# Readings [https://chemaclass.com/readings/](https://chemaclass.com/readings/) --- - `2026-06-21` [Meditations](/readings/meditations/index.md) The private notebook Marcus Aurelius wrote for himself while running an empire. Stoicism with the theory stripped out. - `2026-03-15` [The Art of Being Happy](/readings/the-art-of-being-happy/index.md) Schopenhauer's 50 rules for practical happiness, built on avoiding suffering rather than chasing pleasure. - `2026-02-04` [Notes from Underground](/readings/notes-from-underground/index.md) A bitter, hyper-conscious man retreats from society to wrestle with free will, spite, and the stubborn irrationality of human nature. - `2026-01-17` [Broken Money](/readings/broken-money/index.md) Lyn Alden traces monetary history through a technological lens, from commodity money to fiat to Bitcoin, and why the system fails. - `2025-06-22` [Principles of Economics](/readings/principles-of-economics/index.md) Saifedean Ammous on why prices rise and money loses value, told through the lens of Austrian economics. What stood out to me. - `2025-03-31` [The Road to Serfdom](/readings/the-road-to-serfdom/index.md) A quick and plain-English summary of Hayek's classic take on freedom, planning, and why good intentions can still go very wrong. - `2025-02-16` [Digital Minimalism](/readings/digital-minimalism/index.md) Cal Newport's philosophy is not about rejecting technology but using it with intention, to reclaim focus and reduce anxiety. - `2025-02-09` [Criptoria](/readings/criptoria/index.md) From Greece to Bitcoin: the milestones connecting mathematics, cryptography, computing and the struggle for individual sovereignty. - `2025-01-18` [Bitcoin with Rigor](/readings/bitcoin-with-rigor/index.md) A detailed analysis of how Bitcoin works, component by component, with its potential and its risks as a monetary experiment. - `2024-11-29` [Man's Search for Meaning](/readings/mans-search-for-meaning/index.md) Frankl shares his experience of the Holocaust and a philosophy about finding purpose even in the darkest of times. - `2024-08-02` [Bitcoin: A Work in Progress](/readings/bitcoin-wip/index.md) They say Bitcoin is old and boring. This book walks through its latest developments, seen by one of its own developers. - `2024-07-05` [Mastering Bitcoin](/readings/mastering-bitcoin/index.md) From the basics to the deepest technical details of how Bitcoin works. The guide for taking part in the Internet of Money. - `2024-06-21` [The Genesis Book](/readings/the-genesis-book/index.md) Bitcoin did not appear out of nowhere. The people and projects that spent decades trying to build money free of government control. - `2024-05-31` [The Phoenix Project](/readings/the-phoenix-project/index.md) An impossible project, people playing politics, and endless quick patches, instead of anyone helping the business thrive. - `2024-04-17` [Radical Candor](/readings/radical-candor/index.md) Kim Scott, former Google leader, on being a great manager: empathetic and results-oriented, where people can speak freely. - `2024-01-26` [The Lean Startup](/readings/the-lean-startup/index.md) Most startups fail, and many of those failures are preventable. The approach that changed how companies build and launch. - `2023-12-09` [Invincible](/readings/invincible/index.md) Marcos Vazquez combines stoic philosophy with modern psychology to train your mind for clarity, determination, and discipline in the face of adversity. - `2023-11-07` [The Alchemist](/readings/the-alchemist/index.md) Santiago, a shepherd boy, journeys towards the pyramids chasing a dream and learns what actually matters in life. - `2023-10-31` [Crucial Conversations](/readings/crucial-conversations/index.md) The tools to handle life's hardest conversations: say what is on your mind and still reach the resolution you want. - `2023-09-20` [It's Your Ship](/readings/its-your-ship/index.md) Michael Abrashoff on how he transformed the performance and culture of the USS Benfold, and the leadership principles behind it. - `2023-08-13` [The Day of the Triffids](/readings/the-day-of-the-triffids/index.md) Frightening and entirely plausible. Real people shaken out of the civilization they knew into a world dominated by triffids. - `2023-07-10` [The Book Of Satoshi](/readings/the-book-of-satoshi/index.md) Satoshi Nakamoto's emails and forum posts from 2008 to 2010: Bitcoin's creation, its design decisions and the vision behind it. - `2023-06-28` [Fahrenheit 