The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

while I think of it, also "The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions"

My field of study (what I really like to think and learn about) isn't my field of work, but I like the question so I'll spill some thoughts. I spend a lot of time thinking about philosophical-ish stuff, so here are some books that have had the strongest residual effects (whether that's changing how I think, changing what I think about, changing my values, or simply getting the thought ball rolling faster): Ishmael (Daniel Quinn) 1984 (George Orwell) Brave New World (Aldous Huxley) Godel, Escher, Bach (Douglas Hofstadter) The Republic [imp. "the allegory of the cave"] (Plato) The Genealogy of Morals (Friedrich Nietzsche) The Social Construction of Reality (Peter L. Berger, Thomas Luckmann) Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (L. Wittgenstein) Dissemination [imp. "The Pharmakon"] (Jacques Derrida) The Quest for Reality (Barry Stroud) Languages of Art (Nelson Goodman) The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Thomas Kuhn) Concepts (Jerry Fodor) The Web of Life (Fritjof Capra) Foucault's Pendulum (Umberto Eco) Naming and Necessity (Saul Kripke) Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Robert Pirsig)…

The Structure of Scientific Revolutions

Modeling the world generally (as in, why mathematics works and can apply to the real world): =Bertrand Russell= * An Inquiry into Meaning and Truth * A Theory of Knowledge * Logic and Knowledge =W.V. Quine= * Word and Object * Mathematical Logic =Norbert Weiner= * Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine =Smullyan= * Diagonalization and Self Reference Squishy Human Things: Thomas Kuhn - The Structure of Scientific Revolutions Norbert Weiner - The Human Use of Human-Beings Bertrand Russell - A History of Western Philosophy Karl Popper - The Open Society and Its Enemies Daniel Dennet - Consciousness Explained E. Abbot Abbot - Flatland

Quite relevant given the meta-topic - "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Thomas Kuhn. It's where the term "paradigm shift" comes from.

Generally: The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Thomas Kuhn The Apology of Socrates, Plato Professionally: The Pragmatic Programmer, Andrew Hunt and David Thomas The Best Interface is No Interface, Golden Krishna

There are already suggestions in this thread that are better than mine, but I'll still throw my hat in the ring. That's great that she's interested in biology. I'd like to gently suggest that if she "isn't very enthusiastic about computers or technology", you should instead try to nurture her demonstrated interest in art, biology, and other science. I know absolutely nothing about art, except that I apparently have no taste. So I'll refrain from making any suggestions on art books. TL;DR: Skip down to the third section for the "technical book" suggestion. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Here are some suggestions of books on general science, biology, and chemistry (in no particular order, these are some of the first ones that come to my mind): "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" By Thomas S. Kuhn "The Diversity of Life" By Edward O. Wilson "The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time" by Jonathan Weiner "Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes: Further Reflections in Natural History" by Stephen Jay Gould "Life on a Young Planet" By Andrew H. Knoll…

My other favorite bit is how the old dying dinosaurs fight the on-coming revolution.

"Structure of Scientific Revolutions" by Thomas Kuhn This philosophy of science masterpiece illustrates how a community evolves its mental model or paradigm - from a long-accepted world view, to a crisis caused by evidence that contradicts the prevailing model, and then at last to an acceptance of a new paradigm. http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/Kuhn.html