Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?
81–90 of 156 posts
Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?
#82The innovators by Walter Isaacson. He did Steve jobs bio, Ben Franklin bio, Leonardo davinchi bio, but this is my favorite since it's basically 30 biographies in one.
I finished this one a couple months ago, highly recommended! After I started his Einstein biography in college, I missed several classes after getting caught up in it and losing track of time.
Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?
#8320 years ago I downloaded a text version of the Jargon File [1] and read it back to front. It wasn't dry at all and gave me an insight into the 60's/70's Silicon Valley hacker culture...
[1] I don't know where I got it 20 years ago but DDGing gave me https://jargon-file.org/archive/
Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?
#84Code: the hidden language of computer hardware and software, by Charles Petzold. It's a modern classic (2000). It's less technical and more about the history behind the idea/theories of coding itself. It also explains some basic principles of how computers work, at a high level. Very well written.
I also think it's a great book, but partly because it is technical.
Charles is great at explaining how computers actually work with circuit diagrams from the ground up in a way that's articulate, clear, and engaging. I think I learned more from this book than I did in my CS architecture class.
The historical context he puts it in helps with clarity since it's easier to understand when you know how each successive step built on the previous one.
In addition to the Dream Machine, I'd also mention Steven Levy's Hackers as an obvious one to read.
Some others I've read:
- What the dormouse said (this one was just okay, but interesting to see some of the cultural context at the time).
- Crypto (about the history of cryptography). I really liked this one, but people I've recommended it to found it dry.
- In the Plex (history of Google)
- Masters of Doom (John Carmack, John Romero and Id Software)
Related Fiction:
- Microserfs
- The Soul of a New Machine
- The Phoenix Project (fiction paired with the Dev Ops Handbook)
Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?
#85IBM's Early Computers and IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems. They are an incredible wealth of information for the research, design and implementations of early computers. Been aching to know about how the different transistors were developed, by whom and what their benefits and drawbacks were? It's all in these two.
Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?
#86A few good ones that haven't been mentioned yet: * "IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems " https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/ibms-360-and-early-370-system... * "Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35953464-broad-band * "Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer" https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1427580.Fire_in_the_Vall...
If you haven't read it, IBM's Early Computers is great.
Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?
#87There was a HN post a while back about "Unix: A History and a Memoir, by Brian Kernighan". It also has a lot of good recommendations in the comment section.
Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?
#88Two on AI history:
Pamela McCorduck's Machines Who Think, either the 1979 original edition, or the 2004 2nd ed, which adds a 100-page afterword covering 1979–2004.
Nils Nilsson's The Quest for Artificial Intelligence (2009).
They have somewhat different styles and focuses. McCorduck is a writer (of popular science and sci-fi), while Nilsson was an AI researcher. Which isn't to say that McCorduck lacks knowledge about AI or that Nilsson can't write, but their backgrounds are noticeable in how the books are organized and written.
Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?
#891. UNIX: A History and a Memoir
2. The Supermen: The Story of Seymour Cray and the Technical Wizards Behind the Supercomputer
3. The idea factory - Bell Land and the great age of American innovation
4. Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age
5. The Chip: How Two Americans Invented the Microchip and Launched a Revolution
7. Intel Trinity,The: How Robert Noyce, Gordon Moore, and Andy Grove Built the World's Most Important Company
8. The Dream Machine
9. The Soul of a new machine
Re: Ask HN: Computer Science/History Books?
#90Code: the hidden language of computer hardware and software, by Charles Petzold. It's a modern classic (2000). It's less technical and more about the history behind the idea/theories of coding itself. It also explains some basic principles of how computers work, at a high level. Very well written.
I also think it's a great book, but partly because it is technical. Charles is great at explaining how computers actually work with circuit diagrams from the ground up in a way that's articulate, clear, and engaging. I think I learned more from this book than I did in my CS architecture class. The historical context he puts it in helps with clarity since it's easier to understand when you know how each successive ste…
If you're going to read the Phoenix Project, skip it and go back to Goldratt's 'The Goal'. And take it with a grain of salt.