I also kind of think everyone should read at least one biography, in particular of people who have become scientifically, intellectually, culturally, or politically influential.
Some biographies I’ve enjoyed in this vein:
Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers
The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes
Came here by searching for Frank Ramsey on the forum. I considered writing a post about the same biography you mentioned for the forum. It’s very humbling to see how much he already thought of, which we now call EA.
A related work I can recommend is “Exact Thinking in Demented Times: The Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science”
Some biographies I’ve enjoyed in this vein:
Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers
The Price of Peace: Money, Democracy, and the Life of John Maynard Keynes
Karl Marx: a Nineteenth-Century Life
Came here by searching for Frank Ramsey on the forum. I considered writing a post about the same biography you mentioned for the forum. It’s very humbling to see how much he already thought of, which we now call EA.
A related work I can recommend is “Exact Thinking in Demented Times: The Vienna Circle and the Epic Quest for the Foundations of Science”
Interesting. Can you say a bit more about what aspects of EA Ramsey had thought of, in your view? His views on discounting and probability?
I would love to read such a post!
Agreed — I think the Ramsey/Keynes-era Apostles would make an interesting case study of a ‘proto-EA’ community.
Gavin Leech has recently jotted down some thoughts on Ramsey here.