The Beginning of Infinity, by David Deutsch - Philosophy, Computer Science, Physics, and more. Deutsch is a physicist; his philosophy closely reflects this and nonetheless is not morally empty.
Anathem, by Neal Stephenson - This book + The Beginning of Infinity turned me into a Platonist. Seriously.
The Golden Apples of the Sun, by Isaac Asimov
Dark Integers - What if the rules of mathematics were physical and were dynamical?
The Secret Number - Did Dr. Tomlin discover Bleem, the integer between 3 and 4?
The Source, by James Michener - I read this before, during, and after my trip to Israel. It was an important part of understanding what the hell was going on.
The Information, by James Gleick
MOVIES
The Dark Knight Rises
Argo
The Hobbit
Apocalypse Now
Up
ARTICLES
Don’t Turn Left - Every highway intersection is obsolete.maybe
Safety Through Asymmetry - Burt Rutan designed a plane that can lose either engine but remain completely stable.
Realistic Space Combat - This guy is a nerd. His argument that belligerents in real space combat will have total situational awareness and its implications on strategy are convincing.
Divisibility by 7 is a Walk on a Graph - ÷7 is the first one where the divisibility rule is not “easy”. The complete rule is shown. The method promptly generalizes, though becomes more complex when the divisor has more digits.