Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Books about lifelong engineering/technology career

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–5 of 5 posts

Ask HN: Books about lifelong engineering/technology career

#1

Post by saas_startup »

I am looking for books/blogs that cover a lifelong career in technology (or engineering). Most of the materials typically focus on singular engineering achievement (building Apple I/II (like iWoz) or sending a rocket to the moon (any books about Von Braun) rather than focusing how one builds a life-long career.

The closest I ever found was a post by Will Larson: https://lethain.com/forty-year-career/

Re: Ask HN: Books about lifelong engineering/technology career

#2

Post by mitchbob »

The first part of your request sounds like you're looking for biographies of technologists, while at the end it sounds like you're looking for something more like self-help books. If you're looking for the former, a couple of big, fascinating histories that describe long careers in technology, starting with childhood, are

- The Dream Machine [1], which chronicles the career of J. C. R. Licklider

- The Friendly Orange Glow [2], where Donald Bitzer is the main character.

[1] https://press.stripe.com/the-dream-machine

[2] http://friendlyorangeglow.com/

Re: Ask HN: Books about lifelong engineering/technology career

#4

Post by saas_startup »

mitchbob wrote: post #2

The first part of your request sounds like you're looking for biographies of technologists, while at the end it sounds like you're looking for something more like self-help books. If you're looking for the former, a couple of big, fascinating histories that describe long careers in technology, starting with childhood, are - The Dream Machine [1], which chronicles the career of J. C. R. Licklider - The Friendly Orange…

Those are really good :) Already ordered, thank you!
Post reply on HN