As a kid and specifically in high school, where it counted, I was a terrible reader. I avoided reading as much as possible. Needless to say, my grades were not great. There was one notable exception to this was reading books about the Manhattan Project. It was the greatest acceleration of science that happened in the first half of the twentieth century leading to the atomic bomb. The Manhattan Project had collected some of the greatest minds from every field. I wanted to learn more about what happened and the individuals who participated. I wished I could be at their caliber and my awe over John Von Neumann is what lead me towards majoring in mathematics.
The books I remember reading as a kid:
- The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes
- Genius: The Life and Science of Richard Feynman by James Gleick
- Klaus Fuchs : The Man Who Stole the Atom Bomb by Norman Moss
- Surely You’re Joking Mr Feynman by Richard Feynman
- What Do You Care What Other People Think by Richard Feynman