451](/readings/fahrenheit-451/index.md) Ray Bradbury's dystopia about a fireman whose job is burning books, until a chance encounter makes him question all of it. - `2023-06-20` [The Blocksize War](/readings/the-blocksize-war/index.md) Jonathan Bier chronicles the Bitcoin blocksize war of 2015 to 2017: the players, the strategies, and who controls the protocol. - `2023-05-31` [Agile Project Management](/readings/agile-project-management/index.md) Waterfall projects ran over budget and shipped software nobody wanted to use. In 2001, a 68-word manifesto changed that. - `2023-04-17` [Effective Remote Work](/readings/effective-remote-work/index.md) An effective remote work environment is about treating everyone as remote, with everyone in mind having the same level, equality, and information. - `2023-03-19` [Accelerate](/readings/accelerate/index.md) The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High Performing Technology Organizations - `2023-03-11` [21 Lessons](/readings/21-lessons/index.md) Bitcoin as more than just money: a deep dive into economics, philosophy, and culture. Like Alice in Wonderland, exploring Bitcoin is full of surprises. - `2023-02-26` [Adapt or die](/readings/adapt-or-die/index.md) Told through the story of People First IT, this book lays out The Algorithm of Success for changing every part of an organization. - `2023-01-29` [The infinite game](/readings/the-infinite-game/index.md) From the bestselling author of Start With Why and Leaders Eat Last, a bold framework for leadership in today's ever-changing world. - `2022-12-17` [Momo](/readings/momo/index.md) Momo is a modern fairytale that shows the fight between good and evil in our contemporary society, focusing on the lack of time to care for other people. - `2022-11-28` [Recipes for Decoupling](/readings/recipes-for-decoupling/index.md) What coupling is and why it hurts. A compilation of strategies to decouple your domain code from infrastructure details. - `2022-10-29` [The Essential Drucker](/readings/the-essential-drucker/index.md) Twenty-six selections from Drucker on management in the organization, the individual and society. The principles that still hold. - `2022-09-30` [Dare to lead](/readings/dare-to-lead/index.md) Leadership is not about titles or power. It is about recognising potential in people and developing it. Courage over comfort. - `2022-08-21` [Continuous Discovery Habits](/readings/continuous-discovery-habits/index.md) Teresa Torres on a decision-making process that keeps product teams in touch with customers and improving what they ship. - `2022-08-01` [The Great CEO Within](/readings/the-great-ceo-within/index.md) How to scale from startup to company with a system of accountability, real problem solving and transparent feedback. - `2022-07-19` [The Starfish and the Spider](/readings/the-starfish-and-the-spider/index.md) Cut off a spider's head and it dies. Cut off a starfish's leg and it grows back. How decentralized organizations change business. - `2022-07-11` [Clean Craftsmanship](/readings/clean-craftsmanship/index.md) Uncle Bob on the three pillars of craftsmanship: TDD disciplines with examples, standards for teams, and a programmer's ethics. - `2022-06-29` [Modern Software Engineering](/readings/modern-software-engineering/index.md) Dave Farley presents software development as engineering at every level: becoming expert at learning and managing complexity. - `2022-05-10` [Bitcoin: Blockchain y su investigación](/readings/bitcoin-la-tecnologia-blockchain-y-su-investigacion/index.md) How is a Bitcoin address created? How do private and public keys become a wallet? A technical walk through the fundamentals. - `2022-04-29` [Docker: SecDevOps](/readings/docker-secdevops/index.md) A great book about Docker, from introduction to advanced concepts all covered by easy-to-follow examples. - `2022-03-31` [Team Topologies](/readings/team-topologies/index.md) Team structures and interaction modes that let teams adapt quickly and keep software delivery both fast and safe. - `2022-02-27` [The Psychology of Money](/readings/the-psychology-of-money/index.md) There is no reason to risk what you have and need for what you don't have and don't need. Timeless lessons on wealth, greed, and happiness. - `2022-01-23` [Modern CTO](/readings/modern-cto/index.md) Joel Beasley maps the jagged transition from developer to CTO: the challenges, the lessons and the things worth avoiding. - `2022-01-16` [Leaders Eat