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The 2025 reading list posted by the author on Borretti’s blog [1] offers a kaleidoscopic view of literature that intersects with software engineering, AI, and systems thinking. While the list contains classic novels, it also features seminal works on formal methods, knowledge representation, and computational modeling—domains that underpin modern development practices.

Formal Foundations in Fiction and Non‑fiction

Algebraic Models for Accounting Systems

The author notes that Algebraic Models for Accounting Systems “sets accounting on a modern, algebraic, formal foundation.” In practice, this mirrors the shift from procedural bookkeeping to declarative data models in modern ERP solutions. By formalizing accounting rules as algebraic structures, developers can apply theorem‑proving techniques to verify consistency, a practice increasingly adopted in high‑integrity financial systems.

Term Rewriting and All That

Franz Baader and Tobias Nipkow’s Term Rewriting and All That is highlighted as a text that “makes computation feel like a formal exercise.” Term rewriting underlies many compiler optimizations and symbolic AI engines. The book’s emphasis on confluent rewriting systems directly informs the design of domain‑specific languages and the correctness proofs of transformation pipelines.

Knowledge Representation: Logical, Philosophical, and Computational Foundations

John F. Sowa’s work is praised for its historical depth and practical relevance. Sowa’s approach—treating ontologies as first‑order theories—has become a cornerstone of semantic web technologies and AI reasoning engines. The author’s appreciation of Peirce and Whitehead signals a recognition that modern knowledge graphs owe their lineage to early logical formalism.

Simulating Worlds: From SimCity to Cyberiad

Building SimCity: How to Put the World in a Machine

Chaim Gingold’s oral history traces SimCity’s lineage from WWII fire‑control systems to cellular automata. The book’s narrative showcases how early simulation techniques evolved into the sophisticated agent‑based models that underpin today’s urban planning tools and autonomous vehicle simulators.

The Cyberiad

Stanislaw Lem’s The Cyberiad is described as a collection of fairy tales that, despite its humor, offers profound insights into algorithmic creativity. Several stories—such as the “Seventh Sally”—explore the limits of computation and the ethical dimensions of artificial life, themes that resonate with current debates on generative AI and algorithmic governance.

Biological Foundations of Information

What Is Life? by Erwin Schrödinger

Schrödinger’s 1935 treatise predates crystallography and NMR, yet it predicts the aperiodic, covalently bonded structure of genetic material. The author’s reflection on this work underscores how foundational physics informs computational biology, a field that now powers deep learning models for protein folding and drug discovery.

Narrative Insights into Tech Culture

The Apocalypse of Herschel Schoen

The author’s mention of this horror story, told through a developmentally‑disabled teenager’s eyes, hints at the late‑2000s internet forum culture. Such narratives mirror the informal, community‑driven knowledge sharing that fuels open‑source ecosystems.

The Northern Caves

This horror novel is noted for evoking the “Internet forum culture of the late 2000’s.” The interweaving of online discourse and narrative foreshadows how modern platforms shape storytelling, a phenomenon now evident in social media‑driven content creation.

Reflections

The 2025 reading list demonstrates that the boundaries between formal theory, simulation, and narrative are porous. As developers grapple with increasingly complex systems—whether building AI, orchestrating microservices, or modeling ecosystems—the insights gleaned from these books provide both practical frameworks and philosophical context.

By weaving together algebraic accounting, term rewriting, knowledge representation, and speculative fiction, the author offers a roadmap for technologists seeking depth beyond code. The convergence of rigorous logic and imaginative storytelling reminds us that the best solutions often arise at the intersection of disciplines.

[1] https://borretti.me/article/books-i-enjoyed-in-2025