Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
(OP)
"Atlas Shrugged" and "The Fountainhead" both by Ayn Rand, should be required reading for all engineers.
My Economics Professor recommended both to me years ago - I am indebted forever. He also told me to read the "Tao Teh Ching" frequently, which I do.
These three literary works have help me improve myself which in turn helps me get ahead in my work.
Can anyone recommend other great reads to help achieve these ends?
Thanks.
My Economics Professor recommended both to me years ago - I am indebted forever. He also told me to read the "Tao Teh Ching" frequently, which I do.
These three literary works have help me improve myself which in turn helps me get ahead in my work.
Can anyone recommend other great reads to help achieve these ends?
Thanks.
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Regards
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Jack: Straight from the Gut by Jack Welch
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446528382/reliabilitydirec)
The Thinking Manager's Toolbox: Effective Processes for Problem Solving and Decision Making by William Altier
(http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0195131967/reliabilitydirec/102-4142214-1522507)
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Agreed, those are great books.
You might try Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert Heinlein. Not in exactly the same category as the Rand selections that you mentioned, but a good book, and one that can provide some perspective on a few of the peculiarities of our culture.
We the Living and Anthem are a couple of other Rand books that are nice to read, but don't quite have the same depth as the two above. I'd steer clear of For the new Intellectual, unless you liked John Galt's speech about money so much that you'd like to read 180 more pages of it.
The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn is another light read (sike!) that you might find interesting. The engineers mentioned in TGA share some traits with those in TF and AS.
He also told me to read the "Tao Teh Ching" frequently, which I do.
I'll have to check this one out.
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RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
I appreciate your comments also redtrumpet, I have several friends who disagree with Rands' views. I personally like them very much.
The Tao Teh Ching is like an anti-Rand infussion of overall insignificance. I like it also.
If you don't like the writings of Rand perchance you might enjoy Lao Tzu.
I don't really want to debate viewpoints or philosophy. I hope to get some good leads on excellent reading material that have helped others become better at who they are.
Thanks to all.
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Essential:
The New Science of Strong Materials JE Gordon
Structures JE Gordon
The Machine that Changed the World
Interesting:
The Goal
The Soul of a New Machine
Godel Escher Bach by Hofstadter
Very funny (if sickening) book about the Tech Bubble:
Burnrate
The first three books should be read by anyone who is thinking about becoming a mechanical engineer. The Gordon and Hofstadter books in particular are quite superb.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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Have you ever read The Hunters and the Hunted? (blah blah lean thinking blah blah non-linear blah blah)
I've not read TMTCTW, but a co-worker of mine who really enjoyed that book also enjoyed TH&TH. TH&TH was required reading for new-hires at a previous job o' mine.
Isaac
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By James B. Swartz, Productivity Press
No, haven't read it, the excerpt I've just found seems likely to make people squeal like stuck pigs, so it is on the right lines.
Here's a bit:
Early Warning Signs For a Non-Competitive Delivery System
· Customers are hard to please; they want faster response and seemingly unreachable quality levels.
· Much of management’s time is spent prioritizing work, solving crisis.
· Time to obsolescence is decreasing faster than time to bring new products to market.
· Quality levels are not improving rapidly, and customers complain the competition offers higher quality.
· More inspection is necessary to meet customer requirements.
· Price must be reduced constantly to meet the competition.***
· It seems that competitors are using unfair tactics to take your customers.
· There are continual surprises from competitors and customers.
· Blame placing and in fighting are rising.
· Management is arrogant about the superiority of their system and a no-bad-news is welcome atmosphere.
Who hasn't seen that lot before?
*** we did this at launch on the last model and it really hurt us. If you are confident (we were) in the product then price it at a premium.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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The art of war as suggested by PSE is very good.
If motivation and creativity is what an engineer is required I would settle for Cartoon Network. (I atleast see 4 hours a day)
Cheers!
Repetition is the foundation of technology
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Your review of Atlas Shrugged made me laugh. Ayn Rand was a twisted sister - but also an excellent author.
Thanks for your comments.
