Oxford University Press has a wonderful series they call Very Short Introductions. The books are small, short, colorful paperbacks with titles like “The Brain”, “Political Philosophy” or “The Tudors”. For each one, the editors find an expert in the field, have them write a brief overview of all the relevant areas of study (thus the book on “Globalization” covers economics, politics, culture, environment, ideology, and the opposition movement) and edits them to be clear and concise.
The result is a very good series of books, and I’ve enjoyed them immensely, but it’s not quite what I want. For one thing, the shortness of the books (they’re usually about a hundred half-size pages) makes them unfulfilling. It’s impossible to get a real understanding of a big topic in fifty pages, especially when many of them are taken up summarizing related concerns. (Perhaps you could provide a nice overview of economic globalization in fifty pages, but covering economic, political, cultural, environmental, and ideological globalization in that space is absurd.)
And the other is that, however great the editors at OUP, it seems impossible that they would be able to commission the best exposition of every topic for one series. Many of the greatest writers are not going to accept a particular commission, do not approve of some piece of the series’ style, or perhaps want credit or attention for themselves rather than being just another book in a huge OUP series.
So that’s why I’d like us to put together our own series — not of very short introductions, but of very good ones. These are books which a) try to explain a whole subject with b) clarity and even joy while making c) no strong assumptions of prior knowledge and d) not dumbing the subject down. It’s an extremely rare combination — there are many books on subjects that are good but unreadable by the average person, while there’s a whole industry churning out pop sci pageturners that communicate little actual knowledge of a subject. But the rare book that actually achieves all four of these goals is a true gem, and ought to be promoted more widely.
Please post your suggestions in the comments and I’ll try to assemble a list of them next week. I’ll go first:
Law 101: Everything You Need to Know about the American Legal System by Jay M. Feinman
This delightful book goes over the key points of constitutional law, civil procedure, torts, contracts, property, criminal law, etc. with wit, style, and lots of great examples. Sit down not knowing anything about the subject and come away with a clear enough understanding of torts, contracts, and crimes to apply the ideas in your daily life.
OK, your turn.
posted 2008-02-22T06:31:54 #
Two of the best of the VSI series I’ve read:
Consciousness, Susan Blackmore
Literary Theory, Jonathan Freeland
posted by tom s.
on 2008-02-22T07:33:49 #
Somebody already did:
http://ask.metafilter.com/71101/What-single-book-is-the-best-introduction-to-your-field-or-specialization-within-your-field-for-laypeople
posted by David McCabe
on 2008-02-22T07:56:34 #
Machine Learning, Tom M. Mitchell, McGraw-Hill International Editions for the field of machine learning.
Probabilistic Robotics, Sebastian Thrun and Wolfram Burgard and Dieter Fox, The MIT Press.
posted by Carsten van Weelden
on 2008-02-22T09:59:48 #
Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach by Norvig and Russell
Programming Collective Intelligence by Segaran
something (Character of Physical Law?) by Feynman
posted by Aaron Swartz
on 2008-02-22T10:03:24 #
History of hip hop culture and music - “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” - Jeff Chang
The blues tradition in America - “The Land Where The Blues Began” - Alan Lomax
posted by maetl
on 2008-02-22T10:44:31 #
The Selfish Gene - by Richard Dawkins. Short and excellent description of evolution
posted by Mahesh Kamat
on 2008-02-22T16:45:49 #
A few that come to mind:
Will Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction, 2nd ed., Oxford, 2001
D. T. Suzuki, An Introduction to Zen Buddhism, New York, 1964
C. S. Nino, Introducci贸n al an谩lisis del derecho, Buenos Aires, 1980. [By far the most lucid, intelligent and comprehensive introduction to legal theory I know of, still awaiting translation.]
Alexander Miller, An Introducion to Contemporary Metaethics, Cambridge, 2003
Robert Winkler, An Introduction to Bayesian Inference and Decision, 2nd ed., Gainsville, 2003
David Chalmers, The Conscious Mind, Oxford, 1996
Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy, London, 1912
posted by Pablo Stafforini
on 2008-02-23T00:41:06 #
This is cheating, because I begged him to write it, but the best (and afaik) only book about etymology for non-linguists is Word Origins and How We Know Them by Anatoly Liberman. (Also OUP)
posted by Erin
on 2008-02-23T01:09:54 #
Norman Davies, “Europe: a History”,
Harper Perennial, 1998.
posted by Will Britton
on 2008-02-23T03:29:27 #
for civil engineering:
J E Gordon, Structures
Explains how structures carry a load, examples are usually taken from nature. There are helpful illustrations. Some basic equations and tables are included.
-this is one of my favorite books, I am about to read it for the second time.
posted by R. Mutt
on 2008-02-23T10:06:39 #
That Russell and Norvig book is what got me started studying AI (my brother lent it to me). It’s actually referred to at my faculty as the “AI Bible”.
Although I personally don’t love it, it is extremely comprehensive, showcasing almost all facets covered in the AI bachelor at University of Amsterdam.
posted by Carsten van Weelden
on 2008-02-23T10:12:52 #
posted by Hay
on 2008-02-23T21:39:34 #
“The Story of Philosophy” - Will Durant
That being said —a recommendation that Bryan Magee makes and I’ll pass along— with philosophy there are between 12 and 22 or so ‘great philosophers’ and I think you’re much better served reading one of their books than reading any commentary on their works. Many of them are notoriously misunderstood because a secondary text becomes the orthodox reading and then this incorrect interpretation becomes the more powerful meme. I also find that a lot of introductions to particular philosophers actually make it more difficult instead of less so. Only when you can’t grasp the work of philosopher directly is it really helpful to go to a secondary source and then only in order to get you back to the primary source as soon as you can.
So not every realm of inquiry is going to lend itself well to abbreviation.
