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In Computers? The Mythical Man Month Fred Brooks In Management? Turn the Ship Around David Marquet In literature? Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad In Philosop

In Computers? The Mythical Man Month Fred Brooks In Management? Turn the Ship Around David Marquet In literature? Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad In Philosophy? The Republic Plato In Religion? The Confessions St. Augustine In Mathematics? The Elements Euclid In History? Parallel lives Plutarch In Physics? Principia Isaac Newton

philipwhiuk 3y ago
I'm skeptical about the maths and physics ones.
hnfong 3y ago
Not my fields, but - English Law: Treitel on The Law of Contract - Economics: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith)
usgroup 3y ago
I read Plato's Republic -- even as a youth. It is very readable and free from fancy prose. It is also dramatic in parts and written in dialogue form.
vmilner 3y ago
Do physicists really pretend to have read the Principia?
dwd 3y ago
Literature: Brothers Karamozov Constantly recommended on Twitter and I really wonder how many of those recommending it have actually read it. Heart of Darkness is a short easy read in comparison. Moby Dick was another hard read and a real slog with only the occasional memorable passage to reward enduring the tedium.
- defrost 3y ago
  Moby Dick is enhanced by perspective, it's sublime when dwindled to a 3.5 minute LitRap clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al5-bU8DUAg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al5-bU8DUAg
thorin 3y ago
Heart of darkness is very short and fits into those great books like L'Etranger and the Old Man and the Sea that can be usefully read in an afternoon and give back way more than they demand from you. Republic is quite long but very approachable and I really enjoyed it. Again the mythical man month still holds true and it very readable. It's interesting for anyone interested in computing history as well as for it's key points on management.
ironlake 3y ago
Why would anyone pretend to read Heart of Darkness? At 40k words it's one of the shortest novels ever written. The writing absolutely slaps. Anyone with any interest and experience in literature would find their first encounter with this book to be pleasant (except for the racism and colonialism). And it's falling out of favor because of the racism and colonialism, so it's perfectly acceptable (in most literature circles) to say that you just didn't want to read that kind of crap and leave it at that. I'm re-reading Heart of Darkness now and not likely to mention it to anyone because it's so regressive.
philomath_mn 3y ago
I haven't met too many people in Math or Physics who care to signal that they've read foundational texts. Usually they flex by talking about the latest research or something difficult and just beyond the level of their peers. Edit: I also love how all the discussion of this list is happening in response to the well-formatted quote rather than the original comment.

philipwhiuk 3y ago

I'm skeptical about the maths and physics ones.

hnfong 3y ago

Not my fields, but - English Law: Treitel on The Law of Contract - Economics: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations (Adam Smith)

usgroup 3y ago

I read Plato's Republic -- even as a youth. It is very readable and free from fancy prose. It is also dramatic in parts and written in dialogue form.

vmilner 3y ago

Do physicists really pretend to have read the Principia?

dwd 3y ago

Literature: Brothers Karamozov Constantly recommended on Twitter and I really wonder how many of those recommending it have actually read it. Heart of Darkness is a short easy read in comparison. Moby Dick was another hard read and a real slog with only the occasional memorable passage to reward enduring the tedium.

defrost 3y ago
Moby Dick is enhanced by perspective, it's sublime when dwindled to a 3.5 minute LitRap clip. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al5-bU8DUAg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al5-bU8DUAg

thorin 3y ago

Heart of darkness is very short and fits into those great books like L'Etranger and the Old Man and the Sea that can be usefully read in an afternoon and give back way more than they demand from you. Republic is quite long but very approachable and I really enjoyed it. Again the mythical man month still holds true and it very readable. It's interesting for anyone interested in computing history as well as for it's key points on management.

ironlake 3y ago

Why would anyone pretend to read Heart of Darkness? At 40k words it's one of the shortest novels ever written. The writing absolutely slaps. Anyone with any interest and experience in literature would find their first encounter with this book to be pleasant (except for the racism and colonialism). And it's falling out of favor because of the racism and colonialism, so it's perfectly acceptable (in most literature circles) to say that you just didn't want to read that kind of crap and leave it at that. I'm re-reading Heart of Darkness now and not likely to mention it to anyone because it's so regressive.

philomath_mn 3y ago

I haven't met too many people in Math or Physics who care to signal that they've read foundational texts. Usually they flex by talking about the latest research or something difficult and just beyond the level of their peers. Edit: I also love how all the discussion of this list is happening in response to the well-formatted quote rather than the original comment.