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The book gives a great description of why engineers do what they do, even when the world is criticisizing every aspect of the profession that only engineers understand. The best part about the book is that it isn't written for a third grader. Mr. Florman actually uses multi-syllable words.
--Scott
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...I cry out "My name is T-bone" and the hound dog digs a hole...
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I would think every engineer should read everything by Robert A. Heinlein (he was a degreed engineer) and L. Sprague De Camp (also an engineer). Don't forget E. E. Smith, Ph.D. and, of course, Lionel Fanthorpe.
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I haven't read anything by any of them, at least not that I recall. But I will.
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Repetition is the foundation of technology
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Murphy's law states; "If it can go wrong it will go wrong".
This is possibly the most sensible thing that anyone has ever said and it only takes a couple of seconds to read. Thereby freeing up some time to go and do something less boring instead.
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
- If nothing can go wrong, something will.
- If nothing is going wrong, you have overlooked something.
- If only one thing goes wrong, it will do maximum damage.
- Everything will go wrong at one time:
--- When you least expect it;
--- When it causes the most difficulty; and
--- After any warranty expires.
- Things always go from bad to worse.
- Mother Nature is...
--- Not indifferent to intelligence; she is actively hostile;
--- She always sides with the hidden flaw.
- Nothing is as easy as it looks; everything takes longer than expected.
- Having found a solution to a problem after immense work, one usually realizes that it or another was apparent from simple inspection.
- Errors usually sum in the same direction.
- Fault cannot be properly placed, or credit properly given, if more than one person is involved.
I'll admit, Murphy's Law and corollaries are primarily humorous in nature, but there's a lot of truth in there about engineering and life in general.
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Book: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
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Have you heard of Smith's Law?
"Murphy is an optimist!"
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RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
That Smith guy must be suicidal...
My law states "Whats the point, it's all going to go horribly wrong anyway!!"
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"The Ten Discourses" (how many of those guys you deal with will actually act).
Brad
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RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Peebee:
Another link to an online version of 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' (http://www.aoe.vt.edu/~ciochett/lit/zen.html), shouldn't be a copyright infringment if its on a university site....uh I think.
Cheers,
Asanga
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Patricia Lougheed
Please see FAQ731-376 for tips on how to make the best use of the Eng-Tips Forums.
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
TTFN
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I too see a lot of that and I have to constantly be on guard against falling into the trap myself. Just one of the perils of computer "aided" engineering. It'll spit out as many digits as you want.
Edward L. Klein
Pipe Stress Engineer
Houston, Texas
All opinions expressed here are my own and not my company's.
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Enjoy!
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What could I say, I agreed with him!!
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Engineer To Win is a good book about race vehicle engineering, but I would not recommend it for metallurgy nor fracture mechanics. Mr. Smith's knowledge and descriptions of these subjects are lacking.
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It's an interesting look into why complex systems fail and the mindset required to prevent failure. It deals a lot with system interactions and why many optimization approaches fail due to unintended consequences.
TTFN
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A good,depressing book about a large engineering project viewed from the sidelines by a finance journalist with no particular axe to grind. To those of us who work at the coalface on billion dollar projects it is a horrible cautionary tale, told from the top down.
Cheers
Greg Locock
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For the serious: Any of the books by Henry Petroski or Samuel Florman are good. I've suggested them to the younger generation of engineers at times and some do read them and come out smiling.
For the more lighthearted: Any Dilbert book. Sometimes you really don't get understand it until you live it though.
Enjoy!
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This book describes the author's journey through engineering school and gives a good perspective on how we "learn to think" like engineers.
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It seems that every 30-40 years the new generation forgets or turns away from the hard lessons taught by the old masters. New daring designs arise as a result, and the inevitable rash of failures ensues. There were several box beam bridge failures within a short time around 1970. We are now due for the next rash of failures. I will not predict where in this forum.
This is required reading from Henry Petroski.
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Just to remind consequences of our acts...
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Hagar...
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Relating to the motive of improving self to get ahead in your work, I find critical thinking to be a must. (Is all truth propositional? How else do we weed out truth from error? Engineering is all about apprehending/leveraging truth.)
