Not entirely sure what you are asking here, but:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Threaded-Interpretive-Languages-R-G...
It's quite easy to get into and you can expand it and have all sorts of fun with it. Certainly not a revered epitome.
Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?
11–20 of 283 posts
Re: Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?
#12A very tough question. I feel that it might be quite hard to lure a curious person into Computer Science, who doesn't know anything about the field yet. One of the books I liked (since I actually studied Linguistics in my Bachelor's) and what drew me towards CS was "Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software" by Charles Petzold.
I think maybe some of the history books could do it for cs. Like I'm very early into the book Crypto Anarchy, Cyber States and Pirate Utopias (2002 MIT PRESS), and it's kinda interesting. I'm not sure how the later parts are but chapter 1 is interesting. It definitely has an audience in mind but I think it could be an interesting book for someone outside of CS.
Re: Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?
#13I think Masters of Doom is a great book for getting people interested in either software development in general, or game development. Alternatively, some of the horror stories may actually turn them away. But every time I read it, I get excited about writing code again.
Re: Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?
#14My "field of study" is more like a hobby, but the definitive book is "Racing the Beam" by Ian Bogost and Nick Montfort. If you're at all interested in retro game consoles and especially the clever tricks old programmers used to push these systems to their limits, it's an incredibly fun dive.
Re: Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?
#15My "field of study" is more like a hobby, but the definitive book is "Racing the Beam" by Ian Bogost and Nick Montfort. If you're at all interested in retro game consoles and especially the clever tricks old programmers used to push these systems to their limits, it's an incredibly fun dive.
(Racing the Beam) :-) and agreed, amazing book.
Re: Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?
#16Measurement/A mathematicians lament by Paul Lockhart.
The first is not by any means very advanced/interesting mathematics per se,
but it is written by somebody with an incredible passion for mathematics, which you
can feel throughout the whole book, and which was totally novel for me coming from
schoolish mathematics drudgery. Also, the way he approaches mathematics and teaching is quite interesting.
Nothing for somebody who is already into mathematics, but as an entry point it is absolutely great.
The second is a critique of school math, freely available online (https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/devlin/Lockharts...), that absolutely hits home on a lot of problems of math and school in general, but in a way that basically says
"Look, its so cool, why are we ruining it? Lets do this better." which is much better than another bitter, destructive critique. And its well written and only twenty pages. Definitely recommend.
Re: Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?
#17Accounting...
The rule of accouting is that if anything excites you about accounting you shouldn't do accounting. The most fun I had studying accounting was learning about tax evasion, money laundering, defrauding stakeholders etc. Any academic book about forensic accounting could be deemed interesting if you just read only the case studies.
Re: Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?
#18Stalking the Wild Asparagus - Eueull Gibbons.
Re: Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?
#19Accounting... The rule of accouting is that if anything excites you about accounting you shouldn't do accounting. The most fun I had studying accounting was learning about tax evasion, money laundering, defrauding stakeholders etc. Any academic book about forensic accounting could be deemed interesting if you just read only the case studies.
What book on forensic accounting would you recommend for entertainment value?
I have some knowledge of french accounting, been exposed to US style, and thoroughly enjoyed long forms involving forensic accounting, money laundering and the like...
Re: Ask HN: Which book can attract anyone towards your field of study?
#20Finally, a question on HN I am "qualified" to answer. During my university education I came across Structures[1] by J.E. Gordon who, unlike me, was an aeronautical engineer but his take on structures really made so much sense to me, as a student of engineering, in a way that the fustian delivery of the professors at college did not. Some books stay with you for life - this one did for me.
[1] Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down by J.E. Gordon. Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/245344.Structures