HN Books @HNBooksMonth

For Biology, and especially for Molecular biology I'd go for:

- Albert's Molecular Biology of the cell - https://www.amazon.com/dp/0815344325/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?... - It introduces basic Biochemistry, a lot of Genetics and Gene-regulation and Developmental biology. The book also touches other areas (but very vaguely) like Immunology... I think if you read this book you will be able to understand modern Molecular Biology papers.

- Biochem: Legninger's Principles of Biochemistry https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01K0PYUYQ/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?... - Our prof taught us from this, it has great visuals and covers a lot of areas.

- Developmental biology: Gilbert's - https://www.amazon.com/Developmental-Biology-Tenth-Scott-Gil... - it introduces more genetic regulation and development for all walks of life

- Human developmental biology: Bruce M. Carlson - Human Embryology and Developmental biology - https://www.amazon.com/Human-Embryology-Developmental-Biolog... - Again it's the choice of my prof, but I loved it, great images and visual explanations.

- Anatomy: I'd definitely go for anything by Netter -> https://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Human-Anatomy-Netter-Science/dp...

- Cancer: Robert A. Weinberg - The biology of cancer - https://www.amazon.com/Biology-Cancer-2nd-Robert-Weinberg/dp...

- Plant biochem: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Plants - https://www.amazon.com/Biochemistry-Molecular-Biology-Plants... - A very good book with great illustrations.

For electronics and Embedded:

- Art of Electronics by Paul Horovitz - https://www.amazon.com/Art-Electronics-Paul-Horowitz-ebook/d... - I saw that others also suggested it, great book

- Paul Scherz - Practical Electronics for inventors - https://www.amazon.com/Practical-Electronics-Inventors-Fourt... - I was introduced to electronics via this book. Not really a textbook but it's I think it's a great book to get started, it covers almost the same topics as the Art of Electronics but not as deep and with better visual explanations.

- Embedded systems - Michael Barr - Programming Embedded Systems in C and C++ - I was introduced to embedded software development by this book, when I was working for an IoT company and only had experience with systems and web programming.

Programming (my cherry picked favourites):

- Hacking: The Art of Exploitation - I love this book. I've read it after I had a few years of professional programming experience with C#. It introduces programming via C, also every example program is disassembled with GDB. It gives the reader an intuition of how C code compiled and what happens on the register level.

- C in a Nutshell: The Definitive Reference - Usually when you search for good books to learn C from, you get titles like The C programming language, Deep C Secret. But I think C in a Nutshell beats all other C books. (Especially when you read it together with C related chapters from The Art of Exploitation).

- Functional Programming in Scala - https://www.manning.com/books/functional-programming-in-scal... - I saw that other people suggested SICP, and I agree with that, it does a great job introducing to some parts of functional programming. But FPIS also introduces a strictly typed aspect of FP, functional parallelism, functional designs patterns... It's a great book.

- Concurrency in Go: Tools and Techniques for Developers - https://www.amazon.com/Concurrency-Go-Tools-Techniques-Devel... - I love the Go language and how it handles concurrency. This book does a great job of describing how the go runtime works, and does a great job explaining concurrency in general. Also there are a lot of good design patters in it.

- Professor Frisby's Mostly Adequate Guide to Functional Programming - https://github.com/MostlyAdequate/mostly-adequate-guide - It's not a textbook. This is the book that introduced me to FP. I love it, great book.

- Computer Systems: A Programmer's Perspective - https://www.amazon.com/dp/9332573905/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?... - This was the suggested textbook for https://courses.cs.washington.edu/courses/cse351/ that was also available on Coursera. Great book.

Read Molecular Biology of the Cell. It's an indispensable book for anyone studying or interested in cell biology and molecular genetics. It has been described as “the most influential cell biology textbook of its time.”

https://brucealberts.ucsf.edu/current-projects/molecular-bio...

https://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Sixth-Bruce-Alberts...

For further reading, I would highly recommend 'Molecular Biology of the Cell'

https://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-of-the-Cell/dp/0815...

MBOC is the book you're looking for by Alberts:

https://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/...

It's standard reading at the very least as intro grad/senior undergrad student in the biosciences.

Great book, well written, well curated.

Parent commenter is correct, DNA->function is massively complicated. The main wiki article to start with is:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_dogma_of_molecular_bio...

As the article notes, there are endless exceptions and edge cases. It links to various examples of those.

As a software engineer who decided to learn about biotech with absolutely no background, here is how I started:

- Organic Chemistry course on itunes U (don't remember which one, just first 4-5 lessons)

- Introduction to Genetics: A Molecular Approach by Terry Brown

- Virology course on iTunes U, by Vincent Racaniello - https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/w3310-virology-videocast...

- Molecular biology of the cell book ( https://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/... )

After going through that (took ~3 months full time), I went for a month to the Bay Area, went to Biocurious hackerspace, to get some practical experience, and within a month I did stuff like ordering custom dna online, and putting it into bacteria :)

All the above was sufficient to understand basics of whatever I'm reading now about biotech, and gain extra knowledge when necessary.

Some notes: - Virology may seem a weird addition, but the course by Racaniello is super-fun, and if you understand how viruses work, you will understand how everything else works - If, like me, you were afraid of Chemistry and Biology in high school, don't worry. Organic Chemistry deals just with just four basic elements, and Molecular Biology is really not much different from mechanics - not that much to remember, and a lot to understand. - Even if you complete just 3-4 first chapters of all the above, you will get nice foundations for understanding biotech. - There are bio hackerspaces in major cities in US (not so much in EU - regulations)

I recommend these biology books:

Molecular Cell Biology - Lodish

http://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Cell-Biology-Harvey-Lodish/d...