An excellent author who looks at "modern" thinking and its consequences is Francis A. Schaeffer.
The Trilogy:
The God Who Is There
Escape from Reason
He Is There and He Is Not Silent
Obviously, this is philosophical, but within the realms of improving self what isn't?
Jeff Mowry
DesignHaus Industrial Design
http://www.designhaus-i-d.com
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I'm reading it now and it is fascinating.
On the business side, I really liked "The Power of Focus". It's one of those feel good goal setting books, but I needed it at this time in my life (still a relatively young engineer!)
The Ayn Rand book I had looked at before in the past, it is very intriguing, but I'll hold off on that until I get a couple of my current books read.
Once again in the physics realm, I heard the Feynman books are very good.
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Hubbert's Peak;The Impending World Oil Shortage, by Kenneth Deffeyes. (a timely read I'd say)
Then if you think your life is too hard try:
Seven Years in Tibet (true story) by Heinrich Harrer
And, yes, if you need to lighten up there's:
Murphy's Law Book Two, Arthur Bloch ISBN 0-8431-0674-3
which includes one of my favorties... Ducharm's Axiom: If one views his problems closely enough he will recognize himself as part of the problem.
Steven C. Potter
stevenpotter@sympatico.ca
www.canadastainedglass.com
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Feynman as a physicist has some books that are supposed to be good, they are on my next to read list.
There are books on Watson and Crick and other famous scientists like Einstein, tons of books on DaVinci. Recent movies on mathematicians (A Beautiful Mind.
There are tons of books on business gurus.
But do you have any recommendations for books on famous engineers?
By the way still slowly working my way through Richard Rhodes book on the A-bomb. It is very thorough. Can't wait to read some more by him
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"What Went Wrong?" is really good for learning from past failures. This is a book about process plant failures, explosions, etc.
I think most engineers do have a philosophical bent. I mean, you sat through those lectures on the second law, right? And didn't it get you to thinking?
ASME publishes a little book called The Ten Unwritten Laws of Engineering. Mandatory reading IMO. Also "The Day I Almost Quit" by Frederick J. Moody is good.
Thanks!
Pete
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Steven C. Potter
stevenpotter@sympatico.ca
www.canadastainedglass.com
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RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
strategic thinking from "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu,
and knowledge of Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator will
put you in great advantage in your career as an engineer.
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I read "Atlas Shrugged" before I became an engineer and I thought that most of the characters were one dimensional. It's a good story, but Ms. Rand grossly oversimplifies the personal relationships that her lead character has with the various male counterparts in the story. And the manner in which she presents and explains engineering concepts isn't much better. I'd suggest that SHE read some of the books that were referenced in the prior threads.
By the way, I work in a steel mill as a Senior Metallurgist, and my last name is Reardon. And please, don't call me Hank...
Maui
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Unfortunately Ms. Rand has been dead a long time, all her reading is finished. The characters in Atlas Shrugged are one dimensional, typical of driven people who seem to have no other reason for being than what they do. She was not an engineer and the book wasn't about engineering. But thanks for your insight just the same.
Also thanks to all who have recommended the excellent books above. I hope this thread is around for a while as it will serve as an excellent reading list.
Many Thanks,
Massey
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"Thick Face, Black Heart"
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It was from this book that I learned not to shy away from disagreeing w/ other peers: if two professionals (managers, engineers) doing the same job agree 100% with what the other one is doing, one of them is redundant!
I also appreciate Ayn Rand's works. She led a very troubled and inconsistent life. I think we can all learn from what she said and not from her example, happens to us all.
Any thorough review of her works will reveal that her one-dimensional characters were messengers. That's why they seem to be on the soap box a lot. She saw the novel as a conduit through which to express her views and philosophy. If you have an interest in Rand, the Author (not the philosopher), read instead We, The Living.
Roberto Sanabria
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Two authors to try for good thought: Feyneman's "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out." or McPhee's "The Control Of Nature"
The truth will set you free. Best of luck. Geodude
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Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, humorous look at the implications of a triumph of chemistry that basically destroyed the world.
