Eda’s Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2023

5,459

pages read

books read

Eda Yilmaz

Shortest Book

195

pages

Cognitive Neuroscience by Michael S. Gazzaniga

Longest Book

689

pages

Average book length in 2023

363

pages

Most Shelved

3,201,679

people also shelved

Beyinde Ararken Bağırsakta Buldum by Serkan Karaismailoğlu

Least Shelved

1,895

people also shelved

Eda’s average rating for 2023

4.1

The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk

Highest Rated on Goodreads

4.38 average

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering by Richard Hamming

Eda’s first review of the year

it was amazing

Among the books I have read to this day, this one was one of the most remarkable and enlightening books. To begin, this book allows you to wander around a great mind and discover ideas that are familiar to you from somewhere yet not noticed well and veiled things you did not dare or know.

Hamming quotes from Pasteur many times and shall it be noted here as well: "Luck favors a prepared mind." He recognizes the luck factor, and further, states that Among the books I have read to this day, this one was one of the most remarkable and enlightening books. To begin, this book allows you to wander around a great mind and discover ideas that are familiar to you from somewhere yet not noticed well and veiled things you did not dare or know.

Hamming quotes from Pasteur many times and shall it be noted here as well: "Luck favors a prepared mind." He recognizes the luck factor, and further, states that in life there are many times you encounter luck, but, if you are prepared exploitation is possible. Overall, it is up to you to prepare yourself for the future whatever it sells. Well, this dragged me into thoughts for a while, since I have always thought that without luck based on initial conditions, such as genetics, family, society, etc., there was a limit to what a person can accomplish. By being they are solid factors, human is not limited to them. Quoting from the book "Change does not mean progress, but progress requires change."

Hamming makes you think about various concepts. Like;
"What is possible?->Science, What is likely to happen?->Engineering, What is desirable to happen?->Ethics"
"Perhaps, 'thinking' is not a yes-no thing; but maybe it is a matter of degree."
"Machines do not produce logical novelty when working properly, but they certainly produce psychological novelty."
"Thinking may be the way something is done rather than what is done."
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing-especially if you lack the fundamentals!"
"Language at first glance is just a discrete symbol system."
"An expert is one who knows everything about nothing; a generalist knows nothing about everything."
"The myopic view is the chief characteristic of a bureaucrat. To rise to the top you should have the larger view-at least when you get there."
"Great people tolerate ambiguity, they can both believe and disbelieve at the same time."
"To master the presentation of ideas, while books on the topic may be partly useful, I strongly suggest you adopt the habit of privately critiquing all presentations you attend and also asking the opinions of others."

Throughout the book, he provided guidance for me: "Most of the things I have been saying were not said to me; I had to discover them for myself."

Memorably, he ends the tour within his mind: "I have now told you in some detail how to succeed, hence you have no excuse for not doing better than I did. Good luck!" ...more

EDA’S 2023 BOOKS