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2015/11/24 08:16:27
Subject: Good books about science, psychology, rhetorics...
I'll probably get myself some books for Christmas (to quench my insatiable thirst for knowledge), and I'm looking for some accessible works (i.e., Readable by a high school graduate who took science as a major, and is currently studying IT) about physics, maths, (chemistry ?), psychology and rhetorics or even IT. (I kinda miss my school books, it was useful to have math formulas lying around)
Any ideas ?
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/11/24 08:34:59
Scientia potentia est.
In girum imus nocte ecce et consumimur igni.
2015/11/24 09:32:42
Subject: Good books about science, psychology, rhetorics...
Fermat's Last Theorem (Maths) by Simon Singh
The Code Book (Codes and codebreaking) by Simon Singh
Bad Science (Evidence based medicine, testing and statistics) by Ben Goldacre
The Manga Guide to Statistics, by Shin Takahashi. This is a surprisinngly good primer on statistics. There are several other Manga Guides to science if you like this one.
How To Lie WIth Statistics, by Darrell Huff
The Man Who Mistook His Wife For a Hat (clinical psychology) by Oliver Sachs
An Anthropologist on Mars (clinical psychology) by Oliver Sachs
Mendeleev's Dream (Chemistry, the Periodic Table) by Paul Strathern
All the above are written for the intelligent, educated layman, so to speak, and are good entertainment that also can teach you something.
The only book I have on rhetorics is The Oxford Guide to Effective Writing and Speaking, by John Seely
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. Amongst the many things it seeks to explain, it covers why Spain conquered South America and not the other way around. Some consider it too Eurocentric, but I think it's bloody ace.
Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything is always good too.
2015/11/24 10:42:07
Subject: Good books about science, psychology, rhetorics...
Opening Skinner's Box. A mixture of quite personal accounts and background of psychological experiments. Speaking to people years after Milgram's experiments, children of psychologists, etc.
I remember it fondly, and one of my friends that I bought it for almost a decade ago, named it as one of his favourite books in his life.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/11/24 13:12:22
"A Short History of Nearly Everything " by Bill Bryson is good. It is not super technical but it shows that scientific history was a fascinating story.
I don't do it, but it gives a very interesting alternate point of view of something the vast majority considers taboo. I don't know if it belongs, but it was pretty insightful for me. Good life skills in there too, if everything goes south.
I don't do it, but it gives a very interesting alternate point of view of something the vast majority considers taboo. I don't know if it belongs, but it was pretty insightful for me. Good life skills in there too, if everything goes south.
Wait, this book really exists ?
Scientia potentia est.
In girum imus nocte ecce et consumimur igni.
2015/11/25 10:45:56
Subject: Re:Good books about science, psychology, rhetorics...
It's quite dated, and acting on it will probably get you arrested in any society worth calling such, but "Steal This Book" is a classic too. I have it on the bookshelf right next to the aforementioned.
If you're looking for barebones stuff, there are US Army Survival guides available for free online. Most of it isn't applicable to live in a civilized world, but it's an interesting read. It covers how to apply a tourniquet and other things that civilians have no business doing.
Check http://www.preppers.info/uploads/FM21-76_SurvivalManual.pdf . I'm pretty sure it's legit, though we'd have to have jihadin or someone confirm; I was never in the military. Based upon my Boy Scout knowledge of first aid though, it seems accurate enough.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/11/25 10:56:42
Given the rise of terrorism in public places, civilians knowing how to apply tourniquets and perform other life-saving first-responder actions has plenty of application.
It is best to be a pessimist. You are usually right and, when you're wrong, you're pleasantly surprised.
2015/11/26 03:11:57
Subject: Re:Good books about science, psychology, rhetorics...
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
2015/11/26 06:38:32
Subject: Good books about science, psychology, rhetorics...
Psienesis wrote: Given the rise of terrorism in public places, civilians knowing how to apply tourniquets and perform other life-saving first-responder actions has plenty of application.
In theory, there are several admittedly life saving exercises that a civilian can perform. A large amount of the concern I have is that knowledge applied without experience can often cause more harm than good. A paragraph in a manual somewhere doesn't make you automatically knowledgeable about such things, even if it is a well written paragraph. I'm admittedly above average on the first aid curve though and I'd probably be reluctant to do something like that. I used to judge Boy Scout first aid competitions (yes, that's a thing). Tourniquets were never part of the coverage, because they can cause more harm than good, and we were never more than several hours from society, aside from a handful of rare extended camping trips. I mean, honestly, CPR certification would probably be more useful. Mine lapsed years ago, but I could still do it if needed.
I guess at the end of the day, I'm just saying, if it came down to applying a tourniquet, there's two people I would trust as much to apply it to myself as me. I would more issues with someone else suturing my own wounds than myself though, so maybe it's a strange DIY attitude or something.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Also, never apply the tourniquet around the neck.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2015/11/26 06:45:26
I agree. If you are interested in learning First Aid, go on a proper first aid course
It takes one or three days to qualify, depending on the level you want to get to.
The one day course covers CPR and stop the bleeding type scenarios. The long course qualifies you to treat broken limbs, diabetic collapses and other scenarios too.
The great advantage compared to reading a book is that you get practical experience in moving bodies, plus instant feedback from an expert, and these lead to much greater confidence in your skills in the sad event you might be called upon to use them.
Best place to do this is at work. Your employer will need First Aid specialists at work, particularly with certain fields and when numbers of employees crosses a size threshold not sure what that threshold is). Your employer can then pay for you to take a first aid course, normally for four days.
This needs to be renewed periodically through a refresher course.
n'oublie jamais - It appears I now have to highlight this again.
It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion. By the juice of the brew my thoughts aquire speed, my mind becomes strained, the strain becomes a warning. It is by tea alone I set my mind in motion.
2015/11/26 14:44:50
Subject: Good books about science, psychology, rhetorics...
Henry wrote: Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. Amongst the many things it seeks to explain, it covers why Spain conquered South America and not the other way around. Some consider it too Eurocentric, but I think it's bloody ace.
Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything is always good too.
These were awesome books.
Also,
The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan
Origins by Neil deGrasse Tyson
The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins
Were a couple more good pop science books off the top of my head.
I read a book on Evolutionary Psychology called "The Moral Animal" by Robert Wright that was very good. It's probably pretty dated by now, though. It was written in 1994 when this was a new field.
2015/11/26 15:08:39
Subject: Good books about science, psychology, rhetorics...
Henry wrote: Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. Amongst the many things it seeks to explain, it covers why Spain conquered South America and not the other way around. Some consider it too Eurocentric, but I think it's bloody ace.
It's not so much that it's Eurocentric (it is but that's not the big beef with it), but rather that it is so full of factual inaccuracies it might as well have been written by the History channel
He mentions that it is 'popular science' rather than history.
My Theory of History course all wrote reviews of the book. Mostly it was an exercise in how many factual errors and methodological flaws we could find
His entire sections on South America and Africa in particular got blasted, because in the same class we'd read Mosquito Empires by JR McNeill (I think the professor did that on purpose).
notprop wrote: The Bible....It covers creation, meteors, lightning, natural law, there's even some sex thrown in too.
Seconded. It is the holy word of God himself. The Bible alone contains true knowledge. Why are you even looking into other books? Dost thou not know they are the works of Satan, created to maketh thee stray from the path of the righteous?
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/11/27 00:02:49