Real Genius with Val Kilmer.
Vince
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RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
by General Leslie Groves -- Challenging engineering enterprise under trying circumstances. The present text is heavily edited from the original I read many years ago. This is the definitive background story of the bomb.
V-2
by General Dornberger -- A remarkable story of engineering achievement under great pressures. Look for description of elements of rockets and jet engines still in use today.
(Be happy they didn't concentrate on the A bomb!)
Sons of Martha - available from ASCE
A good read for all engineers, especially CE's. There are selections from many books. This will surely lead to other books of interest. It runs the gamut of canals, railroads, tunnels, bridges, dams, military engineering, etc.
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However on the fiction and liberal side the Heinlen and other "Golden Age" sci-Fi i thought were required to be in this profession!
For my suggestions:
The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra
Excerpt: "There are two things in life: Having fun and learning something. If you're not having fun, Learn something!" (discussion on the quantum nature of life love and philosophy)
The Illuminatus (or how I found the goddess and what I did with her when I found her) by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson.
(the above is a great dose of completely excessive sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll. When included with the sequal Schrodingers Cat enven some quantum mechanics to go with)
Chaos by James Glieck (last name spelt wrong)
Im sure most ar familar with the revolution caused by B. Mandelbrot and Mr. Julia and others.
Seconds for Art of War.
Hank Reardon was kinda cool thou........
Nick
I love materials science!
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"The Official Rules"
I bought it some 20 years ago (1st edition paperback) and noticed a few years back a later version.
It has Murphy's Law (of course!), along with almost all the corollaries, then many other quotes along the same lines. One of my favorites was "Gabe Caplan's Law", which says, "Give a small boy a hammer, and soon he will find that everything he encounters needs a beating." Or something like that.
... Steve
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Maui
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"The Goal" by Eliyahu M. Goldratt & Jeff Cox.
It's a novel about industrial engineering/operations management
"Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II" by Jennet Conant . it's about Alfred Loomis a financier/scientist inventor who was instrumental in radar & atomic physics.
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I have the Tao of Physics and found it fascinating. It is a very cool book.
That must be very exciting work. I was especially intrigued by the theory that they can 'create' matter by colliding particles at extremely high speeds. I say 'theory' but in the book it descibes in detail how they have done this and proven it. But it still doesn't make intuitive 'sense'.
Good Book.
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But, I may be wrong, but I think this is a little different in that the total mass of the system was larger after the collision than before. There were more smaller particles that cumlatively had more mass. Assuming that energy and matter are equivalent, there would more matter and energy in the system total, not just converted from one to other.
??
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
As smaller nuclei fuse, the mass per nucleon is less than their original parts. The "missing" mass is released as energy. This phenomenon reverses when nuclei are about the size of an iron (Fe) atom nucleus. After that, net energy needs to be added to make nuclei fuse. So larger nuclei undergoing fusion would gain mass.
There would still be mass-energy parity with the relationship of dE=(dm)c^2 (imagine the "d's" are "deltas")
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"Wild at Heart" Dont remember the author. Very good :)
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A couple of suggestions of my own :
Slide Rule by Neville Shute - this is his autobiography and is a fascinating insight into an engineer of the 30's through to the 50's. He worked on the Vickers R100 airship alongside Barnes Wallis (of WWII bouncing bomb fame).
Another good read and much more recent is Against All Odds by James Dyson - inventor of the Dyson vacuum cleaner. Again this is an autobiography. Whilst not an engineer, Dyson is a brilliant designer and the story of his dogged determination to bring his vacuum to market makes a great story.
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RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Different Dyson, I believe--the Dyson at Princeton was a contemporary and good friend of Richard Feynman. He was a physicist/applied mathematician.
