Every Tool's a Hammer
imperative how-to for creativity.” —Nick Offerman Adam Savage—star of Discovery Channel’s Mythbusters and one of the most beloved figures in science and tech—shares his golden rules of creativity, from finding inspiration to following through and successfully making your idea a reality. Every Tool’s a Hammer is a chronicle of my life as a maker. It’s an exploration of making and of my own productive obsessions, but it’s also a permission slip of sorts from me to you. Permission to grab hold of the things you’re interested in, that fascinate you, and to dive deeper into them to see where they lead you. Through stories from forty-plus years of making and molding, building and breaking, along with the lessons I learned along the way, this book is meant to be a toolbox of problem solving, complete with a shop’s worth of notes on the tools, techniques, and materials that I use most often. Things like: In Every Tool There Is a Hammer—don’t wait until everything is perfect to begin a project, and if you don’t have the exact right tool for a task, just use whatever’s handy; Increase Your Loose Tolerance—making is messy and filled with screwups, but that’s okay, as creativity is a path with twists and turns and not a straight line to be found; Use More Cooling Fluid—it prolongs the life of blades and bits, and it prevents tool failure, but beyond that it’s a reminder to slow down and reduce the friction in your work and relationships; Screw Before You Glue—mechanical fasteners…
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- Currently reading: This Inevitable Ruin (DCC Book 7) by Matt Dinniman - Back to DCC after interrupting it for Red Rising, which is another fantastic series judging by the first book.
Deep Work by Cal Newport - Going through this book to help my focus, especially in the super-connected world we find ourselves in.
Every Tool's a Hammer by Adam Savage - Huge fan of Adam Savage and it is fun reading stories about him establishing himself and his views on making.
I'm also planning a reread of "Fall; or, Dodge in Hell" by Neal Stephenson as his references to greater and greater resources being used for supplying computer power seems dangerously relevant to our current data center arms race our world is watching.
- "Einstein's Fridge" was great to learn about the history and development of thermodynamics at a fairly high level.
"Good Inside" on becoming a better parent was also great and taught me a lot.
"Every Tool's a Hammer" on becoming a better maker.
"Crafting Interpreters" on learning about and building compilers.
All were really great reads.
- I'm glad to see this as an outline, which is how I structure most of my project work. It can be hard for others to follow, but it's very concise and scannable (just read the first indentation level for the top-level idea).
To paraphrase Adam Savage from his excellent book, Every Tool's a Hammer, lists [of lists] are very powerful way to tame the inherit complexity of any project worth doing.
- Off the top of my head...
- Snow Crash - Neal Stephenson: it has its flaws but is still a rocket ride through a not-so-farfetched cyberpunk dystopia. I love the tongue-in-cheek nature of it as well "Hiro Protagonist" being the main character :D
- Extreme Ownership - Jocko Willink and Leif Babin: a different take on leadership than I've read previously, once you get through the first couple bits on "we're SEALs and badass" sort of stuff there's some amazingly good leadership qualities on display.
- Every Tool's a Hammer - Adam Savage: As a weekend warrior maker, this book speaks to my soul. It gives my brain permission to make mistakes and learn in a way that few others have.
- Michael Pollan: pretty much anything written by him has wit, intelligence, research, practical experience, etc. Love his writer's voice and most of his audiobooks seem to be read by him, a fun bonus!
- IMO give paper lists -- or maybe something like Notes on an iPad with an Apple Pencil if you're really married to digitization -- a fair shake. Sometimes I find my brain needs the tactile/concreteness to really build motivation.
Even just checking a box on paper! No book is going to solve the problem for you, but "Every Tool's a Hammer" (Adam Savage, of Mythbusters and Tested fame) I found to be a great little memoir about learning how to be a self-directed maker.
- Not specifically about programming, but "Every Tool's a Hammer" by Adam Savage was really good. Tons of good information in here, and it tickles the Mythbusters itch.
Are you looking for books about a programming language? or about methodologies, patters, best practices, etc.
As far as about specific programming languages, personally I think the internet is a far better resource. Books are better for the "Soft"er skills (communication, design, etc)
Here are a few I've enjoyed:
* The Phoenix Project
* Accelerate
* Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World
* Rework
Finally, if you've never read "How to win Friends & Influence people", do it now! I'm 34 and for whatever reason put off reading this until last month. I wish I had read that book 10 years ago. I'll definitely be adding it to my re-read list as there is a TON of good advice for building relationships, which is arguably more important than many technical things.
