Sarah and I are enjoying exploring ManyBooks.net. In addition to finding old classics we want to revisit we have found some new publications that are quite entertaining. (Everyone in Silico, by Jim Munroe) Collections of poetry, science fiction from Wells and Verne, and Shakespeare‘s plays and sonnets.

The texts are available in nearly every imaginable format. The ePub files are easily imported to iBooks, include cover art, and read on the iPad and iPod Touch. ePub readers are available from Adobe (Digital Editions and others) and run on nearly all modern computing hardware.

Here are the most popular 21,657,732 copies of 27,788 titles have been downloaded since 1/1/2008:

• 113,942 – The Art of War by Sun Tzu
  
• 89,659 – The Kama Sutra of Vatsayayana by Richard Burton
  
• 78,449 – The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
  
• 51,364 – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  
• 51,062 – The Art of Public Speaking by Dale Carnegie
  
• 45,809 – Fanny Hill by John Cleland
  
• 45,217 – The Grammar of English Grammars by Goold Brown
  
• 44,093 – Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
  
• 41,852 – 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
  
• 37,906 – The Call of Cthulhu by H. P. Lovecraft
  
• 37,313 – Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
  
• 37,176 – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald
  
• 36,513 – The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas, père
  
• 34,914 – The Arabian Nights by Andrew Lang
  
• 31,283 – Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
  
• 27,868 – Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
  
• 26,923 – The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
  
• 26,504 – The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare
  
• 24,742 – Ulysses by James Joyce
  
• 24,624 – The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine
  

I have no doubt you will find something of interest here.

(See also: manybooks.net/recent_additions.php)
(See also: Adobe ePub Reader – Digital Editions)
(See also: ebook readers)

“When you can measure what you are speaking about, and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind: it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science. “

- William Thomson, Lord Kelvin

This is largely the problem traditional HPC sciences have with Life Sciences. Apart from statistical analysis, we simply haven’t risen to the level where we can express biological systems numerically.

(See also: amazon: Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea)
(See also: wikipedia: Charles Seife)
(See also: Charles Seife)

(See also: amazon: The Nothing that Is: A Natural History of Zero, by Robert Kaplan)

Many technical careers in IT and academia are less creative than you might imagine. I have seen how the sausage is made and have turned the crank myself from time to time. I simply cannot live that way. I crave more than a creative outlet. My life must be creative.

In this book, Mr. Pink asks three critical questions:

1. Can a computer do it faster?


2. Is there a demand for my product in a time of abundance?


3. Can someone overseas do it cheaper?

In a world where information is almost free and access is immediate, the recitation of facts and figures in less important. Creativity will be in demand. Mr. Pink outlines six R-directed aptitudes:

1. Design: Moving beyond function to engage the sense.


2. Story: Narrative added to products and services, not just argument.


3. Symphony: Invention and big picture thinking.


4. Empathy: Beyond logic, engaging emotion and intuition.


5. Play: Bringing humor to business, products, and services.


6. Meaning: The purpose is the journey.

I must say, this is somewhat of a relief to hear.

(See also: danpink.com: A Whole New Mind)
(See also: danpink.com: Discussion Guide for Business)
(See also: danpink.com: Discussion Guide for Educators)

(See also: wikipedia.org: A Whole New Mind)

Reading the bit about Bernhard Reimann’s ‘Reimann Curvature tensor’ and his contributions to Complex Analysis. This is my Father-In-Law’s field.

More as I finish the work.

(See also: Amazon: The Poincare Conjecture)
(See also: SEED: What is The Poincare Conjecture?)
(See also: bookslut: The Poincare Conjecture)

(See also: Amazon: Tribes, we need you to lead us, by Seth Godin)

While I don’t believe that everything we have, every great achievement has come from ‘independent work of some independent mind’, I believe much advancement comes from collaborative communities. I admire the pursuit of life on my own terms. The creative process and the struggle to better one’s self.

The statement:

“The choice is not self-sacrifice or domination. The choice is independence or dependence.”

appears clear, perhaps too clear. I increasingly see the value in interdependence. Networks of individuals arranged by topologies of interest, created and reforming organically through the collective consciousness of our shared stories.

To that end, I find Ayn Rand’s text inspirational.