Brad
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and James Dyson
http://workingfromhome.allinfoabout.com/dyson_pt1.html
Cheers
Greg Locock
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Recommended reading for engineers:
Non Fiction:
George Gamow's books about Mr Tompkins (if you can snag them, you're in luck - they are all out of print but worth every penny)
Le Couteur & Burreson "Napoleon's Buttons"
Robert Hazan "The Diamond Makers" (try to ignore the typos)
Oliver Sacks "Uncle Tungsten"
Richard Rhodes "The Making of the Atomic Bomb"
Street & Alexander "Metals in the Service of Man"
Paul Strathern "Mendeleev's Dream"
Fiction:
George MacDonald Fraser's "Flashman" series (because even non-fiction readers need a good laugh now and then)
Yann Martel "Life of Pi" - an example of on-the-fly life-or-death problem solving at its finest.
Any decent historical fiction - because engineers seem to feel that they have to be learning something while they read a story.
...And please don't read any of the junk written by or about Jack Welch. He is no friend to the engineer. Dilbert would say that he is the pointiest of the pointy-haired bosses.
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TTFN
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[lotsa guys got the NAFTA-shafta
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Going overseas, south of the border, etc. has time bombs attached. Don't expect technical support or quick response to changes. Many years ago I heard the story of buying shoes from Taiwan. They shipped by the container load - right foot in one and left foot in the other.
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RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Fate is the Hunter, by E.K. Gann - About life as a pilot during the first half-century of flight. Any engineer who has never flown one, but still wants to design, build, or do any work on an airplane, should read it to appreciate what it's like to fly for a living. I've also given a lot of thought to the chilling philosophy that for most pilots, it's only a matter of time. Risk can never be eliminated, only managed, outmaneuvered, or outwitted, and if you're still alive after screwing up on all three, then luck takes all the credit. Think hard about whether you expect it to be there for you next time.
STF
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The Cross Time Engineer by Leo Frankowski
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Add to the list Earnest Gann's:
The High and the Mighty,
the story of further adventures of airline pilots during and after WWII. If you read between the lines you will see why Gann quit airline flying for other pursuits.
For eight years I have been pursuing the publishing of my book, The National Airline Academy (NAA)- long overdue. There have been numerous disasters begging for the establishiment of the NAA, but the 1987 Air Florida crash in Washington should have triggered the NAA.
The model for the NAA is the Merchant Marine Academy (MMA) on Long Island. It was the result of the investigation of the Morro Castle cruise ship disaster, which claimed the lives of hundreds in 1935. Findings included incompetence from the top down. Modern day boat drill and comprehensive fire safety systems came out of this investigation. In itself The Morro Castle is a good read. The MMA was well timed for the training of merchant marine officers during WWII.
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And when you are done thinking, I highly recommend the Harry Potter series. Not just for kiddies these days!
miner
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RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
I love Sci Fi. I am a mold designer and product designer. I love new Ideas and old forgotten ones too. I have heard that the modern day space suit was in science fiction 50 or 75 years before they even needed it (you know environmental suit with a glass dome and a air pack on the back). Sci-Fi inspires people into doing things they would only dream of.
Some good reads are:
David Suzuki's autobiography. Scientist turned TV host.
Generation X. It is about people who don't do much they just sit and talk. But there are some wild statistics at the end of the book about the average population. Sciences are statistically driven.
Classic Sci Fi
The time machine and Short stories of HG wells.
There is one story about a guy who takes carbon and dynamite and makes diamonds but no one believes he could do it.
Ring World Series by Larry Nivin
Some one builds a flat ring around a sun the diameter of the orbit of earth (800 miles wide) and then leaves it to be discovered. Just a neat concept. Think about the material usage.
I robot by Isaac Asimov
Another good read
I robot is the first statement made by a robot that realises what it(he) is.
peace
Rick Marmei - Tool Designer
http://axis-design.org
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any of Kafka's writings,
White Star - author not known, but one of the better technically correct sniper fiction works
Happy Birthday Wanda June - Kurt Vonnegut
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
any of Patrick McManus' collections (outdoor humour at it's funniest)
Zen and the Art of Being a Target... to be written for theTick
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Skunk Works by Rich & Janos was a great read.
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson
20 years ago I read "A Walk Across America" and "The Walk West" by Peter Jenkins. I still read it from time to time.
