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Ask HN: Inspirational Biographies

Hey,

  I'm looking for biographies to read. Some that have really inspired me are:
Nikola Tesla Steve Jobs Steve Woz Larry Ellison Lance Armstrong

HN have suggestions? In general I'm intereted in stories of how everyday individuals became great.

Thanks!

( 7 comments | 6 points | on HN )
Re:Ask HN: Inspirational Biographies by SwellJoe on Monday August 17, 2009 @03:00AM (#767523)
I enjoyed all of Asimov's autobiographical books: In Memory Yet Green and In Joy Still Felt, and the posthumous memoir, I. Asimov. I'm a huge fan of Asimov's non-style literary style (clarity over all), and it works well in autobiography. If you like scifi, at all, Asimov was an eye witness to nearly its entire history from golden age onward, and thus worth reading. He's also perhaps one of the few truly credible witnesses to that history; a number of other genre favorites and stalwarts had psychological issues (Dick), personal feuds and vendettas (Ellison), an aversion to the community (Lem), or were just batshit crazy (Hubbard), and thus their accounts can't generally be taken without large grains of salt.
Re:Ask HN: Inspirational Biographies by antiform on Monday August 17, 2009 @03:40AM (#767567)
There are two biographies that I think should be required reading for wannabe Silicon Valley entrepreneurs: (1) High St@kes, No Prisoners by Charles H. Ferguson and (2) The New New Thing by Michael Lewis, about Jim Clark

And two that, while light on content (i.e. math), never fail to stimulate the childlike nature of my inner aspiring mathematician: (1) The Man Who Knew Infinity by Robert Kanigel, on Ramanujan and (2) The Man Who Loved Only Numbers by Paul Hoffman, on Paul Erdos.

Re:Ask HN: Inspirational Biographies by live_to_code on Monday August 17, 2009 @06:11PM (#769234)
Forgot Jim Clark. Really liked his story too.
Re:Ask HN: Inspirational Biographies by sidmitra on Monday August 17, 2009 @05:41AM (#767732)
"Surely, You're Joking Mr Feynman" was a fun read.
Re:Ask HN: Inspirational Biographies by asp742 on Monday August 17, 2009 @02:45AM (#767510)
I really enjoyed Isaacson's "Einstein: His Life and Universe".
Re:Ask HN: Inspirational Biographies by dmfdmf on Monday August 17, 2009 @05:40AM (#767731)
Chuck Yeager
Re:Ask HN: Inspirational Biographies by 321abc on Monday August 17, 2009 @05:54AM (#767750)
John von Neumann

Gottfried Leibniz

Helen Keller

Kyle Maynard

Brooke Ellison