I wish it were required reading in at least all journalism school curriculums. It's a book about death and the most "exciting" part of police work but also one that reveals the banality and politically-motivated mechanics of such a system. I almost hesitate to call it "thought-provoking" because it, among other things, is just a great page-turner, though astonishingly completely non-fiction. I say "astonishingly" because Simon, according to him and the detectives he wrote about, had pretty much free reign to write what he wanted...there's no way such a book could be written today, as the police tactics that Simon describe, out of context, would likely cause a lot of outrage today.
As a bonus, reading "Homicide" will make all of the jargon in "The Wire" much more understandable. Many of the memorable incidents in "The Wire", including the very first scene, and scenes like the photocopier-used-as-lie-detector, come straight from "Homicide"
That has been on my to-read list since watching "The Wire" earlier this year. The minimal research I did into it before deciding I would (eventually) read it was definitely that Simon was (from accounts) given a lot of freedom.
I'm glad to see it here - reminds me I should get around to actually reading it here sometime soon.
Some good stuff there indeed. The Game, Predictably Irrational, The Mating Mind, and Lord of the Rings stand out to me as excellent suggestions. I'm just now starting book 12 of Jordan's Wheel of Time series, and while I've enjoyed it so far, I'm not sure I'd cite it as "thought provoking". Entertaining, yes, and certainly worth reading, but the series doesn't stand out to me in that way.
Two books come to mind almost immedatley one fiction, the other non-fiction.
The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges, this really shook my belief in the meaning of ordered data.
Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter, I read this right after I finished high-school, and it turned a math-hating young man into a math obsessed man.
Thanks, that was a thought-provoking essay on its own merits. The book itself is worth reading for the relentless pace of socio-techno-cultural change, best experienced as a dramatic deluge rather than exceprts.
Maybe not the best book for understanding chaos theory, but I have not stopped seeing stochastic patterns and applying concepts of fractal geometry to things I come across in life as I attempt to wrap my mind around some of the deeply complex phenomena in the universe. Whether being enraptured by the flitting and fluttering of a curtain in a breeze, or in observing the fundamental structure of a trees growth and branching.
The whole concept of the poincare section completely blew my mind open, even though the math was well over my head. The book stunned my feeble mind. Even though it has been about 15 years, no scientifically centered book has resonated as strongly since.
As an aside: GEB has come up so often it has reminded me that it was on my short list of books to read once upon a time, alas, before the internet stole my time.
My field is CS. Clearly undergraduate-level biology books. For instance, try a book on zoology. The multicellular organism is amazing. Think of yourself - a big blob of cooperating cells, each a little complex wonder in itself, originating from just a single self-organizing/self-building cell. And it has all evolved by itself!
Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality by Eliezer Yudkowsky
These are the most intelligent and well written books I've ever read. Authors are amazing at thinking clearly, and expressing their ideas. Stories are fantastic, and the author's philosophies are amazing and mind-expanding.
Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance
Godel Escher Bach
Time enough for love - Heinlein
Illusions -Richard Bach
A wrinkle in time
Stranger from the depths
Sidartha and all the other books by Hess
Zen MInd Beginners mind
MOre to come
Books by Bradbury
Books by asimov
Just starting Antifragile and it might make the list
I really liked reading "How to Build a Billion Dollar App: Discover the secrets of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time" and we followed all of the suggestions while building our app.
I think we've swapped notes on a similar thread before, so we may have already talked about this, but let me say that if you liked Permutation City by Egan, you may also like Glasshouse by Charles Stross.
I also "second the motion" in regards to both The Selfish Gene and *Gödel, Escher, Bach".
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18956.Homicide
I wish it were required reading in at least all journalism school curriculums. It's a book about death and the most "exciting" part of police work but also one that reveals the banality and politically-motivated mechanics of such a system. I almost hesitate to call it "thought-provoking" because it, among other things, is just a great page-turner, though astonishingly completely non-fiction. I say "astonishingly" because Simon, according to him and the detectives he wrote about, had pretty much free reign to write what he wanted...there's no way such a book could be written today, as the police tactics that Simon describe, out of context, would likely cause a lot of outrage today.
As a bonus, reading "Homicide" will make all of the jargon in "The Wire" much more understandable. Many of the memorable incidents in "The Wire", including the very first scene, and scenes like the photocopier-used-as-lie-detector, come straight from "Homicide"