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I've been through Stephen King's entire "Gunslinger" series, heard the biographies of 3 presidents, and indulged in plenty of audio junk-listening. Almost makes me look forward to a traffic jam. Now I have this thread for more listening ideas!
For audio book recommendations, #1 on my list is On the Road by Jack Kerouac, as read by Frank Muller (audio book narration's biggest superstar reader).
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Fiction: "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman. First of a trilogy. They are all good. Nothing to do with engineering but should get the oblique part of your brain working.
Historical perspectives:
A Brief History of Pi. by Petr Beckmann. (You should hear his take on Roman "civilisation").
A History of Warfare by John Keegan
"Cyrus the Great" by Harold Lamb. Amazing what this guy accomplished within the limitations of his time. Makes you think about minimalist government, separation of church and state etc.
Social perspective:
"Who Shall Live" by Victor R. Fuchs. Health, economics and social choice. Did you have a donut for breakfast or run at lunch time?
Last but otherwise first, subscribe to "Mountain Bike" magazine for inspiration then go buy a full suspension mountain bike and find a place to use it so you can get exercise while watching its suspension work. Engineering in action!
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I now plan to read "Tuxedo Park" about Loomis, the businessman/physicist during WWII.
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I was also in the library and found a Dictionary of Mechanics and Engineering. Reminding my self of yelling over the office partition to find out if I spell the word "flange" correctly.
Peace
Rick Marmei
Rick Marmei - Tool Designer
http://axis-design.org
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STF
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
"No Highway" by Neville Shute - about the frustrations of an aircraft engineer, convinced his airliner design is flawed (might be based on the Comet disaster)
In 1919 the German fleet was scuttled in Scapa Flow, Scotland. There was a book, probably hard to find, about the extraordinary salvage operations.
RV Jones, a senior scientist in Britain during World War 2, wrote a fascinating account of the scientific intelligence war against Germany. What was it called? And from the other side, Germany's armaments minister (an architect, I think, what was his name, imprisoned for decaeds after the war). Both books strangely sit side by side.
Alvin Toffler's "Future Shock" and Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring". These would be interesting to read now to see how we have matched up to their predictions.
Cheers,
John.
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For some historical perspective, try "Engineering in the Ancient World"-JG Lanels, sometimes the forgotten solutions are very interesting.
Finally, "The Romance of Engines" by Takashi Suzuki, which gives the technical history of numerous interesting engines.
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I would rather stick needles in eyes than suggest to someone to read anything by Ayn Rand. Brrr!@!
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The irony of your post above is amusing.
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But since we're on the subject: Moneyball: The Art of Winning An Unfair Game, by Michael Lewis
I'm an engineer who is also an avid baseball fan. This book provides fantastic examples of "thinking outside the box". It primarily provides statistical and economic insight into everyday decision-making...and it talks a little baseball, too.
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by Robert Baker (Editor)
A collection of short essays on a variety of topics. Some are amusing, some are not.
I find the essay regarding the degeneration of the English Language via phnoetic spelling the best of the bunch.
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Degeneration of the English language may bother many of us, but culmsy tpying on conputers is a biggger thraet.
STF
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Henry Petroski talks about this book in his book "To Engineer is Human."
The Bible.
Clyde
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RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Rees reasons that trying to "fix" the environment is a useless treatment of a symptom. He's done the math, and demonstrates very convincingly that western society is not sustainable.
For example, there are 12 billion hectares of "useful" land on the planet, and 6 billion humans. That's 2 hectares per person. We north americans currently use about 12 hectare's worth of resources each, when all the food, lumber, and energy are added up. That leaves less than the fair share for everyone else.
STF
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Bridges and Their Builders, by David Steinman
Man the Maker, A History of Technology and Engineering, by Robert Forbes
Three books by David McCullough:
The Great Bridge (The Brooklyn Bridge)
The Johnstown Flood
The Path Between the Seas (The Panama Canal)
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Those who liked Sun Tzu's ideas may appreciate Karl von Clausewitz' "On War".
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Murphy's laws applies in the most opportune times. Since I have Murphy's in my family, we had O'Tool's Axiom:
It quite simply states:
"Murphy was an optimist"
I have read some profound works from various authors as well.
