
Ask HN: Coffee table books - tue4Iezi
I was wondering what coffee table books people could recommend that would be relevant to the HN community? Aside from the obvious &quot;Designed by Apple&quot;
======
hsitz
I think any of the Edward Tufte books qualify, starting with _The Visual
Display of Quantitative Information_:

[https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-
Informati...](https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Display-Quantitative-
Information/dp/0961392142)

------
malloreon
I consider the omplete Calvin & Hobbes collection to be the perfect coffee
table book. Bust it out at a random moment and receive the sum of all human
wisdom in bite sized cartoon form.

------
xtiansimon
Oka, Hideyuki. How to Wrap Five Eggs. 1975.

If you're a designer, this book might just make you lose your mind.

[1]:
[https://books.google.com/books/about/How_to_Wrap_Five_Eggs.h...](https://books.google.com/books/about/How_to_Wrap_Five_Eggs.html?id=8rIBEm3ZVgsC&printsec=frontcover&source=kp_read_button)

------
sbuttgereit
One I have (and use as a coffee table book) is "Core Memory: A Visual Survey
of Vintage Computers". May be out of print though...

[https://www.amazon.com/Core-Memory-Visual-Vintage-
Computers/...](https://www.amazon.com/Core-Memory-Visual-Vintage-
Computers/dp/0811854426)

------
syedkarim
The Art of Electronics, 3rd Edition, by Paul Horowitz

[https://www.amazon.com/Art-Electronics-Paul-
Horowitz/dp/0521...](https://www.amazon.com/Art-Electronics-Paul-
Horowitz/dp/0521809266)

------
pavlov
I use C.G. Jung's "The Red Book". It's imposingly large, very red, and full of
impenetrable medieval-style German handwriting and disconcerting drawings
documenting Jung's dreams and visions circa World War I. There is an English
translation at the end, and if people ask, it's fair to pretend that I've read
it because I do skim a few pages occasionally.

------
Malic
The Making of Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' by Taschen. This isn't
a book so much to be read is it is to be /studied/.

------
ranit
Atlas Obscura

[https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Obscura-Explorers-Worlds-
Wonder...](https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Obscura-Explorers-Worlds-
Wonders/dp/0761169083/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1506305278&sr=1-1)

------
zulln
Information is beautiful. All kind of statistic visualised in a beautiful but
still informative way.

[http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/books/](http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/books/)

------
rainloft
The Medium is the Massage by Marshall McLuhan.

[https://www.amazon.com/Medium-Massage-Marshall-
McLuhan/dp/15...](https://www.amazon.com/Medium-Massage-Marshall-
McLuhan/dp/1584230703)

He combines words and images in a style that inspired Wired magazine. The book
is about the influence of technology on how and what humans communicate and
think.

Your guests will be flipping the book upside-down and looking at the reversed
image in a mirror at times. It's entertaining as well as informative!

~~~
gt_
While not bad (I have it) this is not Marshall Mcluhan's work. It is some
other guy's. The text is ripped from Marshall Mcluhan's work of the same name
which is a for more exploratory work and not fit for a 2017 coffee table.

------
ericwood
I have this one sitting out and it's a joy to flip through:

Cosmic Communist Constructions Photographed

The beauty of Soviet brutalism: A photographic record of 90 weird and
wonderful buildings from the last decades of the USSR

[https://www.amazon.com/Frederic-Chaubin-Communist-
Constructi...](https://www.amazon.com/Frederic-Chaubin-Communist-
Constructions-Photographed/dp/3836525194)

~~~
dingaling
A couple on that theme:

Soviet Bus Stops [http://fuel-design.com/publishing/soviet-bus-
stops/](http://fuel-design.com/publishing/soviet-bus-stops/)

Gas Tanks, Water Towers, Blas Furnaces or anything else by the Bechers

[https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/sep/03/bernd-a...](https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/sep/03/bernd-
and-hilla-becher-cataloguing-the-ominous-sculptural-forms-of-industrial-
architecture)

