Some short essays which I think make for good use of reading time. The test for inclusion is whether I would've been happy to find the link from someone else's list. I highlighted in orange those that I think are particularly good, and in blue those that I felt stood out from the rest.
- The Relativity of Wrong (Isaac Asimov)
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Mathematics on a Distant Planet (Richard Hamming)
- Related
- The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics (Richard Hamming)
- The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences (Eugene Wigner)
- What Is Good Mathematics? (Terence Tao)
- Negative Probability (Richard Feynman)
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The Inner Ring (C.S. Lewis)
- Related
- Machiavelli, Morals, and You (Martha Lagace / Joseph Badaracco)
- Cargo Cult Science (Richard Feynman)
- The Psychology of Human Misjudgment (Charlie Munger)
- Gospel of Wealth (Andrew Carnegie)
- Do Not Remain Nameless to Yourself (Richard Feynman)
- The Mundanity of Excellence (Daniel Chambliss)
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You and Your Research (Richard Hamming)
- Related
- Advice to a Young Mathematician (Michael Atiyah)
- Advice For Graduate Students in Statistics (Michael Steele)
- Statistical Modeling: The Two Cultures (Leo Breiman)
- The Blind Men and the Elephant (as retold by John Saxe)
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The Two Cultures of Mathematics (Timothy Gowers)
- Related
- PDE As a Unified Subject (Sergiu Klainerman)
- Structure and Randomness in Fourier Analysis and Number Theory (Terence Tao)
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The Use of Knowledge in Society (Friedrich Hayek)
- Related
- Taking a Fence Down (G.K. Chesterton, in essence)
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Warning Signs in Experimental Design and Interpretation (Peter Norvig)
- Related
- Ten Signs a Claimed Mathematical Breakthrough is Wrong (Scott Aaronson)
- 20 Years, 20 Lessons, Part I (Part II) (Part III) (Mark Rosewater)
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A Map of the Limits of Statistics (Nassim Taleb)
- Related
- Standard deviation (Nassim Taleb)
- A Philosophical Notebook (Nassim Taleb)
- Taste for Makers (Paul Graham)
- What You'll Wish You'd Known (Paul Graham)
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Mathematical Problems (David Hilbert)
- Related
- Mathematics in the 20th Century (Michael Atiyah)
- How to Write Mathematics (Paul Hamos)
- Practical Thought About Practical Thought (Paraphrasing Charlie Munger)
- Unhappy Meals (Michael Pollan)
- The Strengths of the Academic Enterprise (Edsger Dijkstra)
- Craft in Operations Research (Hugh Miser)
- The Cryptographic Mathematics of Enigma (Ray Miller, NSA)
- The Future of Operational Research Is Past (Russell Ackoff)
- Negative Expertise (Marvin Minsky)
- The "No Self-Defeating Object" Argument (Terence Tao)
- The Importance of Stupidity in Scientific Research (Martin Schwartz)