Books like Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World

01

Outliers: The Story of Success

Malcolm Gladwell · Psychology

Outliers is Malcolm Gladwell's argument that exceptional success is less a product of individual genius or drive than it is of hidden advantages, timing, and accumulated opportunity.

A kindred science read.

02

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

Angela Duckworth · Psychology

Duckworth's central claim is that talent is overrated.

A kindred science read.

03

Thinking, Fast and Slow

Daniel Kahneman · Psychology

Thinking, Fast and Slow is Daniel Kahneman's account of the two cognitive systems that govern human thought.

A kindred science read.

04

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Carol S. Dweck · Psychology

Carol Dweck's central claim is simple but far-reaching: people hold one of two basic beliefs about their own abilities.

Both dig into learning.

05

The Art of Doing Science and Engineering

Richard Hamming · Science

Richard Hamming's book is based on a course he taught at the Naval Postgraduate School in the late 1980s, after a long career at Bell Labs where he made foundational contributions to information theory and computer science — the Hamming distance, Hamming codes, and various contributions to numerical methods all bear his name.

Shares learning and career development with Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.

06

Mastery

Robert Greene · Self-help

Mastery is Robert Greene's long account of how extraordinary human mastery develops — from childhood inclinations through apprenticeship through creative independence to the integration that characterizes true mastery.

Shares learning and career development with Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.

07

Moonwalking with Einstein

Joshua Foer · Science

Moonwalking with Einstein is Joshua Foer's account of spending a year training for and winning the United States Memory Championship, beginning as a journalist covering the event and ending as its champion.

Shares learning and expertise with Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.

08

Peak: Secrets from the New Science of Expertise

Anders Ericsson and Robert Pool · Science

Peak is Anders Ericsson's definitive account of deliberate practice — the specific type of focused, feedback-driven training that, more than any other factor, determines how expert people become in demanding fields.

Shares learning and expertise with Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World.

09

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution

Steven Levy · Science

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution is Steven Levy's account of the community of computer enthusiasts who drove the digital revolution from the late 1950s through the early 1980s — the original hackers of MIT's Tech Model Railroad Club and later AI lab, the hardware hackers of the Bay Area Homebrew Computer Club, and the software entrepreneurs who built the early PC industry.

Both dig into creativity.

10

Make It Stick

Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger and Mark A. McDaniel · Science

Make It Stick is a book about how memory actually works, and why the study techniques most people rely on — re-reading, highlighting, massed practice — are among the least effective ways to learn.

Both dig into learning.

11

Rest: Why You Get More Done When You Work Less

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang · Science

Rest makes a case that most of what we think of as productive work is actually counterproductive when pushed past certain thresholds, and that deliberate, well-structured rest is not the opposite of work but a necessary component of it.

Both dig into creativity.

12

Subtract: The Untapped Science of Less

Leidy Klotz · Science

Subtract is built on a finding from Leidy Klotz's research at the University of Virginia: when people are asked to improve something, they default overwhelmingly to addition.

Both dig into creativity.