11 Books recommended by Walter Isaacson
Walter Isaacson is an American author, journalist, and professor. He has been the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C., the chair and CEO of CNN, and the editor of Time. Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he attended Harvard University and the University of Oxford as a Rhodes scholar at Pembroke College.
Walter Isaacson
Book Recommendations
The Evolution of Physics
The Evolution of Physics
Albert Einstein,Leopold Infeld
For the alternate cover edition by simon & schuster, see hereclear and concise explanations of the development of theories explaining physical phenomena.
“He had a religious-like reverence for the concept of a creator, this is reflected in this book.”
— Source
The Autobiography of Ben Franklin
The Autobiography of Ben Franklin
Ben Franklin
InventorsBenjamin franklin's autobiography is one of the most famous works in american literature. he started it as a private collection of anecdotes for his son, but soon it was transformed into a work of history. this is a charming, self-portrait of one of america's greatest forefathers.
“I also think the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin is cool.”
Oct 14, 2017 — Source
Einstein in Love
Einstein in Love
Dennis Overbye
As dennis overbye explains in the introduction to einstein in love, his first book since the national book critics circle and los angeles times book award nominee lonely hearts of the cosmos, his primary goal is to separate the man "albert" from the myth "einstein", to restore humanity and individuality and shaded nuance to a man who has become the most monolithic figure in the scientific pantheon.einstein in love is the first of the many biographies of the great scientist to focus exclusively on his life during the first two
“This is a great piece of writing and of research about Einstein's relationship with his first wife who served as his sounding-board.”
— Source
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Guy Cardwell,Mark Twain
FictionA nineteenth-century boy from a mississippi river town recounts his adventures as he travels down the river with a runaway slave, encountering a family involved in a feud, two scoundrels pretending to be royalty, and tom sawyer's aunt who mistakes him for tom.
“read Huckleberry Finn”
Oct 14, 2017 — Source
Fantasyland
Fantasyland
Kurt Andersen
HistoryIn this sweeping, eloquent history of america, kurt andersen shows that what's happening in our country today--this post-factual, "fake news" moment we're all living through--is not something new, but rather the ultimate expression of our national character. america was founded by wishful dreamers, magical thinkers, and true believers, by hucksters and their suckers. fantasy is deeply embedded in our dna.over the course of five centuries--from the salem witch trials to scientology to the satanic panic of the 1980s, from p. t. barnum to hollywood and the anything-goes, wild-and-crazy sixties, from
“I think it helps you understand the wackiness happening in our country today.”
Oct 14, 2017 — Source
The Fabric of the Cosmos
The Fabric of the Cosmos
Brian Greene
ScienceFrom brian greene, one of the world’s leading physicists and author the pulitzer prize finalist the elegant universe, comes a grand tour of the universe that makes us look at reality in a completely different way.space and time form the very fabric of the cosmos. yet they remain among the most mysterious of concepts. is space an entity? why does time have a direction? could the universe exist without space and time? can we travel to the past? greene has set himself a daunting task: to explain non-intuitive, mathematical concepts
“He had a religious-like reverence for the concept of a creator, even though he did not believe in a personal God.”
— Source
Einstein's Dreams
Einstein's Dreams
Alan Lightman
FictionA modern classic, einstein’s dreams is a fictional collage of stories dreamed by albert einstein in 1905, when he worked in a patent office in switzerland. as the defiant but sensitive young genius is creating his theory of relativity, a new conception of time, he imagines many possible worlds. in one, time is circular, so that people are fated to repeat triumphs and failures over and over. in another, there is a place where time stands still, visited by lovers and parents clinging to their children. in another, time is
“This is a work of fiction that weaves in the whimsy of Einstein's days as a patent clerk in Switzerland.”
— Source
Einstein's Clocks, Poincaré's Maps
Einstein's Clocks, Poincaré's Maps
Peter Galison
A dramatic new account of the parallel quests to harness time that culminated in the revolutionary science of relativity, einstein's clocks, poincaré's maps is "part history, part science, part adventure, part biography, part meditation on the meaning of modernity....in galison's telling of science, the meters and wires and epoxy and solder come alive as characters, along with physicists, engineers, technicians and others....galison has unearthed fascinating material" (new york times).clocks and trains, telegraphs and colonial conquest: the challenges of the late nineteenth century were an indispensable real-world background to the enormous
“A great piece of research looking at the patent applications that Einstein saw and showing his thinking.”
— Source
The Moviegoer
The Moviegoer
Walker Percy
FictionThe dazzling novel that established walker percy as one of the major voices in southern literature is now available for the first time in vintage paperback. the moviegoer is binx bolling, a young new orleans stockbroker who surveys the world with the detached gaze of a bourbon street dandy even as he yearns for a spiritual redemption he cannot bring himself to believe in. on the eve of his thirtieth birthday, he occupies himself dallying with his secretaries and going to movies, which provide him with the "treasurable moments" absent
“Recommended on Tim Ferriss' podcast”
Oct 14, 2017 — Source
On the Bus
On the Bus
Paul Perry
The fabled 1964 cross-country bus trip of ken kesey and the merry pranksters - on a psychedelically painted school bus crammed with amplifiers, cameras, costumes, and assorted contraband as cargo and beat legend neal cassady at the wheelmarked the irreversible end of the "eisenhower era, " and set an american cultural revolution in motion. on the bus is a celebration of the unforgettable exploits of the merry pranksters, immortalized in tom wolfe's bestselling book. in this engrossing popular history, the spirit of the era is captured in a remarkable living
“read Ken Keseys On the Bus or On the Road,”
Oct 14, 2017 — Source
Poor Richard's Almanack
Poor Richard's Almanack
Benjamin Franklin
A collection of ben franklin's timeless maxims, rules, and aphorisms.
“Recommended on Tim Ferriss' podcast”
Oct 14, 2017 — Source
