Originally posted by zeeblebotThats a good one.
Kernighan & Ritchie:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_C_Programming_Language_%28book%29
Although "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica" is probably more famous, I do not have a copy of it, nor have I read it, whereas I do have the Kernighan & Ritchie book.
The Teaching Company puts out a good course on the history of science/ natural philosophy:
here's a link:
http://www.teach12.com/ttcx/coursedesclong2.aspx?cid=1200
can often find it free through the library or through inter-library loan.
prices on website are very inflated, every few months they go on "sale" for like 1/3 the price or something...
but this company really does get it right. They get just about the best college lecturers in the country. I've done about ten of their courses. Mostly just audio, but I did a few with DVD...
the Medieval History one....the guy was talking about knights and what is a good modern analogy for them and their world. And he said something like, "just think about the Mafia..." I thought that was pretty funny....
Originally posted by r99pawn77I read the list here, and there are some that I have noted and would like to read some day. When I get the time, like probably never.
25 Greatest Science Books of All Time
(from Discover Magazine)
http://discovermagazine.com/2006/dec/25-greatest-science-books
So it strike me that when people are asked to name the greatest book, the book that influenced them they all mention some fantastic clasic.
But for a lot of us its probably that fairly boring book we read at 3rd year of college that put what we had learned so far together and gave us a hint of what we should specialize in.