Molecular Biology of the Cell - Alberts

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0815344325/

⬐ forgotpwagain

For the HN audience, Physical Biology of the Cell may also be another useful perspective/introduction.

http://www.amazon.com/Physical-Biology-Cell-Rob-Phillips/dp/...

⬐ acqq

Thanks! The second edition has the preview on the Amazon too:

http://www.amazon.com/Physical-Biology-Cell-Rob-Phillips/dp/...

Looks worth the money, based on the pictures. However, as I browse through the text, the tone of the explanations seems to be a little casual, and the book more concentrating on "counting" than explaining the details presented with the pictures?

Otherwise it seems to be "what you get when a physicist gets to write about cells," is my impression right? It seems that Lodish and Alberts are better starts to learn the biological aspects?

⬐ sn9

Alberts is the canonical cell bio text in most undergraduate biology programs.

Phillips is more of an introduction to biophysics, so would require some degree of comfort with calculus and physics (e.g., classical mechanics, some E&M, and some statistical mechanics). The preface says only calculus and elementary physics is required.

⬐ searine

Classics.

I think I have a subtle preference for Alberts, rather than Lodish in terms of text, but I think the Lodish illustrations are better.

At this point I think I have three copies of Alberts stashed in various closets and trunks.

⬐ acqq

Looking in the Amazon description, 6.6 pounds each?

⬐ siyer

And you feel every ounce of those when reading them. Most good versions of this class of book are this heavy (typically prescribed for the late 'undergrad'/first year grad introductory class reading). The neuroscience equivalent (Kandel, Schwartz, Jessell) is 8.7 pounds, with very thin pages.

⬐ latj

The Processes of Life: An Introduction to Molecular Biology (MIT Press) Lawerence E. Hunter

This book great for people who want more than a pop-science book but less than a textbook.

http://amzn.com/0262013053

For the question "What are some of the best books to learn from that you recommend for a young startup founder?", I decided to transcribe the answers.

.

"Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future" - http://www.amazon.com/Zero-One-Notes-Startups-Future/dp/0804...

"Republic" - http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Hackett-Classics-Plato/dp/087... (classic, feel free to grab a PDF)

"The Principia : Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy" - http://www.amazon.com/Principia-Mathematical-Principles-Natu... (classic, feel free to grab a PDF)

"Thinking, Fast and Slow" - http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Fast-Slow-Daniel-Kahneman/dp/...

"Molecular Biology of the Cell" - http://www.amazon.com/Molecular-Biology-Cell-Bruce-Alberts/d... (different edition, forgive me; free through NCBI, thanks jkimmel!)

"Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age" - http://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-Computer/...

"The Supermen: The Story of Seymour Cray and the Technical Wizards Behind the Supercomputer" - http://www.amazon.com/Supermen-Seymour-Technical-Wizards-Sup... (note: "that one's particularly good")

"Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories" - http://www.amazon.com/Hateship-Friendship-Courtship-Loveship...

"The Score Takes Care of Itself: My Philosophy of Leadership" - http://www.amazon.com/Score-Takes-Care-Itself-Philosophy/dp/...

"The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time" - http://www.amazon.com/Beak-Finch-Story-Evolution-Time/dp/067...

"The Constitutional Convention: A Narrative History from the Notes of James Madison" - http://www.amazon.com/Constitutional-Convention-Narrative-Hi...

"The Art Of War for Lovers" - http://www.amazon.com/The-ART-WAR-FOR-LOVERS/dp/0671000632 (fixed! sorry about that...)

"Hold 'em Poker: For Advanced Players" - http://www.amazon.com/Hold-em-Poker-Advanced-Players/dp/1880...

"Solution Selling: Creating Buyers in Difficult Selling Markets" - http://www.amazon.com/Solution-Selling-Creating-Difficult-Ma...

"The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition" - http://www.amazon.com/Endurance-Shackletons-Legendary-Antarc...

"Winning" - http://www.amazon.com/Winning-Jack-Welch/dp/0060753943/

I wish he had answered in text. That would have made things easier :) However, I'm still very happy to have some new additions to my reading list!

⬐ josu

>"The Art Of War"

It actually is "The art of war for lovers" by Connell Cowan

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/317214.The_ART_OF_WAR_FO...

http://www.amazon.com/The-ART-WAR-FOR-LOVERS/dp/0671000632

⬐ striking

Thanks for correcting me. Those blurry frames can be tough.

⬐ josu

Yeah, I thought it was the Sun Tzu first too, which could as well be on his list. Thank you for compiling them.

⬐ None

None

⬐ jkimmel

Molecular Biology of the Cell (Alberts) is free through NCBI! Many investigators jokingly refer to it as 'the bible'.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK21054/

⬐ striking

Ooh, much appreciated! Especially since a new hardcover is ~$150. Edited to note this.

⬐ ousta

do you see any reason he put this book in the list?

⬐ kqr2

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like you can read it cover to cover or download it.

  By agreement with the publisher, this book is accessible by 
  the search feature, but cannot be browsed.

⬐ jkimmel

This is true. However, you can get to any topic you want easily using the search feature. A Table of Contents is provided, making front-to-back reading by topic pretty trivial.

I've taken many university courses using this book and managed to read all the required material on NCBI without much effort.

⬐ hashfav

This is great! Do you mind if we add it to the HashFav Page? We will credit you.

⬐ carleverett

You might want to make josu's correction above ^

⬐ hashfav

Thanks, we just did.

⬐ striking

I don't mind at all. Glad to be of service.

⬐ misiti3780

im surprised to see Republic in here

⬐ abrbhat

The Art of War one looks more like "The Art of War In The Middle Ages" by C.W.C.Oman

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/89265.The_Art_of_War_in_...

http://www.amazon.com/Art-War-Middle-Ages/dp/1481954636/ref=...

⬐ sama

This is correct--art of war in the Middle Ages.