When has a book in one field helped you in a seemingly unrelated one?

I’ve just finished Scott Aaronson’s Quantum Computing Since Democritus this week (making a list of the books I wanted to read has really helped me prioritize them!), and I’d like all of your help in prepping what’s going to be a segment I do on it this week for my radio show.

Quantum Computing Since Democritus falls into the same category for me as Flatland — it’s a book about a technical field, where most of the benefit I get out of reading it is not the increased knowledge of/mastery of the field I happen to be reading about, but the way it illuminates a different topic, or the tools it gives me to carry elsewhere

In Flatland’s case, I found some of the spatial reasoning skills I picked up helped with writing and speaking — I had an easier time mentally holding onto the path I would take through the network of related points I would make.

I’d love to hear some of your own examples, even just as “X helped me with Y” or as longer stories.  Please let me know if you’re ok with me sharing your examples, and if you’d like to be credited by name for an anecdote.

And include book recommendations, where relevant!  Heaven knows I will be.