According to the practice Ask questions while you read.
These questions are important to the processes of Analytical reading and to Criticise the book rationally.
- What kind of book is this? See Categories of books.
- What this book is about, in summary?
- What problem does the author try to solve? For practical books: what goals does the author have, what does they want to achieve with the proposed practice?
- What is the structure of the book's argument?
- What are the author's key propositions and arguments?
- Which questions has the author actually answered (and what are their answers = solutions) and which did they fail to answer?
- Did they raise any new problems?
- Is this true? For practical knowledge, see Criteria of practical truth.
- What of it? For practical knowledge, Practice what you believe is true.
Reading science
When reading science, of the general questions of reading expository books, focus on "What problem does the author try to solve?", because our layman responsibility when reading science is understanding the philosophy and history of science, not advancing to its frontier.
Contra to this argument: ‣.
Related:
See also:
References