I also think histories and biographies can be great for high S/N nonfiction. Goo... | Hacker News

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		semi-extrinsic on Aug 8, 2015 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: Ask HN: Books with a high signal to noise ratio? I also think histories and biographies can be great for high S/N nonfiction. Good examples that I really enjoyed include "Ignition" by John D. Clark and "Excuse me sir, would you like to buy a kilo of isopropyl bromide?" by Max Gergel.

ridgeguy on Aug 8, 2015 | [–]

I'll second these picks as having lots of information wrapped up inside engaging writing.

Ignition: http://web.gccaz.edu/~wkehowsk/ignition.pdf

"Excuse me, sir...": ftp://www.fourmilab.ch/pub/etexts/www/gergel/isopropyl_bromide.pdf

maxerickson on Aug 9, 2015 | [–]

I greatly enjoyed 1776:

http://books.simonandschuster.com/1776/David-McCullough/9781...

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