4 ms·

They weren't written in 2018, but some I enjoyed: * Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution (Steven Levy) * Masters of DOOM (David Kushner) * The simpsons

They weren't written in 2018, but some I enjoyed: * Hackers: Heroes of the computer revolution (Steven Levy) * Masters of DOOM (David Kushner) * The simpsons and their mathematical secrets (Simon Singh) * Countdown to zero day (about stuxnet, by Kim Zetter) * Sapiens: A brief history of human kind (Yuval Noah Harari) * Coders at work (Some interviews, not all, but I enjoyed it. By Peter Seibel)

jmcgough 8y ago
Masters of DOOM is amaaazing, really made me into a John Carmack fan.
- phaus 8y ago
  Really? I admired his accomplishments before I even read this book (which is an amazing read), but it kind of makes him seem like a sociopath.
  - unmole 8y ago
    The book keeps getting recommend on HN presumably by true fans of DOOM. Apart from a few brilliant bits scattered throughout, it was a disappointing read for me.
    - rchaud 8y ago
      I liked the book because it was pretty fast paced and gave insights into the PC game industry of the '80s and '90s, which I didn't know anything about. The rest of it I feel like I enjoyed because I was a kid in the '90s who loved Doom and Quake.
      - Insanity 8y ago
        As for me, I was quite a 'hardcore' gamer in the late 90s early 2000s. So it was interesting to read where the games that I've played came from, because they owe a lot to DOOM. The first game I remember playing was Wolfenstein 3-D. Or well, my father played it mainly and I watched, and only occasionally dared to play it myself. So perhaps for me it was more the nostalgia of Wolfenstein rather than DOOM that did it :) I always admired Carmack, even before reading the book. I could agree with the 'sociopath' sentiment though, but that doesn't diminish his genius in my opinion :)
henrik_w 8y ago
+1 for Coders at Work! Excellent, long interviews with really famous developers and computer scientists.
staktrace 8y ago
+1 for Sapiens, it was really perspective-broadening for me. His two followup books, while good, were not quite of the same caliber in my mind. While I would unconditionally recommend Sapiens to everybody, I would only recommend Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century to more limited audiences.
- spectrum1234 8y ago
  Sapiens is one of my all time favorites. This is how history should be taught in school instead of looking at different time periods in isolation.
randcraw 8y ago
“Hackers” is brilliant. No other book captures so well the iconoclastic adventurer spirit at the heart of the microcomputer revolution from '75 to '85. Because I and my future boss had just read “Hackers” (in 1986), we spent a job interview exchanging favorite vignettes from the book, which led to my first job in programming. This book changed my life. Thanks, Steven (and Greg)!

jmcgough 8y ago

Masters of DOOM is amaaazing, really made me into a John Carmack fan.

phaus 8y ago
Really? I admired his accomplishments before I even read this book (which is an amazing read), but it kind of makes him seem like a sociopath.
- unmole 8y ago
  The book keeps getting recommend on HN presumably by true fans of DOOM. Apart from a few brilliant bits scattered throughout, it was a disappointing read for me.
  - rchaud 8y ago
    I liked the book because it was pretty fast paced and gave insights into the PC game industry of the '80s and '90s, which I didn't know anything about. The rest of it I feel like I enjoyed because I was a kid in the '90s who loved Doom and Quake.
    - Insanity 8y ago
      As for me, I was quite a 'hardcore' gamer in the late 90s early 2000s. So it was interesting to read where the games that I've played came from, because they owe a lot to DOOM. The first game I remember playing was Wolfenstein 3-D. Or well, my father played it mainly and I watched, and only occasionally dared to play it myself. So perhaps for me it was more the nostalgia of Wolfenstein rather than DOOM that did it :) I always admired Carmack, even before reading the book. I could agree with the 'sociopath' sentiment though, but that doesn't diminish his genius in my opinion :)

henrik_w 8y ago

+1 for Coders at Work! Excellent, long interviews with really famous developers and computer scientists.

staktrace 8y ago

+1 for Sapiens, it was really perspective-broadening for me. His two followup books, while good, were not quite of the same caliber in my mind. While I would unconditionally recommend Sapiens to everybody, I would only recommend Homo Deus and 21 Lessons for the 21st Century to more limited audiences.

spectrum1234 8y ago
Sapiens is one of my all time favorites. This is how history should be taught in school instead of looking at different time periods in isolation.

randcraw 8y ago

“Hackers” is brilliant. No other book captures so well the iconoclastic adventurer spirit at the heart of the microcomputer revolution from '75 to '85. Because I and my future boss had just read “Hackers” (in 1986), we spent a job interview exchanging favorite vignettes from the book, which led to my first job in programming. This book changed my life. Thanks, Steven (and Greg)!