------
znpy
"Making the World Work Better: The Ideas That Shaped a Century and a Company"
by IBM Press

[https://www.redbooks.ibm.com/Redbooks.nsf/ibmpressisbn/97801...](https://www.redbooks.ibm.com/Redbooks.nsf/ibmpressisbn/9780132755108?Open)

------
tiziano88
Lego Architecture: The Visual Guide [https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lego-
Architecture-Visual-Philip-Wil...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Lego-Architecture-
Visual-Philip-Wilkinson/dp/1465422862)

------
tomdre
I really liked "Visual Complexity" by Manuel Lima:

[https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Complexity-Mapping-Patterns-
In...](https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Complexity-Mapping-Patterns-
Information/dp/1616892196/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1616892196&pd_rd_r=V2X13HZE7YG7QJGVMY5K&pd_rd_w=ACtn1&pd_rd_wg=6wx4U&psc=1&refRID=V2X13HZE7YG7QJGVMY5K)

------
Apocryphon
Art of Atari
[https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1524101036/](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1524101036/)

------
jdswain
I think 'Revolution in the valley' could qualify, it's not really a coffee
table book, but the stories are so short you can pick it up and read one in a
few minutes.

There is also 'Appledesign: The Work of the Apple Industrial Design Group',
it's old and out of print but it's got some really interesting prototypes in
there.

As others have mentioned there is also Dieter Rams book and Core Memory.

Might I also suggest Knuth?

------
T0k9sy_
My favourite is by the illustrator Mr Bingo - it is called Hate Mail, and it
features illustrations and hand-drawn typography on real postcards that were
sent to real people - features lots of swearing NSFW

[https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hate-Mail-DEFINITIVE-COLLECTION-
Bin...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hate-Mail-DEFINITIVE-COLLECTION-
Bingo/dp/1910931462)

------
senorsmile
I just picked up "Reading the Past: Ancient Writing from Cuneiform to the
Alphabet". It's actually a combination of 6 smaller "books" that goes over:

\- Cuneiform \- Egyptian Hieroglyhps \- Linear B \- The Early Alphabet \-
Green Inscriptions \- Etruscan

Much of what's in the book are things I've already learned. However, it makes
for a great summary for people that are over and have questions.

------
jimmywanger
Off topic, but you should get this if you see it for cheap.

[https://www.amazon.com/City-Darkness-Life-Kowloon-
Walled/dp/...](https://www.amazon.com/City-Darkness-Life-Kowloon-
Walled/dp/1873200137/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1506300012&sr=8-2&keywords=city+of+darkness)

It's amazing.

------
josephpmay
My room project: [http://myroomphotos.com/](http://myroomphotos.com/)

Tales from the Loop: [https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Loop-Simon-
St%C3%A5lenhag/dp/16...](https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Loop-Simon-
St%C3%A5lenhag/dp/1624650392)

------
knbknb
Books by/about landscape-photographer Edward Burtynsky
[https://www.google.com/search?name=f&hl=en&q=burtynsky+book](https://www.google.com/search?name=f&hl=en&q=burtynsky+book)

Photos of landscapes overused by humanity, e.g. quarries, dried-up land, oil
fields, etc

------
egypturnash
I really need to get the online store for my three-foot wide graphic novel
back up. It's about a robot lady with Philip K. Dick problems, and is
generally the Kind Of Sci-Fi Fiction Nerds Like.

Trust me, you need a coffee table to read it.

[http://egypt.urnash.com/rita/](http://egypt.urnash.com/rita/)

------
dep_b
A Basquiat book by Taschen. Can't go wrong with Basquiat among liberal people

[https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/art/all/49203/fac...](https://www.taschen.com/pages/en/catalogue/art/all/49203/facts.basquiat.htm)

------
Dowwie
"Designing Interactions" by Bill Moggridge [https://www.amazon.com/Designing-
Interactions-Press-Bill-Mog...](https://www.amazon.com/Designing-Interactions-
Press-Bill-Moggridge/dp/0262134748)

He passed away in 2012. I wish someone wrote a worth revised edition.

