I’ve read a lot of math and science articles over the past decade. Most were technical, some were pop-sci, and very few were philosphical. These are some of the math/science articles and forum posts that stick in my brain the most! I don’t agree with everything written but each gave me something to think about.

Academia and Society Link to heading

  1. What’s a Mathematician to do? by Bill Thurston

  2. On proof and progress in mathematics by Bill Thurston

  3. There’s more to mathematics than rigour and proofs by Terence Tao

  4. The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics by E. Wigner

  5. A Mathematician’s Apology by Thomas Hardy

Fundamental Writings in Physics Link to heading

  1. More is Different by P.W. Anderson Classic and

  2. Writing

Philosophy Link to heading

  1. Introduction to Objective Epistemology by Ayn Rand

I was given chapters of this as reading when I took “Introduction to Variational Calculus” with Professor Ulrich Gerlach. He espoused the necessity of philosophy in science and I tend to

  1. Mathematical Truth by P. Benacerraf

Research Link to heading

  1. Advice for PhD students by David Rolnick

  2. You and Your Research by J.F. Kaiser

  3. Principles of Effective Research by Michael Nielsen