Top Hacker News Book Recommendations in Engineering & Transportation (all time)

All Time Past 6 Months

How We Got to Now: Six Innovations That Made the Modern World

Steven Johnson

4.6 on Amazon

12 HN comments

The Knowledge: How to Rebuild Civilization in the Aftermath of a Cataclysm

Lewis Dartnell

4.5 on Amazon

12 HN comments

Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth

R. Buckminster Fuller and Jaime Snyder

4.7 on Amazon

12 HN comments

The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming (New York Review Books Classics)

Masanobu Fukuoka, Larry Korn, et al.

4.7 on Amazon

11 HN comments

The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels

Alex Epstein

4.8 on Amazon

11 HN comments

Cancer as a Metabolic Disease: On the Origin, Management, and Prevention of Cancer

Thomas Seyfried

4.5 on Amazon

9 HN comments

The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World

Simon Winchester and HarperAudio

4.6 on Amazon

8 HN comments

Rocket Propulsion Elements

George P. Sutton and Oscar Biblarz

4.7 on Amazon

7 HN comments

A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam

Neil Sheehan

4.7 on Amazon

7 HN comments

The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier

Ian Urbina, Jason Culp, et al.

4.5 on Amazon

7 HN comments

Flight: The Complete History of Aviation

R.G. Grant and Smithsonian Institution

4.8 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World

Mark Miodownik

4.6 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Anti-Tech Revolution: Why and How

Theodore John Kaczynski

4.7 on Amazon

6 HN comments

How Innovation Works: And Why It Flourishes in Freedom

Matt Ridley and HarperAudio

4.6 on Amazon

5 HN comments

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World

David W. Anthony, Tom Perkins, et al.

4.5 on Amazon

5 HN comments

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140amonJuly 28, 2015

Ian Urbina's "The Outlaw Ocean" serie is quite the fascinating and nicely researched read - http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/24/world/the-outl...

hoveringhenonNov 8, 2020

For anyone even mildly interested in crime, exploitation, vigilantes and other human stories across the oceans, check out The Outlaw Ocean by NYT journalist Ian Urbina. Brilliant work.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43345615-the-outlaw-ocea...

freewilly1040onDec 7, 2020

A great recent book that touches on the topic of overfishing and ecological damage to the oceans is: The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier by Ian Urbina.

hnzixonAug 14, 2020

There doesn't seem to be details about the cause of the collision as yet. However for a candid look at the grim reality of the maritime industry, and how these kinds of disasters are far too common, I highly recommend The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina. The human trafficking elements are particularly disturbing.

phillc73onApr 22, 2021

I'd like to make a book recommendation. The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina. When I read this 12 months ago, I felt it was one of the most powerful accounts of the pillages still occurring in the world's oceans, as well as the horrific conditions many fishermen are forced to live in. I won't link to Amazon, but here is a review of the book: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/02/the-outlaw-oce...

There's an associated website: https://www.theoutlawocean.com/

ornornoronDec 31, 2020

For a truly eye opening read about how abysmal conditions are for crews at sea, how slavery still is very very real today at sea, and how most fish is caught illegally by crews of slaves, I highly recommend reading The Outlaw Ocean by Ian Urbina. It’s very sobering and after reading it, I’m absolutely not surprised that cruise lines get away with treating their staff like they did.

golesonDec 12, 2019

* Rise and Kill First: A history of Israel viewed through their Intelligence and targeted assassination programs. Interesting insights into the individuals and departments that shaped the country and in turn region. According to the author, the Israelis had scrambled jets on multiple occasions to shoot down public airliners thought to be carrying Yasser Arafat. This was only thwarted by individuals intentionally delaying the process. Includes insights into history of the internal debate over the legality and morality of killing other nations non-combatants, sometimes on their soil.

* The Outlaw Ocean: Journeys Across the Last Untamed Frontier:
Collection of stories written for the New York Times by reporter Ian Urbina. Only a dozen or so miles off-shore there are no enforced laws. Floating armories, slavery, dumping pollution, over fishing, abortion. Interesting to think all that goes on in the ocean that never really enters the public conscious.
[https://www.npr.org/2019/08/21/751707831/the-outlaw-ocean-a-...]

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