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

How These Things Work – A book about CS from first principles (2016)

reasonablypolymorphic.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 62 posts

Re: How These Things Work – A book about CS from first principles (2016)

#11

Post by siddboots »

koonsolo wrote: post #5

I never heard of "first principles" until Elon Musk used it. (Not a native English speaker) Now I see it everywhere. Must be the new overhyped term. "We start from first principles, just like Elon Musk". After looking at Google trends, I might be wrong, so nevermind ;) https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=First%20...

It's a relatively common idiom here in Australia. It gets used quite a bit in STEM education, i.e. "prove such-and-such from first principles", but is also pretty common more colloquially.

According to your link, it is also used a bit in South Africa (where Elon grew up), but less common in the US. Rather than being a new and overhyped term, perhaps it is a case of Elon using a term that is quite everyday to him, without realizing it is less familiar to the audience.

Re: How These Things Work – A book about CS from first principles (2016)

#13

Post by ceronman »

I love this kind of Books! In a much more general tone, there is "The Knowledge: How To Rebuild Our World After An Apocalypse" by Lewis Dartnell. This explains the first principles of a lot of things we take for granted in the modern world, from agriculture to food and clothing, medicine, chemistry and more.

This book about CS principles is a great complement to that!

Re: How These Things Work – A book about CS from first principles (2016)

#14

Post by hcarvalhoalves »

Half-way into it’s introducing monads and Maybe. Feels like teaching a stack machine after talking about the visitor pattern. There’s good information here but I’m not sure it covers the important fundamentals (such that I could give to a beginner).

Re: How These Things Work – A book about CS from first principles (2016)

#16

Post by grumple »

I recommend Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold [1]. It is far more comprehensive than the OP, goes from pre-computer code, to electrical circuits, to an overview of assembly. No prior knowledge needed except how to read.

1. https://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softw...

Re: How These Things Work – A book about CS from first principles (2016)

#17

Post by 7thaccount »

ceronman wrote: post #13

I love this kind of Books! In a much more general tone, there is "The Knowledge: How To Rebuild Our World After An Apocalypse" by Lewis Dartnell. This explains the first principles of a lot of things we take for granted in the modern world, from agriculture to food and clothing, medicine, chemistry and more. This book about CS principles is a great complement to that!

I've been looking for a book like that lol.

Re: How These Things Work – A book about CS from first principles (2016)

#18

Post by chestervonwinch »

koonsolo wrote: post #5

I never heard of "first principles" until Elon Musk used it. (Not a native English speaker) Now I see it everywhere. Must be the new overhyped term. "We start from first principles, just like Elon Musk". After looking at Google trends, I might be wrong, so nevermind ;) https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=First%20...

It often occurs that technical jargon is swiped to be used as business speak by business leaders with technical backgrounds. For example I often hear “orthogonal” when “independent” is usually more appropriate.

Re: How These Things Work – A book about CS from first principles (2016)

#19

Post by KineticLensman »

koonsolo wrote: post #5

I never heard of "first principles" until Elon Musk used it. (Not a native English speaker) Now I see it everywhere. Must be the new overhyped term. "We start from first principles, just like Elon Musk". After looking at Google trends, I might be wrong, so nevermind ;) https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=First%20...

UK here - I remember it back in college thirty+ years ago as in "build X from first principles", which could mean (e.g.) implement an algorithm without out using library calls.

Re: How These Things Work – A book about CS from first principles (2016)

#20

Post by empath75 »

koonsolo wrote: post #5

I never heard of "first principles" until Elon Musk used it. (Not a native English speaker) Now I see it everywhere. Must be the new overhyped term. "We start from first principles, just like Elon Musk". After looking at Google trends, I might be wrong, so nevermind ;) https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=all&q=First%20...

Aristotle used the term, and it’s probably older than him.
Post reply on HN