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Ask HN: What's an inspirational pop book about Computer Science?
A friend of mine just asked me: There are many popular non-fiction books addressing the harmony/beauty/philosophy of physics that really stir up the curiosity and imagination of readers. What's the best example of such a book for Computer Science?
My friend is looking for a popular book on computer science that:
+ is understandable by a freshman.
+ shows the beauty of computer science.
+ gives an overview of main streams in computer science research and applications.
+ gives some visions, e.g. imaginative perspectives and/or philosophical thoughts, on computer science in the future.
- wyclif 16y agoClifford Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg comes immediately to mind.
- mindcrime 16y agoI don't necessarily know of any one book that meets all of your friends requirements, but... Tracy Kidder's The Soul of a New Machine might be good for your friend. http://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine-Tracy-Kidder/dp/0316491977 http://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine-Tracy-Kidder/dp/03164... Another good option might be Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold. http://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Software/dp/0735611319/ref=pd_sim_b_6 http://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softwa... Or, how about Coders at Work? http://www.amazon.com/Coders-Work-Reflections-Craft-Programming/dp/1430219483/ref=pd_sim_b_3 http://www.amazon.com/Coders-Work-Reflections-Craft-Programm... Another one that I have (but haven't had time to read yet) is Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software by Scott Rosenberg. It might have something that your friend would find interesting. http://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-Code-Programmers-Transcendent-Software/dp/1400082471/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_a http://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-Code-Programmers-Transcendent... Another one that may be inspirational, although it's more about personalities than computer science per-se, would be Steven Levy's Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution. http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Steven-Levy/dp/0141000511/ref=pd_sim_b_36 http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Steven-Lev...
- pgbovine 16y agothanks for the references! i really appreciate you taking the time to reply to my question. btw "Dreaming in Code" is the only one of those that I've read, and I don't think it's a good fit for my friend because it's basically the story of software project management gone awry ... hardly inspirational for someone aspiring to learn about the beauty of CS :)