigh half of the Tufte book.

Have a nice vacation! :-)

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vezycash
Designing interactions by Bill Moggridge

Design of every things by Don Norman

Reinventing Organizations - A guide to creating organizations inspired by the
next stage of human consciousness (Pay what you want book)
[http://www.reinventingorganizations.com/](http://www.reinventingorganizations.com/)

~~~
bikeshack
A few favourites of mine I read recently. Rushkoff's book is my favourite and
there is lots of insight in Rushkoff's book. The others are mandatory reading
for technologists IMHO

How to Create a Mind: The Secret of Human Thought Revealed, by Ray Kurzweil

[http://amazon.decenturl.com/make-a-mind](http://amazon.decenturl.com/make-a-
mind)

Program or Be Programmed: Ten Commands for a Digital Age, by Douglas Rushkoff

[http://amazon.decenturl.com/ten-commands](http://amazon.decenturl.com/ten-
commands)

Cool Tools, by Kevin Kelly

[http://amazon.decenturl.com/cool-tools](http://amazon.decenturl.com/cool-
tools)

(Yes, those are affiliate links)

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newman8r
It's not a business book but read Meditations - Marcus Aurelius - if you have
not already. I think it can make anyone better

~~~
newman8r
Also - 507 Mechanical movements if you haven't read it.. available online for
free but I'd get a nice formatted one

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brudgers
_TAoCP_ , if you haven't read it yet?

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kpierce
Business Books

Zero to One

Starts with why

EMyth revisited

