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Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?

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31–40 of 156 posts

Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?

#31

Haven't read them, but they are on my to-do-list: "Turing's Cathedral" https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/mar/25/turings-cathed... "The Innovators" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovators_(book)

+1 for Turing's Cathedral. As mentioned, it's a lot about von Neumann. Slightly dense writing style but does a great job of explaining some of the key intellectual breakthroughs behind development of the computer. It's most about the 1940s-50s but it sets the historical context well (both contemporary and going back to Gottfried Leibnitz).

Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?

#32
The Intel Trinity About the early days until 90s for Intel, having stories on Shockley's semiconductor lab, Fairchild then Intel etc.

The soul of a new machine Not much history, but more on how a small computer manufacturer in 70s. It's quite relevant today, as the process very much resembles a software startup's.

Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?

#34
Bentley, Jon., Bell Labs. "Programming Pearls" 1986. --Coding excercises, advice, and annecdotes about problem solving. Get up on grandpa's knee and listen to a bunch of stories about UNIX.

Stephenson, Neal. "In the Beginning...Was the Command Line" 1999. --History of the evolution of UI's and their impact on people, culture, productivity, especially 80's and 90's.

Van Wyk, Christopher J., Bell Labs. "Data Structures and C Programs" 1988. --D & A textbook, 80's style. Like Bently, more focus than we are now used to on things like space time trade offs, resource constraints, in-place operations, etc.

Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?

#35
Highly recommend A History of Modern Computing [1]. Starting with the ENIAC in the '40s through the successive generations of computing technology in the 20th century, it gives a fantastic overview of the field's history.

Sadly, now that I look into it, it looks like it's out of print. There are a few copies available on Amazon, so act now!

[1] https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/history-modern-computing

Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?

#37

Haven't read them, but they are on my to-do-list: "Turing's Cathedral" https://www.theguardian.com/books/2012/mar/25/turings-cathed... "The Innovators" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innovators_(book)

Turing's Cathedral is fantastic. The most enjoyable computer science history book I've read. Highly recommended.

Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?

#40
- ENIAC - The triumphs and tragedies of the world's first computer

- Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age

- From airline reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog - a history of the software industry

- History of programming languages Volumes 1 to 3

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