One of the best philosophical biographies available. Read about Wittgenstein's strange life, learn your way around his work, and get a detailed picture of Cambridge philosophy in the early 20th century.

One of my all-time favorite books. Bell gives short biographies on twenty-some of the most important thinkers in history. His stories and style are very engaging and often hilarious. While the book is not always as accurate as you might like, it is an excellent way to get a sense of how modern mathematics emerged and what the main debates are.

A solid biography of Alan Turing, whose life is so interesting, it is hard to tell badly. Leavitt has a slightly irritating writing style, but he lays out the narrative well and does a commendable job of explaining Turing's important to philosophy. Too much time is spent on the enigma code and not enough on the end of his life.

Forget the movie! This book is a page turner. It does great justice to Nash's struggle with Schizophrenia as well as his deep contribution to mathematics. I read it in a single Saturday; I just could not put it down.

A bit hard to find and not exactly a page-turner, but definitely worth a glimpse if you (1) love Quine, or (2) are interested in all of the excruciating minutiae of academic life in the middle part of the last century. I fall into both categories and found a great hardcover copy for 4 bucks at a used bookstore.