I've mentioned it on the blog before, and have known of its existence since reading about it in 'The Whole Earth Catalog' back in the early 80's, but I never read it or owned a copy. I don't know why.
As a Christmas present to myself I dipped into the used book well at Amazon, and fished out a copy. It was published in the late 70's, and there are specifics that are out-of-date, but the philosophy and ideas will remain relevant. I'm glad I'm finally getting around to this, both the reading of the book, and the further refinement of my learning skills.
There are a bunch of great quotes scattered through the book, here's one:
There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better or worse as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that part of the ground which is given him to till. Self-Reliance - Ralph Waldo Emerson
In the how-to section on learning, one of his chief points is to start a 'Learning Log'. In some ways, this blog is already a sketch. I am starting another section, in its own blog, to log the record of the SICP study group we are beginning. This may prove to be one too many places to record my/our progress, but I do see it as distinct from the yahoo group, as the group is directed toward the group's progress, where the blog will record my own. As with all else, we'll see how it goes.