Last](/readings/leaders-eat-last/index.md) A company's real strength is never its products. It is its people, and their willingness to rally together when it gets hard. - `2022-01-08` [Jonathan Livingston Seagull](/readings/jonathan-livingston-seagull/index.md) A fable in novella form about a seagull who is trying to learn about life and flight, and a homily about self-perfection. - `2021-12-07` [The Five Dysfunctions of a Team](/readings/the-five-dysfunctions-of-a-team/index.md) A leadership fable about a tech company whose C level cannot agree on anything, and the new CEO who names the five dysfunctions. - `2021-11-28` [Start with Why](/readings/start-with-why/index.md) Why are some organizations more innovative and profitable? Why do so few repeat their success? Sinek starts from the why. - `2021-10-22` [Leadership is Language](/readings/leadership-is-language/index.md) Marquet dives into the sinking of the El Faro and surfaces with new ideas on how the language we use defines our leadership. - `2021-09-20` [The Bitcoin Standard](/readings/the-bitcoin-standard/index.md) The historical context behind Bitcoin, the economic properties that let it grow fast, and its political and social implications. - `2021-09-12` [Turn the Ship Around!](/readings/turn-the-ship-around/index.md) Marquet turned the submarine Santa Fe around by moving from leader-follower to leader-leader. On the limits of top-down hierarchy. - `2021-08-08` [The Catcher in the Rye](/readings/the-catcher-in-the-rye/index.md) The novel is a deeper reflection of Salinger's own youth, his complicated relationship with growing up and the generational trauma affected by World War II. - `2021-07-10` [Lord of the Flies](/readings/lord-of-the-flies/index.md) A group of British boys stranded on an uninhabited island try to govern themselves. It ends in disaster. - `2021-06-27` [Become an Effective Software Engineering Manager](/readings/effective-software-em/index.md) A solid compilation for engineering managers: 1:1s, performance reviews, hiring and firing, politics and remote work. - `2021-05-28` [Peopleware](/readings/peopleware/index.md) Software development is about people: when, how and where they work best together. Not about languages, tools or fast machines. - `2021-04-19` [The Art of Leadership](/readings/the-art-of-leadership/index.md) Leadership practices are small things done repetitively over time. Managers tell you where you are, leaders tell you where you're going. - `2021-04-05` [97 Things Every Engineering Manager should know](/readings/97-things-every-em-should-know/index.md) As a manager your work is to create clarity, clarity, and more clarity. - `2021-03-01` [Zombie Scrum Survival Guide](/readings/zombie-scrum-survival-guide/index.md) Zombie Scrum Survival Guide reveals why Scrum runs aground and shows how to supercharge your Scrum outcomes, while having a lot more fun along the way. - `2021-02-22` [Agile Product Management with Scrum](/readings/agile-product-management-with-scrum/index.md) Understanding the product owner’s role and envisioning the product. - `2021-01-31` [Stock market investing](/readings/stock-market-for-beginners/index.md) Stock market basics & essentials. - `2021-01-22` [One up on wall street](/readings/one-up-on-wall-street/index.md) Peter Lynch on how average investors can beat the pros by using what they already know. Opportunities are everywhere. - `2021-01-16` [Who moved my cheese?](/readings/who-moved-my-cheese/index.md) This book presents a tale inside the main story that consists of 4 characters: two mice, Sniff and Scurry, and two little persons, Hem and Haw. - `2021-01-15` [Rich dad poor dad](/readings/rich-dad-poor-dad/index.md) Explodes the myth that you need to earn a high income to become rich. - `2020-11-12` [Principles of package design](/readings/packaging-design/index.md) Package design principles for classes ready to be reused: the right balance of cohesion and coupling, for users and maintainers. - `2020-11-02` [Animal Farm](/readings/animal-farm/index.md) Orwell's political allegory about a farmyard rebellion that descends into tyranny, exposing how power corrupts even the most idealistic revolutions. - `2020-10-10` [Object design style guide](/readings/object-design-style-guide/index.md) Matthias Noback's practical guide to flexible, readable object-oriented code, useful in any OO language. - `2020-09-10` [Domain-Driven Design Distilled](/readings/domain-driven-design-distilled/index.md) Vaughn