Dillon Laird

I, Robot By Isaac Asimov (1950) - Great stories on robot ethics and human–robot interaction. The Three Laws of Robotics are a fascinating concept—albeit a bit too “logical” and rigid for my taste in sci-fi AI—but still very enjoyable and hugely influential.

Caves of Steel, The Naked Sun, The Robots of Dawn By Isaac Asimov (1954, 1957, 1983) - I didn’t expect to like these because they’re framed as mysteries, but they turned out to be fun and engaging. Interesting depictions of futuristic societies and how humans coexist with robots.

Prelude to Foundation, Forward the Foundation By Isaac Asimov (1988, 1993) - I read these after finishing the main Foundation series. They provide useful backstory, but they’re noticeably less engaging than the core books.

Foundation By Isaac Asimov (1951) - A classic sci-fi series with a fascinating premise about the fall and rise of civilizations. Psychohistory is a brilliant concept, and the episodic structure works well.

Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation By Isaac Asimov (1952, 1953) - I liked these more than the first book. The Mule is one of my favorite characters in the series, and the plot twists are excellent.

Foundation's Edge, Foundation and Earth By Isaac Asimov (1982) - An engaging continuation, but the ending felt odd. A reasonable conclusion to the series, though not entirely satisfying.

The Gods Themselves By Isaac Asimov (1972) - A very interesting exploration of parallel universes and unintended consequences of scientific discovery. A bit strange and uneven, but still enjoyable.

Dune By Frank Herbert (1965) - Great world-building and a compelling setting. Definitely a classic, though not the best-written book. The movie adaptation does a good job.

Dune Messiah and Children of Dune By Frank Herbert (1969, 1976) - The series starts to decline here. Possibly worth reading to see where the story goes, but I didn’t enjoy them much.

God Emperor of Dune By Frank Herbert (1981) - This book was weird in a way that didn’t work for me. I stopped here—the plot became repetitive and philosophically indulgent. Why does he keep reincarnating Duncan Idaho?

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich By William L. Shirer (1960) - An incredibly detailed and engaging overview of the Nazi era: what led to it, how it unfolded, and who the key players were. Highly recommended if you’re interested in WWII.

Napoleon: A Life By Andrew Roberts (2014) - Napoleon is arguably the greatest general of all time, this book is a detailed biography of Napoleon Bonaparte, exploring his life, military campaigns, and impact on Europe. You can also follow along with the battles on the Epic History YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@EpichistoryTv/playlists

Alexander the Great By Philip Freeman (2011) - This book is epic, probably because these stories are so old and likely exaggerated but it reads like a hollywood movie, very engaging and exciting.

Caesar: Life of a Colossus By Adrian Goldsworthy (2006) - Nearly as epic as the Alexander the Great biography, this book delves into Ceasar's military conquests, political career, and personal life.

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. By Ron Chernow (1998) - A comprehensive biography of John D. Rockefeller, the founder of Standard Oil and one of the wealthiest individuals in history, though I found it hard to get through as it went on.

The Hobbit, or There and Back Again By J.R.R. Tolkien (1937) - A great introduction to Middle-earth, I read this when I was very young and found it much easier than starting with the fellowship.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King By J.R.R. Tolkien (1954-1955) - An absolute master class in storytelling and world-building. A must-read for fantasy enthusiasts.

The Silmarillion By J.R.R. Tolkien (1977, posthumous) - I really enjoyed this book because I'm super interested in the lore, but it's very dense and everyone has 3 names and they all sound the same. Definitely read along with a map of Beleriand, I used this one http://lotrproject.com/map/beleriand/ and use https://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/ to look up characters as you go.

The Fall of Gondolin By J.R.R. Tolkien (2018, posthumous) - Goes into more detail about the hidden elven city of Gondolin and its downfall, one of my favorite stories from the First Age. Fun fact Tolkien wrote the first version in 1917 while fighting in WWI.

Children of Húrin By J.R.R. Tolkien (2007, posthumous) - The tragic tale of Túrin Turambar, maybe one of the greatest men to ever live in Middle-earth.

Beren and Lúthien By J.R.R. Tolkien (2017, posthumous) - Good story but maybe my least favorite of the big three tales of the First Age (the other two being The Fall of Gondolin and Children of Húrin).

