Thinking books · Problem solving · Ozan Varol, 2020
Think Like a Rocket Scientist — the big ideas
First-principles thinking and experimentation, drawn from spaceflight engineering.
Free — no account needed to read
The big ideas
It distinguishes reasoning by analogy from reasoning from first principles, and is honest that the first is right most of the time and the second is for when it is not.
Test as you fly: an experiment that does not resemble the real conditions tells you about the experiment, not the thing.
It treats uncertainty as the working environment rather than a problem to eliminate, and argues for keeping options open longer than feels comfortable.
Practise it — no need to have read it
Take how you currently do something. For each part, mark whether it is a law or a convention someone chose. Rebuild using only the laws.
A hint: Then compare honestly with the conventional version. Sometimes the convention wins, and that is a result.
Where it shows up in real life
- Process design
- Challenging "how it is done here"
- Designing an experiment
Described in our own words with the source named — never quoted, and not a substitute for reading the book.
Thinking methods from this book
- First principles — Rebuilding from what you actually know rather than from how it is currently done.
The thinking it builds
- Problem Solving — Break complex problems into manageable parts
- Creative Thinking — Generate possibilities and new approaches