Vernon brings DDD down to earth, so developers, consultants and customers can all benefit from its power. - `2020-08-16` [Advanced Web Application Architecture](/readings/advance-web-application-architecture/index.md) Matthias Noback on levelling up your coding and architecture: modern PHP features with a genuinely modular design. - `2020-06-12` [Never split the difference](/readings/never-split-the-difference/index.md) Chris Voss, former FBI lead kidnapping negotiator, on negotiation techniques tested across the full spectrum of human stakes. - `2020-06-10` [Scrum](/readings/scrum-the-art-of-doing-twice/index.md) Sutherland on Scrum: how to define what you are trying to achieve, set up the team for it, and track progress to done. - `2020-05-21` [7 languages in 7 weeks](/readings/7-languages-in-7-weeks/index.md) A hands-on tour of Clojure, Haskell, Io, Prolog, Scala, Erlang and Ruby, and how differently each one thinks. - `2020-05-18` [The call of Cthulhu](/readings/call-of-cthulhu/index.md) Lovecraft's foundational cosmic horror tale about the discovery of an ancient underwater entity whose awakening threatens all of humanity and sanity itself. - `2020-05-16` [The metamorphosis](/readings/metamorphosis/index.md) Kafka's novella on alienation and identity. Gregor Samsa wakes as an insect and faces his family's revulsion. - `2020-05-13` [1984](/readings/1984/index.md) One of Britain's most popular novels, George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four is set in a society terrorised by a totalitarian ideology propagated by The Party. - `2020-04-03` [High Output Management](/readings/high-output-management/index.md) Andy Grove's Intel classic on managerial leverage, meetings, decisions and how to get the most output from a team. - `2020-03-26` [The Manager Path](/readings/the-manager-path/index.md) Camille Fournier maps the path from engineer to CTO: 1:1s, mentoring, and what changes at each level of technical leadership. - `2020-03-12` [Clean Agile](/readings/clean-agile/index.md) Back to basics on Agile: what it was, what motivated it, and what has happened to it since. Uncle Bob's account. - `2020-03-05` [Extreme Programming Explained](/readings/extreme-programming-explained/index.md) Kent Beck on XP, the most specific agile framework about engineering practice, and how it raises software and team quality. - `2020-02-20` [Symfony 5](/readings/symfony-5/index.md) Fabien Potencier's official guide to building web applications with Symfony 5, covering the framework from scratch to production deployment. - `2019-11-12` [Atomic Habits](/readings/atomic-habits/index.md) You do not need to think big to change your life. James Clear shows that real change comes from hundreds of small decisions. - `2019-07-01` [Working Effectively with Legacy Code](/readings/working-effectively-with-legacy-code/index.md) Michael Feathers on adding tests to untested code, breaking dependencies, and refactoring legacy systems safely. - `2018-08-10` [The Art of War](/readings/the-art-of-war/index.md) Sun Tzu's ancient treatise on strategy, and how its lessons on conflict and positioning still read today. - `2018-06-04` [Clean Architecture](/readings/clean-architecture/index.md) Uncle Bob on SOLID, component design and the architectural boundaries that keep a system flexible and testable. - `2017-03-20` [The Power of Habit](/readings/the-power-of-habits/index.md) Charles Duhigg on the science of habit: how habits form, why they exist, and how to rewire them for good. - `2016-10-01` [The Pragmatic Programmer](/readings/the-pragmatic-programmer/index.md) Key takeaways from Hunt and Thomas: DRY, the pragmatic mindset, and how to choose and master the tools of the trade. - `2016-09-01` [Sprint](/readings/sprint/index.md) A five-day formula for going from idea to prototype to decision, saving your team weeks of building the wrong thing. - `2016-08-01` [The Clean Coder](/readings/the-clean-coder/index.md) Uncle Bob on professional behaviour in software: time management, handling pressure, TDD, and what a craftsman actually owes. - `2016-07-15` [97 Things Every Programmer Should Know](/readings/97-things-every-programmer-should-know/index.md) 97 short, practical tips from experts on what every programmer should know, whatever language you use. - `2016-05-01` [Clean Code](/readings/clean-code/index.md) Bad code works, but it drags a whole organization down. Uncle Bob on what clean code is and how to keep it that way.