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Patrick Collison's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Patrick Collison recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Patrick Collison's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1

A Pattern Language

Towns, Buildings, Construction

At the core of A Pattern Language is the philosophy that in designing their environments people always rely on certain ‘languages,’ which, like the languages we speak, allow them to articulate and communicate an infinite variety of designs within a formal system which gives them coherence.

This book provides a language of this kind. It will enable making a design for almost any kind of building, or any part of the built environment. ‘Patterns,’ the units of this language, are answers to design problems: how high should a window sill be?; how many stories should a building...
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Patrick CollisonParticularly great. (Source)

Liz Lambert[The author] is a writer and a thinker about architecture and about how we build. (Source)

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2
How does one go about organizing something as complicated as a strategic-missile or space-exploration program? Stephen B. Johnson here explores the answer—systems management—in a groundbreaking study that involves Air Force planners, scientists, technical specialists, and, eventually, bureaucrats. Taking a comparative approach, Johnson focuses on the theory, or intellectual history, of "systems engineering" as such, its origins in the Air Force's Cold War ICBM efforts, and its migration to not only NASA but the European Space Agency.

Exploring the history and politics of aerospace...
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Recommended by Patrick Collison, and 1 others.

Patrick Collison@zackkanter Isn’t it a great book? (Source)

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3
Modern Singapore is a miracle. Half a century ago it unwillingly became an independent nation, after it was thrown out of the Malay Federation. It was tiny, poor, almost devoid of resources, and in a hostile neighborhood. Now, this unlikely country is at the top of almost every global national index, from high wealth and low crime to superb education and much-envied stability. But have these achievements bred a dangerous sense of complacency among Singapore's people?

Nicholas Walton walked across the entire country in one day, to grasp what it was that made Singapore tick, and to...
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Recommended by Patrick Collison, and 1 others.

Patrick Collison@jaimani I love that book... (Source)

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4
Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when it was granted independence in 1965. How is it, then, that today the former British colonial trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis with not only the world's number one airline, best airport, and busiest port of trade, but also the world's fourth–highest per capita real income?

The story of that transformation is told here by Singapore's charismatic, controversial founding father, Lee Kuan Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation of the Second World War, and general poverty and disorder following...
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Herman MashabaAt long last - Just finished reading this great & profound book by Lee Kuan Yew. This is a MUST read book https://t.co/apwQTxev4A (Source)

Patrick Collison@jaimani I love that book... (Source)

Xi-Wei YeoNon-fiction, I’d definitely credit From Third World to First: The Singapore Story by Lee Kuan Yew as one of my key inspirations. Lee Kuan Yew was one of the greatest leaders and thinkers of the 20th Century, and as a Singaporean, understanding his struggles and candidness behind his “hard” decisions was revelatory. (Source)

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5
The Beginning of Infinity: Explanations That Transform the World less

Mark ZuckerbergReading has given me more perspective on a number of topics — from science to religion, from poverty to prosperity, from health to energy to social justice, from political philosophy to foreign policy, and from history to futuristic fiction. This challenge has been intellectually fulfilling, and I come away with a greater sense of hope and optimism that our society can make greater progress in... (Source)

Chris AndersonA remarkable argument for the power of knowledge—as not just a human capability but as a force that shapes the universe. (Source)

Chris AndersonA remarkable argument for the power of knowledge—as not just a human capability but as a force that shapes the universe. (Source)

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