Engineering

An eighteen-month reading plan for engineering fundamentals: systems thinking, biomimicry, and failure and resilience, one book at a time.

· Updated Jun 2, 2025

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Core Focus Areas

  • Systems Thinking
  • Human-Centered Design
  • Failure and Resilience
  • Engineering Fundamentals
  • Nature & Biomimicry
  • Personal Development Mindset
Month Book Why?
1 The Design of Everyday Things – Don Norman Foundation of design. Teaches how people interact with systems.
1 How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big – Scott Adams Cultivates resilience and anti-fragility.
2 Thinking in Systems – Donella Meadows Master feedback loops, leverage points, system failure.
3 Success Through Failure – Henry Petroski Learn how innovation arises from error.
4 Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down – J.E. Gordon Grounding in physical forces & mechanical intuition.
5 The Gecko's Foot – Peter Forbes Nature-inspired engineering: the real edge.
6 Designing Regenerative Cultures – Daniel Wahl Systems + sustainability + culture as unified practice.
7 Sustainable Materials – With Both Eyes Open Understand the materials bottlenecks of your utopia.
8 Engineer to Win – Carroll Smith Mindset for high performance and real-world systems.
9 Human Compatible – Stuart Russell AI alignment, ethics: the most serious risks.
10 The Systems Bible – John Gall How complex systems fail; you'll laugh and learn.
11 An Astronaut's Guide to Life – Chris Hadfield Discipline, humility, and awe (from an edge profession).
12 The Future We Choose – Figueres & Rivett-Carnac Systems-level, climate-focused vision for action.
13 The Selfish Gene – Richard Dawkins Understand how complex systems emerge and evolve.
14 The Beginning of Infinity – David Deutsch Deep thinking on progress, science, and optimism.
15 Architects of Intelligence – Martin Ford Survey of the future of AI from the experts themselves.
16 How Do Wings Work? – Holger Babinsky Advanced, focused study of physics and engineering myths.
17–18 Your Own Exploration – Start diving into research papers, e.g., from arXiv, Nature AI, or MIT Media Lab Practice evaluating new ideas critically & systemically.