I can has engineer-mind?
March 23, 2008 10:24 AM Subscribe
Any good books to help develop an analytic mind?
I'm finding myself in a place where I've got some energy to devote to being more mentally well-rounded.
Being able to understand engineering, or investing, or law, it doesn't necessarily matter.
Any books/other resources that you read and found helpful to continue developing your thinking skills to solve problems.
I'm finding myself in a place where I've got some energy to devote to being more mentally well-rounded.
Being able to understand engineering, or investing, or law, it doesn't necessarily matter.
Any books/other resources that you read and found helpful to continue developing your thinking skills to solve problems.
When I was about 20-years-old I received a subscription to Skeptic magazine. It definitely helped me calibrate my bullshit detector and learn quite a bit about critical and scientific thinking. I haven't touched an issue in 10-years, but hopefully it's still just as good. You can usually find them at any good newsstand, or barring that, Barnes and Noble.
posted by wfrgms at 11:14 AM on March 23, 2008
posted by wfrgms at 11:14 AM on March 23, 2008
Martin Gardner's collections of his "Mathematical Games" columns are a very good place to start.
posted by Class Goat at 11:21 AM on March 23, 2008
posted by Class Goat at 11:21 AM on March 23, 2008
How to Solve It is a great book about general problem-solving techniques (despite the word "mathematical" in the full title). I find myself applying his heuristics to all sorts of situations:
What is the unknown?
What is the data?
Do you know a related problem?
...
posted by findango at 12:37 PM on March 23, 2008
What is the unknown?
What is the data?
Do you know a related problem?
...
posted by findango at 12:37 PM on March 23, 2008
2nd "Mathematical Games", add Godel, Escher, Bach and Metamagical Themas. Might make your head explode. Any Edward Tufte. These books get your brain a'thinking.
posted by zengargoyle at 2:06 PM on March 23, 2008
posted by zengargoyle at 2:06 PM on March 23, 2008
Inevitable Illusions by Massimo Piatelli-Palmerini. I tried unsuccesfully to find a link. I liked the book and it was on how easy it is to fool the mind and think illogically. Easy to read, if you can find it.
posted by francesca too at 2:17 PM on March 23, 2008
posted by francesca too at 2:17 PM on March 23, 2008
I think a book like Freakonomics might help, the author looks at ordinary, average things and illustrates the most bizzare connections and ideas.
posted by blue_beetle at 3:32 PM on March 23, 2008
posted by blue_beetle at 3:32 PM on March 23, 2008
"Conjectures and Refutations" by Karl Popper.
posted by eccnineten at 3:41 PM on March 23, 2008
posted by eccnineten at 3:41 PM on March 23, 2008
An Introduction to General Systems Thinking by Gerald Weinberg is a good one.
From Amazon: "Originally published in 1975 and reprinted more than twenty times over a quarter century -- and now available for the first time from Dorset House Publishing -- the text uses clear writing and basic algebraic principles to explore new approaches to projects, products, organizations, and virtually any kind of system.
Scientists, engineers, organization leaders, managers, doctors, students, and thinkers of all disciplines can use this book to dispel the mental fog that clouds problem-solving. As author Gerald M. Weinberg writes in the new preface to the Silver Anniversary Edition, "I haven’t changed my conviction that most people don’t think nearly as well as they could had they been taught some principles of thinking.”
posted by frankie_stubbs at 4:56 PM on March 23, 2008
From Amazon: "Originally published in 1975 and reprinted more than twenty times over a quarter century -- and now available for the first time from Dorset House Publishing -- the text uses clear writing and basic algebraic principles to explore new approaches to projects, products, organizations, and virtually any kind of system.
Scientists, engineers, organization leaders, managers, doctors, students, and thinkers of all disciplines can use this book to dispel the mental fog that clouds problem-solving. As author Gerald M. Weinberg writes in the new preface to the Silver Anniversary Edition, "I haven’t changed my conviction that most people don’t think nearly as well as they could had they been taught some principles of thinking.”
posted by frankie_stubbs at 4:56 PM on March 23, 2008
Game Theory by Morton Davis is also one I thought was helpful.
posted by frankie_stubbs at 5:10 PM on March 23, 2008
posted by frankie_stubbs at 5:10 PM on March 23, 2008
Books by Raymond Smullyan have interesting logic puzzles that are great mental exercises, they are lean more towards rational reasoning than critical thinking though.
posted by phyrewerx at 6:04 PM on March 23, 2008
posted by phyrewerx at 6:04 PM on March 23, 2008
Seconding Raymond Smullyan -- try What is the Name of this Book and Alice in Puzzleland.
posted by peacheater at 6:11 PM on March 23, 2008
posted by peacheater at 6:11 PM on March 23, 2008
Try reading John Allen Paulos: his book Innumeracy has a new edition out. You might also be amused by A Mathematician Reads the Newspaper .
posted by sgmax at 7:37 PM on March 23, 2008
posted by sgmax at 7:37 PM on March 23, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
In the same vein, you may find value in this AskMe question about critical thinking.
I will be interested in the more specific subject matter recommendations to follow...
posted by Snerd at 10:52 AM on March 23, 2008