I have so many books I treasure that it’s hard to select one. In my early years, it was E. T. Bell’s Development of Mathematics that gave me a perspective on the origins of this great body of human insight that we call “mathematics.” Since then, I’ve read tens of thousands of books on all topics from quantum physics to philosophy. Most recently, I’ve gained insights about our visceral and rational modes of thinking described by Kahneman in his book, Thinking, Fast and Slow. In English literature, I’ve enjoyed insights into human nature presented in the plays of Shakespeare, Shaw and Goethe. It seems to me that each time we read a great book, our view of the world is slightly modified and the cumulative effect of all these refinements to our thinking sometimes crystallizes into what we call “wisdom.”