(See also: Howard Roark’s Courtroom Speech From The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand)
(See also: Wordle: The Fountainhead speech)
(See also: YouTube: The Fountainhead: Howard Roark Speech (Ayn Rand))
(See also: Amazon: The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand)
(See also: IMDB: The Fountainhead)
(See also: Wikipedia: The Fountainhead)

Here is a quick list. Analysis will take a little longer:

The Myths of Innovation, Scott Berkun

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Though you get the premise quickly, ‘innovation is a process’, historical examples add perspective. Other key points include:

• Why all innovation is a collaborative process
  
• How innovation depends on persuasion
  
• Why problems are more important than solutions
  
• How the good innovation is the enemy of the great
  
• Why the biggest challenge is knowing when it’s good enough
  

Scott’s prose runs thick with references to past and present centers of innovation. Consider this passage:

“For centuries before Google, MIT, and IDEO, modern hotbeds of innovation, we struggled to explain any kind of creation, from the universe itself to the multitudes of ideas around us. While we can make atomic bombs, and dry-clean silk ties, we still don’t have satisfying answers for simple questions like: Where do songs come from? Are there an infinite variety of possible kinds of cheese? How did Shakespeare and Stephen King invent so much, while we’re satisfied watching sitcom reruns? Our popular answers have been unconvincing, enabling misleading, fantasy-laden myths to grow strong.” — Scott Berkun, from the text.

A theme, carried through the book, elevates diligence over talent. Personally, I was glad to hear it.

Hardcover: 192 pages
Publisher: O’Reilly Media, Inc.; 1 edition (May 15, 2007)

Subject To Change: Creating Great Products & Services for an Uncertain World: Adaptive Path on Design

Written by the team at Adaptive Path and while it contains elements of interest it lacks narrative arch.

Hardcover: 186 pages
Publisher: O’Reilly Media, Inc. (March 26, 2008)

Free Agent Nation: The Future of Working for Yourself

Daniel Pink was once a White House speech writer. This book is engaging from the start and examples reappear throughout the text providing context and narrative arch.

Paperback: 384 pages
Publisher: Business Plus; 1st edition (May 1, 2002)

Can a thousand people working together defeat a Grand Master? If we are all smarter than any one of us, we’re about to find out. The project CrowdChess:

is a radically new chess concept where thousands of people from across the globe, play together against each other, creating the ultimate “wisdom of the crowds” battlefield.

The rules are the same and the game is free. There are no restrictions as to how many players can play per team and/or who can play. Players sign-up to play and are assigned either white or black team (unless it’s a GM vs. CrowdChess game in which case CrowdChess always plays with white and GM plays with black). The teams are assigned randomly.

(See also: Wikipedia: The Wisdom of Cards)
(See also: Amazon: James Surowiecki)
(See also: CrowdChess)

This video premiered at the Next Web conference and appeared on Dutch TV last night. This morning it is available on YouTube. Worth a look. This program generated heated debate over the source of Truth and the cult of the amateur.

Andrew Keen’s book is in my queue.

(See also: YouTube: The Truth According to Wikipedia)
(See also: Amazon: The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture )

The author provides a pragmatic approach for managers of software projects. He takes great care to highlight business, customer, and technology perspectives and then provides a framework for building a balance of power. This work does not exist in a vacuum. Chapters include quotes from Fred Brooks, Pablo Picasso, and Zen parables; what I consider a Californian’s perspective. Though there appears to be no mention of W. Edwards Deming, several elements appear to align.

The table of contents includes:

1. A brief history of project management (and why you should care)

I. Plans
2. The truth about schedules
3. How to figure out what to do
4. Writing the good vision
5. Where ideas come from
6. What to do with ideas once you have them

II. Skills
7. Writing good specifications
8. How to make good decisions
9. Communication and relationships
10. How not to annoy people: process, email, and meetings
11. What to do when things go wrong

III. Management
12. Why leadership is based on trust
13. How to make things happen
14. Middle-game strategy
15. End-game strategy
16. Power and politics

I’m presently completing ‘Plans’. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

(See also: Project Management Certificate at the University of Minnesota)
(See also: The Top Ten Things Ten Years of Software Development has Taught Me)