The intersection of tech culture (and notably Silicon Valley) and 60s counterculture is a fascinating topic. The best book on the subject is, in my opinion, "W

The intersection of tech culture (and notably Silicon Valley) and 60s counterculture is a fascinating topic. The best book on the subject is, in my opinion, "What the Dormouse Said" by John Markoff [0]. It's a fantastic book, although it requires the reader to already have some knowledge of the people and historical events, as it is not meant to be a computer history primer. But yeah, it's a great book, and a lot of stuff in there might surprise some readers. For instance, I learned that there was LSD research happening a few blocks away from where I used to live in Menlo Park :) Timothy Leary also has an interesting essay in Laurel's "Art of Human Computer Interface Design" anthology[1] about what he believes are the intersections of computing as a human tool and psychedelics. When you start to look into it, you'll realize that the tech industry and California's friendly attitude towards psychedelics have always somewhat gone hand in hand- and people who are not familiar with California's atypical culture might be surprised to know that some of the engineers and designers behind their favorite products share a few things in common with the ol' Timothy. Queue the necessary: "There are two major products that come from Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence." [0]: http://www.amazon.com/What-Dormouse-Said-Counterculture-Personal/dp/0143036769 http://www.amazon.com/What-Dormouse-Said-Counterculture-Pers... [1] http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Human-Computer-Interface-Design/dp/0201517973 http://www.amazon.com/The-Art-Human-Computer-Interface-Desig...