------
alexhutcheson
I really like Around the World: The Atlas for Today[1]. Fascinating content
and great graphical presentation.

[1] [https://smile.amazon.com/Around-World-Atlas-Andrew-
Losowsky/...](https://smile.amazon.com/Around-World-Atlas-Andrew-
Losowsky/dp/3899554973)

------
minouye
Cool Tools by Kevin Kelly - a must own if you're interested in making things.

[https://www.amazon.com/Cool-Tools-Possibilities-Kevin-
Kelly/...](https://www.amazon.com/Cool-Tools-Possibilities-Kevin-
Kelly/dp/1940689007)

------
synicalx
I like to leave copies of Mein Kampf lying next to copies of Das Kapital, just
to keep my guests alert and on their toes. Also I've found it tends to lead to
a general decrease in the amount of time it takes for someone to be labelled
as Hitler during discussions.

~~~
api
Had a friend who put Ayn Rand next to Marx because he said the repulsion
helped hold up his books on the shelf.

------
Eridrus
Not computer related, but I really enjoyed flipping through

The New Age of Ceramics, 2016

[https://www.amazon.com/New-Age-Ceramics-Hannah-
Stouffer/dp/1...](https://www.amazon.com/New-Age-Ceramics-Hannah-
Stouffer/dp/1584236248)

------
QUFB
Tales From The Loop

[https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Loop-Simon-
St%C3%A5lenhag/dp/16...](https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Loop-Simon-
St%C3%A5lenhag/dp/1624650392)

Received it as a gift from my brother-in-law.

------
hprotagonist
“accidents in north american mountaineering”, a publication of the american
alpine club.

~~~
aj_g
or 50 classic/100 favorite climbs books

~~~
hprotagonist
Freedom of the Hills is actually a great coffee table book. The material is
somewhat dated for free-climbing, but it's a great book to read.

------
askafriend
Poorly Drawn Lines is a great set of comics to have on your coffee table.
Check it out!

------
the-dude
Obligatory : Seinfelds episode about the 'Coffee table book about coffee
tables'.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE5ROl2YPbs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dE5ROl2YPbs)

This Ask HN must be a prank.

------
dmitrygr
Sled Driver

[https://www.amazon.com/Sled-Driver-Flying-Worlds-
Fastest/dp/...](https://www.amazon.com/Sled-Driver-Flying-Worlds-
Fastest/dp/0929823087)

------
probinso
The Math Book

[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6393242-the-math-
book](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6393242-the-math-book)

------
gvb
The Art of Engineering

[http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/book_aoe/aoe_22.pdf](http://www.kirkhammotorsports.com/book_aoe/aoe_22.pdf)

------
dcw303
Principia Disordia.

But you didn't read that, and this fnord does not exist.

------
semi-extrinsic
I recently bought Haynes' SR71 Blackbird Owner's Workshop Manual. It's a great
book about a great airplane, not just a fun title.

------
lqet
How about a coffee table book about coffee tables?

~~~
peteforde
This exists, and I have it on my coffee table.

------
qmarchi
If not _super_ related to HN, Blink and Outliers are good options to both read
and have laying around :P

------
hugofirth
Thing Explainer by Randall Munroe is a book of blueprint-like diagrams drawn
in xkcd style explaining complex systems simply. Its great fun!

------
QAPereo
‘Gravitation’ by Misner, Thorne, and Wheeler. It is still a tremendous
resource for all of the science and math of Special and General Relativity.

A bit off topic, but I’d add the complete collections of Calvin & Hobbes, The
Far Side, and Bloom County.

------
foxh0und
Dieter Rams: As Little Design as Possible is quite a nice one.

------
kev009
Core Memory: A Visual Survey of Vintage Computers

------
SteveNuts
I like "Lies my Teacher Told Me"

------
SamReidHughes
_Watchmaking_ by George Daniels

