Codes, Forgeries, and the Age of Credulity
This reading list asks how people in a given era come to believe a lie, rather than simply cataloguing curiosities.
Smoke and Fire of Every Trade: A Grassroots History of Obscure Occupations
This reading list centers on ways of making a living that rarely enter official histories—obscure trades, occupational groups caught between identities, and ordinary people pushed to the margins by their times.
Civilizations in Motion: Ten Books on Eurasian Exchange
This reading list treats “civilization” as a product of movement and collision rather than as isolated units. In selecting titles, it prioritizes two kinds of works: those that offer cross-regional comparison and a global-history framework, and those that begin from the concrete movement of technologies, species, religions, and institutions to reexamine how different civilizations shaped one another. The list is divided into three parts: first, general works that establish a comparative perspective and global connections,
From Manuscript to Print: Changes in Books and Reading
This reading list examines how books moved from manuscripts and printed editions toward modern media, and how reading practices participated in the transmission of knowledge. In selecting titles, it prioritizes whether they offer key questions in book history and edition studies, methodological models, and verifiable experience in printing and publishing, rather than general reflections on reading. The list is divided into three parts: first, it establishes macro coordinates through global book history and case studies in reading history; then it enters
Throughput, Storage, and Indexing: High-Concurrency Systems Internals
This reading list is aimed at senior programmers who already have backend development experience and want to move one layer down from the application layer. The selection criterion is whether a book can explain the structural problems of high-concurrency systems rather than stopping at framework usage. The books cover an overview of system architecture, the performance foundation, high-throughput network I/O, distributed storage and consistency, and search engine indexing pipelines, with emphasis on principles, source code, or implementable architecture.
Cargo, Monsoons, and Ports: An Alternative Modern History
This reading list does not seek to connect modern history through dynastic succession or the rise and fall of great powers; instead, it lowers the lens to goods, shipping routes, ports, and trading firms, asking how networks formed, how nodes operated, and how rules were made. There are three selection criteria: first, use specific materials or maritime regions as entry points; second, show the organizations and institutions involved in cross-regional exchange; third, avoid focusing on only a single country
Smoke and Fire of Every Trade: A Grassroots History of Obscure Occupations
This reading list centers on ways of making a living that rarely enter official histories—obscure trades, occupational groups caught between identities, and ordinary people pushed to the margins by their times.
Civilizations in Motion: Ten Books on Eurasian Exchange
This reading list treats “civilization” as a product of movement and collision rather than as isolated units. In selecting titles, it prioritizes two kinds of works: those that offer cross-regional comparison and a global-history framework, and those that begin from the concrete movement of technologies, species, religions, and institutions to reexamine how different civilizations shaped one another. The list is divided into three parts: first, general works that establish a comparative perspective and global connections,
From Manuscript to Print: Changes in Books and Reading
This reading list examines how books moved from manuscripts and printed editions toward modern media, and how reading practices participated in the transmission of knowledge. In selecting titles, it prioritizes whether they offer key questions in book history and edition studies, methodological models, and verifiable experience in printing and publishing, rather than general reflections on reading. The list is divided into three parts: first, it establishes macro coordinates through global book history and case studies in reading history; then it enters
Throughput, Storage, and Indexing: High-Concurrency Systems Internals
This reading list is aimed at senior programmers who already have backend development experience and want to move one layer down from the application layer. The selection criterion is whether a book can explain the structural problems of high-concurrency systems rather than stopping at framework usage. The books cover an overview of system architecture, the performance foundation, high-throughput network I/O, distributed storage and consistency, and search engine indexing pipelines, with emphasis on principles, source code, or implementable architecture.
Cargo, Monsoons, and Ports: An Alternative Modern History
This reading list does not seek to connect modern history through dynastic succession or the rise and fall of great powers; instead, it lowers the lens to goods, shipping routes, ports, and trading firms, asking how networks formed, how nodes operated, and how rules were made. There are three selection criteria: first, use specific materials or maritime regions as entry points; second, show the organizations and institutions involved in cross-regional exchange; third, avoid focusing on only a single country