The Man Who Knew Infinity

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D.Salinger because of the Holden Caulfield in me who couldn't tolerate all the phoniness around. Also enjoyed The Man Who Knew Infinity by Robert Kanigel. After reading about Hardy in this book, I have read "A Mathematician's Apology" which was excellent too.

The Man Who Knew Infinity, about Ramanujan, is a biography that I reread regularly, if only as an example of somebody who continued to do what he loved against all odds. Whenever I get overly frustrated with a math or programming problem that I can't seem to overcome, I go through some of my favorite passages in there, if only to remind myself how lucky I am to be able to what I love with the support of the people in my life. Also, I can now safely say that reading The Autobiography of Malcolm X in high school was a key moment in my personal development.

Off the top of my head: - Soul of a New Machine - The Cuckoo's Egg - Revolution in the Valley - Fire in the Valley - Compilers by Sethi, Ullman, Aho - Masters of Doom - iWoz - Steve Jobs & the NeXT Big Thing - Crypto - Code - The Man Who Loved Only Numbers - The Man Who Knew Infinity - ANSI Common LISP Most of the books above are recommended because once reading them you will have an uncontrollable urge to immediately create something brilliant. You will not be able to stop yourself. -m