Discussion of The Method, B.V. Koen. Oxford Univ. Press.
I've been reading this book which claims, among other things, that "All is Heuristic." It was written by a professor of engineering and discusses not only the engineer's method of problem solving but the human method of dealing with the world in general.
I'm not endorsing or recommending the book, BTW. It seems a little bit off the deep end for my way of thinking...but it is thought provoking.
OK, does somebody else have a book to discuss here?
A classic is G. Polya's How to Solve It. Ostensibly, the book is about how to go about solving math problems, where you have not been taught a solution method. It rambles far, though. For example, there is a little article titled "Rules of Style". It says, "The first rule of style is to have something to say. The second rule of style is to control yourself, when, by chance, you have two things to say; say first one, then the other, not both at the same time."
Most of the book is a collection of short articles, arranged in alphabetical order, something like Fowler's Modern English Usage. Other topics include the Inventor's Paradox (making the problem more general sometimes makes it easier), Signs of Progress (clues that you're searching along a good path), Symmetry (noticing when parts of a problem are interchangeable and exploiting that), a little history of heuristic, and lots more.
This book was my first introduction to heuristic. It taught me the word. -- Ben Kovitz.
Patterns of Plausible Reasoning 2 vols. - more mathematical, but not going beyond what a numerate person could grasp. Good supplement.
Computer focused from AI heyday.