Unfinished Tales By J.R.R. Tolkien (1980, posthumous) - This basically retells shorter versions of The Fall of Gondolin and Children of Húrin. Some interesting backstories on Galadriel and Celeborn, Numenor and Aldarion, the disaster of the Gladden Fields (where Isildur was killed), the Palantiri and the Istari (wizards).

A Brief History of Intelligence: Evolution, AI, and the Five Breakthroughs That Made Our Brains By Max Bennett (2023) - I REALLY enjoyed this book. Highly recommend it for anyone in AI who's interested in human intelligence and how it was shaped through evolution. I also recommend checking out Artem Kirsanov's YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@ArtemKirsanov for more content on how the brain works.

The Information: A History, a Theory, a Flood By James Gleick (2011) - Could also be in the scientist section, I found this book fascinating. It covers the history of information theory and how it has shaped our world, from the invention of writing to the digital age.

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst By Robert Sapolsky (2017) - A deep dive into human behavior from a biological perspective. Highly recommended for anyone interested in understanding why we do what we do, absolutely packed with fascinating insights.

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind By Yuval Noah Harari (2011) - A fascinated read into the history of humankind. Harari goes over different revolutions in human history and explains the role of major developments such as religion, trade, etc.

Mathematics: A Very Short Introduction By Timothy Gowers (2002) - A great overview of mathematics, the author also adds in some fun problems to try on your own. I also recommend checking out Timothy Gowers' YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/@TimothyGowers0 where he films himself solving interesting math problems and takes you through his thought process.

The Selfish Gene By Richard Dawkins (1976) - I think this is a great book, however, I feel the interesting topics here are already covered in "The Information" by James Gleick, so unless you're really into biology I would recommend reading that one first.

Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets By Nassim Nicholas Taleb (2001) - Nassim Taleb has done a lot to shape how I think about the world, basically people are really bad at understanding the world, they tend to confidently explain things that are actually just random chance. This book and Black Swan (I read it a long time ago so it's not on this list) are both great reads.

Determined By Robert Sapolsky (2023) - I recommend reading Behave instead of this book, it covers very similar material, maybe dives more into free will but I didn't find it as interesting as Behave.

Quantum: Einstein, Bohr, and the Great Debate about the Nature of Reality By Manjit Kumar (2008) - Excellent overview of the development of quantum mechanics, does a good job diving into more of the technical aspects of quantum mechanics. Really gained a big appreciation for Bohr, his ability to gather the best minds, creating a productive environment in his lab and ultimately putting together the right pieces to form modern quantum theory.

The Man from the Future: The Visionary Life of John von Neumann By Ananyo Bhattacharya (2023) - John von Neumann is one of my favorite mathematicians/physicists, and this biography does a great job capturing his work and also not shying away from more technical descriptions of his contributions to the many fields he worked in. Highly recommended.

Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field By Nancy Forbes and Basil Mahon (2014) - Really enjoyed this book, I had no idea Faraday was so influential and ahead of his time. The book does a great job of explaining the technical aspects of Faraday and Maxwell's work in an accessible way.

The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom By Graham Farmelo (2009) - After reading Quantum I wanted to learn more about the other key figures in the development of quantum mechanics, Dirac certainly being one of the most interesting ones. This biography does a good job of exploring both Dirac's scientific contributions as well as his unique personality. Also recommend checking out this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0GdyeOOotc on the Dirac equation.

Journey to the Edge of Reason: The Life of Kurt Gödel By Stephen Budiansky (2021) - Gödel is another one of my favorite mathematicians after reading GEB a long time ago. A good biography but I think the most interesting thing you can learn about Gödel is from reading his actual work, particularly his incompleteness theorems.

Einstein: His Life and Universe By Walter Isaacson (2007) - A good biography of Albert Einstein, unfortunately, like many of Isaacson's biographies, it shys away from the technical details of Einstein's work. Still, it provides a comprehensive overview of his life and contributions to science.

Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out By Ralph Leighton and Richard Feynman, Carl Feynman and Michelle Feynman (1985, 1999) - Not exactly a biography but a good read about the life and personality of Richard Feynman. I particularly liked the influence his dad had on him and how that shaped his approach to science and also his views on "appearing smart", which I found interesting.

