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,
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.
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.
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.
"Mainstream and Formal epistemology" - Hendricks is an incredible book and should be read by most.
Metacademy is a knowledge graph of machine learning.
Visual Group Theory is a really well-written book on group theory.
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
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).
"Thinking Physics is Gedanken Physics" is a brilliantly intuitive approach to physics from mechanics to relativity.
'Pollination ecology' by Faegri and van dear Pijl makes sense of flower diversity and possibly evolution, though perhaps is heavish for an intro.
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