Ask HN: What book(s) do you wish existed?
For "book" you can substitute any coherent work of prose that is approximately the length of a novel (~50-100k words).
No particular restrictions on genre (if fiction) or topic (if non-fiction), audience, format, structure, medium, price, etc.
35 comments
[ 4.2 ms ] story [ 105 ms ] threada step by step book on how to implement deep learning framework, such as caffe.
Wikipedia has a long list of fictional books (with several drawn from HHGTTG): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fictional_books
Also including related opportunities such as technical writing.
This answer is cheating a little bit because the book has existed for about a year now, but this is exactly what I wanted when I got into startups.
I wish I could hand a copy of this to everyone who asks about becoming a startup dev.
[1]: http://www.hello-startup.net/
Looking back, if I'd had unfettered access to information along with an intelligent guide to same, I could have educated myself a lot more quickly and thoroughly, and avoided the enormous counter-productivity and strife generated by biased and self-serving external world views and... frankly, sometimes forceful indoctrination.
Going forward, that's what I'd wish for my kids. Learn how to be around and get along with other people. But don't waste your time and peace of mind on the bullshit. And learn to protect your health, and guard it well.
http://fabiensanglard.net/Game_Engine_Black_Book/index.php
They also don't justify any of their recommendations.
"We offer videos, articles, products, events and services concerned with how to live wisely and well."
Also, philosophy in general sounds like what you're after.
[1] http://www.theschooloflife.com/
How about more philosophical approaches, like Stoicism, or Zen Buddhism?
- Foundation: as opposed to tutorial approach and just dropping knowledge bomb.
- Modular: as opposed to linear, monolithic book that requires you to read through 500 pages.
Note that for the book you're looking for, modularity would require that it explicitly states the dependencies between sections. This is probably a good idea anyway.
The math required is so advanced, and there have been numerous people who taught they solved it but turned out to be wrong.
It's extremely unlikely that Fermat had solved it.
PS. He wrote that note when he was young (and working on special cases, small n and such) and probably realized later on that he didn't have a proof for the general case.
Edit: There was no letter to a friend. It was in the margin of a book he was reading. More like a little reminder to himself to remember to jot down the proof.
I feel like society lacks direction and focus. We need a common goal, something greater than ourselves. Religions provided these things, but most of them are extremely outdated. I don't expect most people to believe in angels, fairies and miracles.
- We need to find the meaning of life.
- We need people to have a purpose. We need to focus on making the universe better.
- We need a book that clearly describes the goal, and provides steps for humans to progress toward it.
Shall we focus on the planet, first? It's a bit smaller.
Should we care about Earth? Of course, it's what keeps us alive.