The way I think about this is you have to have the appropriate prerequisites, whether it's a technical book or not. Here's a loose analogy: you shouldn't take

The way I think about this is you have to have the appropriate prerequisites, whether it's a technical book or not. Here's a loose analogy: you shouldn't take college calculus if you don't already know arithmetic and algebra. And maybe you shouldn't read SICP if you haven't taken its prerequisites either.