Start Here: A Quick Introduction
Hello! I’m Malhar, an incoming college freshman at The University of Chicago (Class of 2028).
I love learning and reading across a wide range of disciplines. I am a big admirer of Richard Feynman and Claude Shannon.
Some of my favourite books are:
Gödel, Escher, Bach by Douglas Hofstadter. Beyond brilliant. An extraordinarily profound, interdisciplinary book on consciousness/intelligence and how it arises from inanimate matter. Explores an enormous breadth and depth of ideas along the way: formal mathematical systems, music theory, self-referential paradoxes, DNA structures, chess engines, and recursion are just a few examples. I wish there were more books like this.
Zero To One by Peter Thiel. Most people think of this as a business book, but I think it is a deeply profound guide on building the future one envisions.
The Beginning of Infinity by David Deutsch. A brilliant exposition on epistemology, physics, optimism and the power of explanations. Each page is filled with pure wisdom. For those in a hurry, my favourite chapter is #10, a profound dialogue on culture, mindsets and attitudes towards knowledge (easy to read too!) Also check out his work on Constructor Theory.
Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. Applies a scientific prism to comics, to illuminate fascinating perspectives on their effectiveness: distributions of various types of transitions between panels, for example. Written as a comic about comics, it is reminiscent of strange loops and is the perfect book to read after GEB. Check out this Ted Talk by the author. (Tip: read it together with Scale by Geoffrey West.)
Alchemy by Rory Sutherland. A wonderful read on the underappreciated role of perception in creating value. Great ideas on creativity too. Watch some of the author’s talks to get a taste for his ideas (start here and here), or read this transcript of my interview with him.
Surely You’re Joking, Mr Feynman by Richard Feynman. A compilation of colourful anecdotes from one of my heroes and role models. Provides rich insight into the man behind the physics. Read this post by Caltech to understand his personality. (Feynman’s Rainbow by Leonard Mlodinow is also amazing.)
A Mind At Play by Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman. A biography of another role model and hero of mine, Claude Shannon. The book has remarkable insights into his breadth and depth of curiosity (he wrote an academic paper on the mathematics of juggling!) Read this article by the authors. Some of my notes from the book here. You can also read this transcript of my interview with the author.
A Man For All Markets by Edward Thorp. An autobiography of a brilliant mind, who did a PhD in mathematics, pioneered card counting in blackjack, was the first outside investor in Citadel, and predicted Warren Buffett’s success and Bernie Madoff’s fall decades before they happened — not to mention that he collaborated with Claude Shannon to build the world’s first ever wearable computer.
Finite and Infinite Games by James Carse. A beautiful philosophy of infinite play, built up through logical reasoning from simple axioms.
Red Notice by Bill Browder. A memoir that is best described as a non-fiction thriller. A mind-boggling yet true story that goes from investing in Russia to taking on the oligarchs and becoming Putin’s enemy, the book is unputdownable. I have gifted it to non-readers who have thanked me profusely, saying it’s the first book they’ve actually read in their entire life.
Poor Charlie’s Almanack, edited by Peter Kaufman. A compilation of talks and insights from one of my favourite thinkers, Charles Munger.
Algorithms To Live By by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths. A whirlwind tour of theoretical computer science: algorithms (least recently used, merge sort etc.), optimisation (e.g., 37% rule for secretary problem), game theory and much more. Full of very interesting ideas and highly readable too.
Freakonomics by Steven Levitt. An extremely curious mind goes down multiple rabbit holes on interesting economic situations — the organisational structure of criminal gangs, the incentives of real estate agents, why schoolteachers cheat etc.
More Money Than God by Sebastian Mallaby. An excellent book on hedge funds. Extremely thoroughly-researched (as is the author’s other book, The Power Law, which I highly recommend too.) An absolute page-turner; unputdownable.
The Art of Learning by Josh Waitzkin. Magnificent insights on peak performance, explored through the lenses of chess and martial arts but with ideas that transfer to almost any creative discipline. (Tip: read it in conjunction with Rahul Dravid: Timeless Steel, edited by ESPN Cricinfo.)
Moneyball by Michael Lewis and A Beautiful Mind by Sylvia Nasar. The books go into much more detail than the movies and are well worth reading.
As for online readings, I recommend these pearls of wisdom by an MIT mathematician; this profile of Jim Simons by Bloomberg; and this write-up explaining AlphaFold.
I always enjoy discussing ideas, so feel free to reach out!
Feedback and reading recommendations are invited at malhar.manek@gmail.com