I found two books by Dale Carnegie to be helpful:
"How to win friends and influence people"
"How to Stop worrying and start living"
I also enjoy cartoons like the Far Side, Calvin & Hobbes, Dilbert in getting out of the Murphy(O'Tool's) and sometimes engineer rut.
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Enjoy
~Patrick Mc G.
Mechanophilus
(in the time of the first railways)
Now first we stand and understand,
And sunder false from true,
And handle boldly with the hand,
And see and shape and do.
Dash back that ocean with a pier,
Strow yonder mountain flat,
A railway there, a tunnel here,
Mix me this Zone with that!
Bring me my horse - my horse? my wings
That I may soar the sky,
For Thought into the outward springs,
I find her with the eye.
O will she, moonlike, sway the main,
And bring or chase the storm,
Who was a shadow in the in the brain,
And is a living form?
Far as the Future vaults her skies,
From this my vantage ground
To those still-working energies
I spy nor term nor bound.
As we surpass our father's skill,
Our sons will shame our own;
A thousand things are hidden still
And not a hundred known.
And had some prophet spoken true
Of all we shall achieve,
The wonders were so wildly new,
That no man would believe.
Meanwhile, my brothers, work, and wield
The forces of to-day,
And plow the Present like a field,
And gerner all you may!
You, what the cultured surface grows,
Dispense with careful hands:
Deep under deep for ever goes,
Heaven over Heaven expands.
Alfred Lord Tennyson
-first published 1892
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
For more humourous poetry, does anybody recall a poem called "The Aircraft Engineer's Prayer"? It begins:
Wrinkle, wrinkle, little spar,
How I wonder how stiff you are...
STF
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
The Path Between the Seas (The Panama Canal)
There is a person in the book I consider to be an engineer’s
engineer.
John Stevens The original Chief Engineer on the Canal.
Stevens wrote a paper "To the Young Engineers Who Must Carry On"
Stevens wrote: The great works had still to come "I believe that we are but children picking up pebbles on the shore of the boundless ocean”.
A most interesting man.
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Zen and the Art of MC maintenance - poor engineering - great philosophy
making of the atomic bomb - excellent
Atlas Shrugged - improbable plot - melodrama but an interesting theme/idea
fountainhead - more of the same - upity view of FLWright and architecture
Mythical Man Month - construction of the IBM 360 OS- great project management story
Trustee from the Tool Room - a little bit of this in every engineer
Undaunted Courage - Lewis and Clark - Actually a lot of engineering approaches to the expedition and not all sucessfull
Anything having to do with the Apollo program
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Engineers may find it illuminating to read Dornberger's "V2." Yes, he was a German general during WWII, and he contributed to developing the V2, but a study of the technical accomplishments done under wartime circumstances would be eye-opening. His team developed:
- swirl vaporization of combustion fuel, still being used in modern jet engines;
- film cooling of combustors;
- acceleration feedback in steering commands. This has been used in power steering;
- high speed aero stability;
- Schlieren visualization of supersonic flow, and many other technical developments.
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
A Human Strategy by Matt Berry
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
Franny and Zooey by JD Salinger
RE: Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
"Aramis: or the love of Technology" by Bruno Latour (translation Catherine Porter) is a fairly challenging wade, but rewarding. Follows a (failed) French project to develop robotic rail personal transport systems.
Dr. Leon Lederman's "The God Particle" is worthwhile for amateur students of physics. Also any of the new books challenging quantum theory (look for Shroedingers Cat in titles).
On Ayn Rand, I liked that too when I was young and invincible. You'll get over it, everybody does. On management v.s. engineering see above re: Jack Welsh. Anyone wishing to write a new book should explore this area. Ditto "Irreconcilable Differences: Rosss Perot v.s. General Motors" by Doron P. Levin gives a good insight into what it takes to {ex}ceed.
Warning. Don't inquire past Rand if you want to "make it" in management. Much of the purpose of the busywork assigned to management trainees is to make sure you don't get into philisophy.