This is my summer reading list for university. As a french international student I am not familiar with most of these anglo authors, outside of Borges' Aleph - which I've already read - and Durkheim's The Rules of Sociological Method - which I am planning to read in French. What books should I bother with, /lit/ ?
Also, what do you think of the list in general? I know nothing about the authors but some of those titles irritate me. Feel free to talk shit about it if it deserves the hate.
/sci/ here,
Gowers Very Short Intro to Mathematics is actually quite good and also quite short. He's a well respected mathematician and actually knows how to write. Feynman's Six Easy Pieces is also worth a read. The rest of the "science" curriculum is trash, especially Brian Greene. Avoid.
enfin, nike ta mere espece d'encule :^)
Koestler is actually a fantastic author and Nobel winner (for Darkness at Noon). Sleepwalkers is a fun book. At least check out the description.
C.P. Snow is a classic as well but somewhat dated, and a bit one-sided. Check out the Baden neo-Kantians and the Geisteswissenschaften and Naturwissenschaften division in addition - as a Frenchman, you are probably well aware of the clout of the "human sciences." C.P. Snow is representative of the Anglosphere, which tends strongly in the opposite direction with neo-positivist fixations and science fetishism.
Berger and Luckmann is a classic of American sociology but has been done elsewhere in about a dozen other forms that should be familiar to any Frenchman.
>>8220663
Which studies are you are you following ? Sociology or science ?
Levi's The Pediodic Table great and pretty much a classic at this point. Also do not read it on the beach.
I don't think you can go wrong with Ecos non-fiction either.
>>8220824
It's strange because many of these books are about physics/engineering or sociology.
I mean, we could be expecting more formal logic and pure math, isn't it ?
Also,
>no Russell
>no Frege
>>8220907
Well, I guess it's a little more complicated than that. The name of the course is Arts & Sciences and within this course I intend to study maths and philosophy, and maybe some physics and computer science. I haven't decided yet. But it is possible to study sociology or biology as well.
I should have been more precise: the pathways that interest me the most in the course are Cultures and Science & Engineering. I don't really care about Societies and Health & Environment, unless I change my mind.
What's a good introduction to Russell? I am reading a book about Gödel and his name is frequently mentioned.
>>8220951
>What's a good introduction to Russell?
The Problems of Philosophy is a good place to start because it's very short. Why I Am Not a Christian is good if you're a tipper of the hats (it actually was very ahead of its time), The Conquest of Happiness is also very interesting.
He wrote a big long History of Western Philosophy that is also good but he shits on some peoples opinions and enforces his own so it gets a fair amount of hate.
The External Links at the bottom of his english wikipedia page has a lot of his works available.
I'd also recommend The Mathematical Experience by Reuben and Hirsch if you haven't read it yet.
Finalement, t'est un gros idiot.
>>8221097
>t'est
qu'est-ce qui te fais dire ça?
>>8220663
I read Physics for Future Presidents because I was curious about it. Short read, but accurate and interesting. Gaia theory is still a classic, although just as controversial as when it was released.
>>8220907
What's a good introduction to Frege?
>>8221297
precisely :^)
skip Taleb and Gladwell
