Hi everybody!
I have a few weeks off of school and im craving…. Learning? I guess?
So please, suggest me informative books/essays that fill my education void.
I’m into topics such as: History, philosophy, psychology and critical thinking.
I’d like the books to be on the shorter side (100-300 paged)
Thanks all!!!
by finnhart176
4 Comments
Oxford University Press, “[TOPIC]: A Very Short Introduction”
Not trying to be snide, or anything, but I found this series to be fascinating, and very well written. Read a few from my own specialities, and at least those were accurate enough while still providing a good overview over the field.
*The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements* by Eric Hoffer.
*A Short History of Nearly Everything* by Bill Bryson
– “Schott’s Original Miscellany” by Ben Schott is quite fun – full of tidbits of information and the likes on a plethora of subjects.
– Although they both exceed your “limit” for pages, I can highly recommend “Ideas: A History From Fire to Freud” and “The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century” by Peter Watson.
– Charles van Doren’s “A History of Knowledge” is a fairly quick and easy read.
– “Spillover” by David Quammen deals with zoonotic diseases of the past, present, and future.
– “The Disappearing Spoon” by Sam Kean is great book about the periodic table of elements.
John Brockman has edited a series of books where scientists, philosophers, doctors, authors etc. are asked one question or asked to comment on an issue (i.e. “What is your dangerous idea” or “This idea must die”). The answers vary in length – from half a page to ten pages. It is very interesting and educational to read the different replies on an assortment of topics
(Web-pages:
The Marginalian-website is a beautiful place for poetry, arts, and philosophical discourse on a variety of aspects related to the human condition.
Also, “Big Think” has a lot of interesting articles on a lot of topics that fall within your scope)