library

What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re inside the mind of another person, maybe somebody dead for thousands of years. Across the millennia, an author is speaking clearly and silently inside your head, directly to you. Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people who never knew each other, citizens of distant epochs. Books break the shackles of time. A book is proof that humans are capable of working magic.

– Carl Sagan, Cosmos, Part 11: The Persistence of Memory (1980)

This is what I’m reading, or have read, and why it matters to me.

The math texts are the foundation I’m currently building: calculus, linear algebra, discrete structures. The CS books range from classics I should have read earlier to references I return to regularly. The interdisciplinary section is where things get interesting: philosophy that sharpens my thinking about AI, history that contextualizes technological change, fiction that reminds me why any of this matters.

I’ve organized by category rather than chronology. The “current math” and “advanced math” distinction reflects where I am in my studies: one is what I’m working through now, the other is where I’m headed.

• Foundations
• Current Studies
• Advanced
• Computer Science
• Interdisciplinary
• Influential Works

Foundations

Building the rigorous mathematical foundation essential for advanced work in AI and algorithm development.

finished

Basic Mathematics

Serge Lang

Shifted my focus from calculation to structure. This is where I learned that mathematics is about proof, not arithmetic.

reading

Geometry

Serge Lang and Gene Murrow

The rare geometry text that treats the subject seriously. Proof-based, not formula-based.

reading

How to Prove It

Daniel Velleman

The single most influential book in how I think about mathematical argument. I recommend it constantly.

reference

A Synopsis of Elementary Results in Pure and Applied Mathematics

George Shoobridge Carr

The book Ramanujan taught himself from. A dense compendium of results without proofs — you have to fill in the gaps yourself. Strangely compelling.

Current

Texts supporting my ongoing self-study work as I build toward advanced AI research capabilities.

queued

Proofs

Jay Cummings

A friendlier companion to Velleman. Cummings writes like he's actually talking to you.

Ahead

The mathematical journey ahead as I prepare for graduate-level work in AI and machine learning.

queued

Calculus: Early Transcendentals

Briggs, Cochran, Gillett, and Schulz

My current calculus text. Thorough and well-structured, if not exciting.

queued

Calculus

Michael Spivak

The text I'm working toward. Spivak treats calculus as the serious mathematics it is.

queued

Linear Algebra

Friedberg, Insel, and Spence

Proof-based linear algebra. This is where the abstract machinery of ML actually lives.

queued

Elementary Analysis: The Theory of Calculus

Kenneth A. Ross

The step after Spivak. Real analysis at an accessible level.

Computer Science & Technology

Core technical knowledge spanning from algorithmic foundations to emerging AI systems and their implications.

queued

A First Course in Probability

Sheldon Ross

The standard probability text. Dense but complete.

finished

Business Data Networks and Security

Raymond R. Panko and Julia L. Panko

From my CIS minor. Solid coverage of how networks actually work.

reading

Co-Intelligence

Ethan Mollick

The best current book on working with AI systems. Practical and optimistic.

finished

Digital Forensics, Investigation, and Response

Chuck Easttom

From my forensics coursework. Teaches you to think like an investigator.

queued

Foundations of Machine Learning

Mohri, Rostamizadeh, and Talwalkar

The mathematical theory behind ML. A foundation, not a tutorial.

reference

Introduction to Algorithms

Cormen, Leiserson, Rivest, and Stein

The definitive algorithms reference. Everyone owns it; I've actually read most of it.

finished

Microservices Patterns

Chris Richardson

Practical patterns for distributed systems. I reference this regularly.

finished

Superintelligence

Nick Bostrom

The book that made AI risk a serious topic. Dated in some ways, but the core arguments hold.

finished

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

Edward R. Tufte

Tufte's masterpiece on data visualization. Every chart I make is better because of this book.

Interdisciplinary Perspectives

Works that enrich my technical perspective with insights from philosophy, history, and cognitive science.

finished

On Liberty

John Stuart Mill

The foundational argument for free expression. Evergreen.

finished

Progress and Poverty

Henry George

A 19th-century economist asking why technological progress creates both wealth and poverty. His answer is unfashionable but hard to dismiss.

finished

Guns, Germs, and Steel

Jared Diamond

Diamond's thesis is contested, but the method - explaining history through geography, biology, and technology - changed how I think about causation.

finished

Team of Rivals

Doris Kearns Goodwin

Lincoln's cabinet of former rivals. A masterclass in managing disagreement productively.

finished

Prodigal Genius

John J. O'Neill

Tesla's biographer describes his ability to visualize machines in full detail before building them. I find this aspirational.

finished

Steve Jobs

Walter Isaacson

The standard Jobs biography. Complex portrait of someone who refused to separate technology from taste.

finished

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman

The book on cognitive bias. I catch myself making the mistakes Kahneman describes.

finished

The Forgetting Machine

Rodrigo Quian Quiroga

A neuroscientist explains why forgetting is a feature, not a bug. Relevant to anyone thinking about memory systems, biological or artificial.

finished

Tempo

Venkatesh Rao

Strange, dense book about timing and decision-making. I don't fully understand it, but I keep returning to it.

Influential Works

Fiction and creative works that have inspired my imagination and shaped how I think about possibilities beyond conventional boundaries.

finished

The Last Unicorn

Peter S. Beagle

The most beautiful prose I've read in fantasy. I reread it every few years.

finished

The Lies of Locke Lamora

Scott Lynch

A heist novel with the plotting of a Swiss watch. It's a lesson in attention to detail, and pure fun.

finished

Peter and the Shadow Thieves

Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

A childhood favorite I still own. The Peter Pan prequel that made me love adventure stories.

finished

The Hidden Girl and Other Stories

Ken Liu

Liu writes about technology with a depth most sci-fi authors don't reach. Several of these stories stuck with me for months.

finished

Inspiring Walt Disney

Wolf Burchard

How European decorative arts shaped Disney's visual imagination. A case study in creative influence across fields.