I pretty much avoid intros now except when it’s a large subject and I don’t plan to get very deep in it later. If I do plan on going deep I just jump right in.
posted by Mike
on 2008-02-24T09:16:12 #
The stock market / how to invest
As an introduction, and enough to get you investing:
A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel
A comprehensive overview which will give you a complete understanding:
Stocks for the Long Run by Jeremy Siegel
posted by Joseph Perla
on 2008-02-25T03:05:31 #
Aaron, you think AIMA is understandable for the “average person”?
Perhaps you need to explain what you mean by ‘average’.
posted by anonymous
on 2008-03-02T13:45:33 #
Letters to the editor are printed at the discretion of the proprietor. They may be edited for length and content.
(You can also send your letters by email. If you choose to do so, please note if you're willing to make your letter available for publication.)
Two of the best of the VSI series I’ve read: Consciousness, Susan Blackmore Literary Theory, Jonathan Freeland
posted by tom s. on 2008-02-22T07:33:49 #
Somebody already did:
http://ask.metafilter.com/71101/What-single-book-is-the-best-introduction-to-your-field-or-specialization-within-your-field-for-laypeople
posted by David McCabe on 2008-02-22T07:56:34 #
Machine Learning, Tom M. Mitchell, McGraw-Hill International Editions for the field of machine learning.
Probabilistic Robotics, Sebastian Thrun and Wolfram Burgard and Dieter Fox, The MIT Press.
posted by Carsten van Weelden on 2008-02-22T09:59:48 #
Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach by Norvig and Russell
Programming Collective Intelligence by Segaran
something (Character of Physical Law?) by Feynman
posted by Aaron Swartz on 2008-02-22T10:03:24 #
History of hip hop culture and music - “Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop” - Jeff Chang
The blues tradition in America - “The Land Where The Blues Began” - Alan Lomax
posted by maetl on 2008-02-22T10:44:31 #
The Selfish Gene - by Richard Dawkins. Short and excellent description of evolution
posted by Mahesh Kamat on 2008-02-22T16:45:49 #
A few that come to mind:
Will Kymlicka, Contemporary Political Philosophy: An Introduction, 2nd ed., Oxford, 2001
D. T. Suzuki, An Introduction to Zen Buddhism, New York, 1964
C. S. Nino, Introducci贸n al an谩lisis del derecho, Buenos Aires, 1980. [By far the most lucid, intelligent and comprehensive introduction to legal theory I know of, still awaiting translation.]
Alexander Miller, An Introducion to Contemporary Metaethics, Cambridge, 2003
Robert Winkler, An Introduction to Bayesian Inference and Decision, 2nd ed., Gainsville, 2003
David Chalmers, The Conscious Mind, Oxford, 1996
Bertrand Russell, The Problems of Philosophy, London, 1912
posted by Pablo Stafforini on 2008-02-23T00:41:06 #
This is cheating, because I begged him to write it, but the best (and afaik) only book about etymology for non-linguists is Word Origins and How We Know Them by Anatoly Liberman. (Also OUP)
posted by Erin on 2008-02-23T01:09:54 #
Norman Davies, “Europe: a History”, Harper Perennial, 1998.
posted by Will Britton on 2008-02-23T03:29:27 #
for civil engineering:
J E Gordon, Structures
Explains how structures carry a load, examples are usually taken from nature. There are helpful illustrations. Some basic equations and tables are included.
-this is one of my favorite books, I am about to read it for the second time.
posted by R. Mutt on 2008-02-23T10:06:39 #
That Russell and Norvig book is what got me started studying AI (my brother lent it to me). It’s actually referred to at my faculty as the “AI Bible”.
Although I personally don’t love it, it is extremely comprehensive, showcasing almost all facets covered in the AI bachelor at University of Amsterdam.
posted by Carsten van Weelden on 2008-02-23T10:12:52 #
posted by Hay on 2008-02-23T21:39:34 #
“The Story of Philosophy” - Will Durant
That being said —a recommendation that Bryan Magee makes and I’ll pass along— with philosophy there are between 12 and 22 or so ‘great philosophers’ and I think you’re much better served reading one of their books than reading any commentary on their works. Many of them are notoriously misunderstood because a secondary text becomes the orthodox reading and then this incorrect interpretation becomes the more powerful meme. I also find that a lot of introductions to particular philosophers actually make it more difficult instead of less so. Only when you can’t grasp the work of philosopher directly is it really helpful to go to a secondary source and then only in order to get you back to the primary source as soon as you can.
So not every realm of inquiry is going to lend itself well to abbreviation.
I pretty much avoid intros now except when it’s a large subject and I don’t plan to get very deep in it later. If I do plan on going deep I just jump right in.
posted by Mike on 2008-02-24T09:16:12 #
The stock market / how to invest
As an introduction, and enough to get you investing: A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel
A comprehensive overview which will give you a complete understanding: Stocks for the Long Run by Jeremy Siegel
posted by Joseph Perla on 2008-02-25T03:05:31 #
Bucky Fuller’s “Critical Path”
Love.
posted by William Loughborough on 2008-02-25T03:44:39 #
Designing graphics for data:
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information (Tufte)
A quick, clean read, and one of the more beautiful books you’ll find.
Typography: Thinking with Type (Ellen Lupton)
posted by Phil Crosby on 2008-02-25T12:11:52 #
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posted by 12 on 2008-02-25T21:01:10 #
Aaron, you think AIMA is understandable for the “average person”?
Perhaps you need to explain what you mean by ‘average’.
posted by anonymous on 2008-03-02T13:45:33 #
Letters to the editor are printed at the discretion of the proprietor. They may be edited for length and content.
Add yours
(You can also send your letters by email. If you choose to do so, please note if you're willing to make your letter available for publication.)