The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World By Edward Dolnick (2011) - A fun read on the birth of modern science. Maybe leans too much into the God-fearing aspect of it (I think the word "God" was used in every other sentence). I would have liked to learn more about the technical work and philosophies of Leibniz and Galileo though.

American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer By Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin (2005) - I really enjoyed Oppenheimer the movie and wanted to read more about him. The first part of this book is good (although I would have liked more technical depth on his scientific contributions), but the latter half focusing on his political troubles is a bit of a slog.

Leonardo da Vinci By Walter Isaacson (2017) - Maybe this biography works a little better with Isaacson's stye since Leonardo was such a polymath and artist and his work is very old (possibly not that technical to begin with). An enjoyable read overall.

The Man Who Solved The Market By Gregory Zuckerman (2019) - I've long been fascinated by hedge funds, particularly Renaissance Technologies run by Jim Simons. This book did a good job overviewing his life, probably better just to watch one of his interviews though such as this one on Numberphile https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNznD9hMEh0

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life By Walter Isaacson (2003) - Did not enjoy this book at all. I am really not interested in early American history and that coupled with Isaacson's lack of attention to the technical details of Franklin's scientific work made this a slog to get through.

A Fire Upon the Deep, A Deepness in the Sky By Vernor Vinge (1992, 1999) - Loved the world building here, the concept of zones of thought is very novel and interesting. The group mind Tines take awhile to get used to but I enjoyed their story as well.

Project Hail Mary By Andy Weir (2021) - A total page-turner. I loved all the engaging "science experiments" the protagonist does to solve problems. The alien character is well done and the story is exciting.

Flowers for Algernon By Daniel Keyes (1959) - A touching story about a mentally disabled man who is given the chance to become a genius. The emotional depth of the story is impressive.

Wool, Shift, Dust By Hugh Howey (2011, 2012, 2013) - A post-apocalyptic series with an onion-like structure of of mysteries that keep you engaged. I thought the ending was good as well, not too cliché.

Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion By Dan Simmons (1989, 1990) - Time travel, AI, religion, this book has A LOT and is WEIRD but I ended up enjoying it. The worst part was the author's need to integrate John Keats into the story which kind of ruins it for me.

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (2002) - A collection of short stories, they are pretty interesting and relevant but also some of the stories are better depicted elsewhere. "Understand" is basically a suped up short version of Flowers for Algernon, "Story of Your Life" very cool story that was the inspiration for Arrival, "Seventy-Two Letters" is an interesting story about golems and

1984 By George Orwell (1949) - A classic dystopian novel worth reading. It was a fun read, for me I just wish there was more follow-up content I could read to explore the world further.

Neuromancer By William Gibson (1984) - Visually rich writing of a cyberpunk future. It was the first book to introduce "cyberspace" as a concept. I found the story difficult to follow though, maybe becuase I listened to the audiobook version.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? By Philip K. Dick (1968) - The book that inspired the movie Blade Runner. Slight different from the movie but provides some more backstory. Honestly I would watch Blade Runner and Blade Runner 2049 (not covered in the book but one of my favorite movies).

Artemis By Andy Weir (2017) - Some adventures about the first city on the moon. This book was okay, just did not have the same feel as the Martian or Project Hail Mary that I was hoping for.

The Three-Body Problem By Liu Cixin (2008) - A very popular book I did not enjoy at all. I felt the author was trying too hard to make it cool and "science-y" but it did not stick well with me.

Masters of Doom By David Kushner (2003) - If you love video games and programming this book is fantastic. Gives you a glimpse into id Software with Carmack and Romero.

Creativity, Inc. By Ed Catmull (2014) - Really fun story about the computer animated movies, interesting to hear about the big players involved including George Lucas and Steve Jobs.

Flash Boys By Michael Lewis (2014) - I've always been interested in the secrety world of hedge funds, HFT being particulary secretive. This book gives you a glance into that world.

Shoe Dog By Phil Knight (2016) - The story about how Phil Knight started Nike, it reads like a life long adventure that Phil goes on to ultimately create Nike.

The Hard Thing About Hard Things By Ben Horowitz (2014) - Gets into the dark side of running a startup: failures, firing people, handling crisis, etc. Very real look at how tough startups can be.

Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making By Tony Fadell (2022) - Was an easy read but really didn't stick with me, I can't remember much of the book.