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Added to my reading list, thanks!

19 Best Explainers on Different Subjects

18th Mar 2015

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There are many recommended reading threads on lesswrong. Some examples include: Math, Textbooks and Rationality.

I am looking to compile another such thread, this time aimed at "exceptional explainers" and their works. For example, I find Richard Feynman's QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter to be one such book.

Please list out other authors and books which you think are wonderfully written, in such a way that maximizes communication and explanation to laypeople in the given field. For example:

Physics: Richard Feynman - QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter.

Thank you,

Jeremy

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[-]lukeprog10y120

I tried this earlier, with Great Explanations.

[-]Gunnar_Zarncke10y20

And you should also have mentioned Best Textbooks on every Subject.

[-]JMiller10y40

Thanks Gunnar. Luke may not have linked his thread, because I did so in the OP.

[-]Gunnar_Zarncke10y00

Oh yeah, the old problem of the visibilty of single-word links.

[-]JMiller10y00

Thanks, Luke. I'll be checking your physics recommendations out soon.

[-]D_Malik10y100

Better Explained for math
Explained Visually for math/CS
/r/AskScience
/r/AskHistorians
Explain Like I'm Five (only sometimes good)

[-]JMiller10y40

I appreciate the initiative to send meta-sources rather than single pieces.

[-]Gunnar_Zarncke10y70

Geometrical Vectors builds a visual intuition and vocabulary for dealing with vector analysis. It is a non-standard approach but very useful for visually oriented people,

[-]HungryHobo10y60

For an exceedingly well written intro to crypto I'd recommend The Code Book: The Secret History of Codes and Code-breaking by Simon Singh

When I got around to a final year security comp sci module it turned out that most of the information had been covered in The code book.

[-]JMiller10y00

Awesome, I'll be checking this out for sure. I recently began studying computer security; do you have any more recommendations?

[-]Lumifer10y20

Bruce Schneier's Applied Cryptography is a classic and his other books are also recommended.

[-]SebastianG 10y60

Peter Briscoe's Reading the Map of Knowledge is a helpful short monograph on helping you optimize your learning and research into different fields. It is meant for librarians and lay people alike.

[-]interstice10y40

Another one on computing: The Elements of Computing Systems. This book explains how computers work by teaching you to build a computer from scratch, staring with logic gates. By the end you have a working (emulation of) a computer, every component of which you built. It's great if you already know how to program and want to learn how computers work at a lower level.

[-]Ben Pace10y30

"Code" by Petzold is a wonderful book which explains how a computer worksl

[-]SanguineEmpiricist10y30

"Mainstream and Formal epistemology" - Hendricks is an incredible book and should be read by most.

[-]Shmi10y30

I always recommend Flatland to anyone interested in visualizing extra dimensions.

[-][anonymous]10y20

Harry Lindgren's Recreational problems in geometric dissections and how to solve them is good for visualizing flat transformations and doesn't require much previous knowledge to understand.

[-]JMiller10y00

Added to my reading list, thanks!

[-][anonymous]10y20

Metacademy is a knowledge graph of machine learning.

Visual Group Theory is a really well-written book on group theory.

[-]diegocaleiro10y20

some others I found worthwhile checking:

Human and Animal Behavioral Biology - Robert Sapolsky

General Relativity - Bertrand Russell - ABC of relativity

For LWers I believe Yudkowsky>Feynman>Drescher in explaining Quantum Physics by analogy.

Memetics, from the standpoint of engineering effective memes -> Made to Stick

Memetics, as a discipline, field of knowledge -> Tim Tyler

Anything he talks about - Steve Pinker

Zoology - Dawkins

Cognitive Neuroscience -> I have delved long and hard in this field and have yet to find a good explainer. Jeff Hawkins and Terrence Deacon are ok.

Winning -> Randy Pausch

Biotech trends -> Juan Enriquez

Statistical trends in humans -> Hans Rosling

[-]darius10y20

Computing: The Pattern On The Stone by Daniel Hillis. It's shorter and seemingly more focused on principles than the Petzold book Code, which I can't compare further because I stopped reading early (low information density).

[-]coyotespike10y20

"Thinking Physics is Gedanken Physics" is a brilliantly intuitive approach to physics from mechanics to relativity.

[-]Epictetus10y20

I would recommend William Poundstone's Prisoner's Dilemma as an intro to game theory.

[-][anonymous]10y00

'Pollination ecology' by Faegri and van dear Pijl makes sense of flower diversity and possibly evolution, though perhaps is heavish for an intro.

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