Num10ck, 6 months ago

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gödel,_Escher,_Bach

thelastknowngod, 6 months ago

Here is a decision tree for NPR’s best scifi/fantasy books. I just started crossing these out with the phone’s image editor when I finish one.

https://imgur.com/a/zHxdYSF

fox, 6 months ago

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

vinceman, 6 months ago

Check out Snowcrash. Not the best book ever written, but is definitely interesting and is a major influence for Mark Zuckerberg. (Which if you do read the book may lead you to think he has very little reading comprehension imo)

Grayox, 6 months ago

Cant recommend a Canticle for Lebowitz enough. It was writen by a WWII bomber and talks about a post apocalyptic United States and how a group of monks preserve the flame of knowledge under the guise of religion to protect knowledge. Extremly well written and reads like a modern scifi novel even though the author only ever wrote the one book. Seriously its one of those books i think everyone should read, extremely impactful and powerful.

BackOnMyBS, 6 months ago

I think you and I have somewhat different tastes in books. Most of my favorites don’t fall under programming, tech, DIY, and science, but some do. I’ve shared some below broken into your taste and other in case you want to venture out and try something new.

Programming, Tech, DIY, & Science

One, Two, Three…Infinity by George Gamov

• An actual science book that fits with your interests! It’s a book that covers major theories/areas of physical science and math in an interesting way that a layperson can understand it. I learned more from this book that any formal training on the matter. The book starts off with defining counting and infinity.

Bigger, Leaner, Stronger by Michael Matthews

• Provides education on weightlifting, from learning to design your own workouts & schedules to weightlifting diets. He goes into why certain workouts and diets work based on science. I have followed the recommendations in this book multiple times (separate episodes), and found them to be quite effective.

Other

Mirrors: Stories of Almost Everyone by Eduardo Galeano

• A book that covers the history of humanity with a sense of social justice and poetic style. It’s written in short poems rooted in actual history, but presents a perspective that is not typical of the common narrative.

A Field Guide to Earthlings by Ian Ford

• This is a guide written by an autistic person for autistic people on understanding the neurotypical world. The premise is that autistic and neurotypical people are quite different from each other, to the point that they see each other as aliens. Because of this, it hits the reader differently depending on their neurotype. If the reader is autistic, it helps them understand the world and their social difficulties better. If the reader is neurotypical, I would imagine it’s an interesting perspective on human behavior, almost like reading a report on human behavior written by an alien.

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

• This book is like a mental reset to me. It uses the innocence of a child to break down silly and unhelpful social matters to remind us what’s universally important.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

• A fun science-fiction that, according to me, it’s main appeal is the style of writing. The author tells the story in a unique way that makes me laugh because it kind of says things in a way we think but rarely share with each other.

sanguinepar, 6 months ago

Bit late to this, but you might enjoy The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton - later turned into a great movie and a TV show I’ve not seen so can’t comment on. It’s about scientists dealing with something dangerous brought back from space.

gens, 6 months ago

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. It’s a bit coming-of-age but it’s lite, interesting, tech sci-fi.

Only other i read that is close is the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov.

bytesmythe, 6 months ago

“Phantoms in the Brain” by V.S. Ramachandran.

Stache_, 6 months ago

I really enjoyed The Powder Mage trilogy by Brian McClellan. Black powder style weaponry and some types of people get magical powers from ingesting black powder. I was a bit skeptical at first, but it really hooked me pretty quick

ludw, 6 months ago

Maybe you would enjoy “Every tool’s a hammer” by Adam Savage.

InQ, 6 months ago

AI 2041 by Kai-Fu Lee.

If black mirror was a book this would be it. It blends the current and upcoming AI/tech trends with sci-fi that allows you to explore different worlds and give you perspective on how they can really affect us. There is an analysis at the end of each story and explainds the tech used and where we are in terms of achieving that tech.

Good luck on your reading journey!

Chainweasel, 6 months ago

Bobiverse series, if you like programming and science you’ll love it.

init, 6 months ago

I came here to recommend this book series. Very fun, compelling, and breaks down complex ideas into smaller digestible plot devices that actually mean something later in the series.

aramus, 6 months ago

Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. A scientist is on a mission to save the world. The science stuff is accurate and easy to understand in my opinion (but I’m a physicist, lol).

The author also wrote the Martian, that was adapted as a movie, you probably know it.

My colleague recommends it to everyone, and she reads a lot. I read a little and also liked it. Not only because of the science, but also because of the story.

bluemellophone, 6 months ago

Jazz hands

oddityoverseer, 6 months ago

I also highly recommend the audibook

SocialEngineer56, 6 months ago

I’m going to have to re-read Project Hail Mary cause I’ve seen it recommended so many times, but I personally didn’t love it. I’m big Andy Wier fan - and absolutely loved The Martian.

With PHM, it felt like there were too many situations/problems that were created and then easily solved by the narrator. Each problem was a little too outlandish to then have a convenient solution right away.

amstafff, 6 months ago

This one

al177, 6 months ago

Nonfiction oldies that still hold up: The Cuckoo’s Egg by Clifford Stoll and The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder.

eestileib, 6 months ago

Soul of a New Machine is a classic.

Id add Hackers by Steven Levy and Cryptonomicon/Snow Crash by Stephenson