Person
Every book Hillel Wayne recommended on podcasts
Key facts
- Hillel Wayne has recommended or discussed 5 books on podcasts, as of July 29, 2026.
- Hillel Wayne has talked about books on 1 podcast, as of July 29, 2026.
- Those books came up in 1 episode, as of July 29, 2026.
- The 3 books Hillel Wayne has mentioned in the most episodes, as of July 29, 2026: Engineering a Safer World, Debugging and The Design of Everyday Things.
- The latest episode with a book mention from Hillel Wayne aired on July 29, 2026.
Updated
Hillel Wayne appeared on The Pragmatic Engineer to discuss formal methods in software engineering. During the conversation, he recommended several books that influenced him or offered practical insights. He shared an engineer's recommendation of Don Norman's The Design of Everyday Things as essential reading for engineers. He also recommended Nancy G. Leveson's Engineering a Safer World, noting that the author was an aeronautics engineer who investigated major disasters like the Therac-25 radiation case and the Columbia disaster, and observing that the book serves as a useful starting point for understanding how complex systems fail. Additionally, he recommended David Agans's Debugging, which he gives to junior engineers because it treats debugging as a discipline through a collection of war stories and basic principles. Wayne also touched on other books in discussion, mentioning Pete McBreen's Software Craftsmanship while contrasting traditional engineering with views of software as a creative field, and discussing Paul R. Bonenberger's The First Snap-Fit Handbook as an example of detailed knowledge compiled in another engineering field.
Books recommended by Hillel Wayne
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Engineering a Safer World
Engineering a Safer World by Nancy G.
Recommended“I'm going to just completely go 90° here and I'm recommend this book by um Nancy Leveson called Engineering a Safer World. Um she was an aeronautics engineer who investigated things like Therac-25 radiation case and like the Columbia disaster.”
Where to get it
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Debugging
Debugging by David Agans presents fundamental principles and real-world war stories to help practitioners systematically troubleshoot software failures.
Recommended“The last book is um called Debugging the Nine Simple Rules by David Agans. And it's literally just like a book of war stories about debugging and like basic principles. But this is the book that I give to every junior engineer”
Where to get it
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The Design of Everyday Things
The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman is a classic text on cognitive ergonomics and user-centered design that explores why certain products are intuitive while others cause frustration.
Recommended“one of the engineers that I talked about two favorite books, The Design of Everyday Things, which he recommends every engineer read, and The Snap-Fit Handbook.”
Where to get it
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Software Craftsmanship
Discussed“You see books like software craftsmanship, which talk about how like, oh, engineering is this really boring, slow field, and software is this incredibly creative, special, wonderful thing.”
Where to get it
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The First Snap-fit Handbook
Discussed“one of the engineers that I talked about two favorite books, The Design of Everyday Things, which he recommends every engineer read, and The Snap-Fit Handbook. ... And this was a 500-page book all about snap fits, their engineering, appropriate shapes, materials, etc.”
Where to get it
Books Hillel Wayne wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formal methods with Hillel Wayne | The Pragmatic Engineer | 2026-07-29 | 6 |
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“So, over here in this file that I wrote for my book, plug, I have a”