Ask HN: Any good books for an inspired, curious, but wannabe innovator/genius?

4 pointsprodtorok8y ago2 comments

I'm no genius, but I get awfully excited at the prospect of innovation and discovering new ideas/concepts (think Elon Musk)... Though I feel completely limited and bound to my lack of deep knowledge in certain areas such as computer/neuro/social/any sciences.

I'm good at my work, but it does not inspire me. And what does inspire me, I am not good at. I feel as if by the time I become relatively decent at it, its progress would've have grown as much as, or further, than I.

Any good books, or advice, to help escape this limbo?

I don't want to invest my life/time/finances into Education.

2 comments

2 comments · 2 top-level

Top198y ago

Hey you had a really good post that was remarkably unpretentious and straightforward. Ugh I think of all the questions on Quora like “What books should I read to become a huge success / be the best digital marketer!”.

So first I would look at anything by Henry Petroski. The “Invention of Design” and “Pushing The Limits” are pretty inspiring.

A trend I notice is that a lot of great books are published before 1990, specifically in the years 1950-1990. I think this was because there was enough knowledge to make great material, but the bloodsucking consultants hadn’t descended on the publishing industry yet to fashion themselves into a “thought leader” by writing a book of extremely questionable value.

Some more titles are (only 1 published after 1990):

- A Clockwork Muse by Martindale - The Art of a Scientific Investigation by Beveridge - Consilience by Wilson - The Act of Creation by Koestler

Finally I would recommend “Notebooks of the Mind”. Don’t know why I just thought of it but it’s the best book of the bunch I recommended.

levlaz8y ago

I highly recommend "The Innovators" by Walter Isaacson. It dives deep into the history of computer science and the people who made huge innovations into the things that we use every day.