Ask HN: What's an inspirational pop book about Computer Science? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What's an inspirational pop book about Computer Science?

2 pointspgbovine3 comments

A friend of mine just asked me: There are many popular non-fiction books addressing the harmony/beauty/philosophy of physics that really stir up the curiosity and imagination of readers. What's the best example of such a book for Computer Science?

My friend is looking for a popular book on computer science that:

+ is understandable by a freshman.

+ shows the beauty of computer science.

+ gives an overview of main streams in computer science research and applications.

+ gives some visions, e.g. imaginative perspectives and/or philosophical thoughts, on computer science in the future.

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I don't necessarily know of any one book that meets all of your friends requirements, but...

Tracy Kidder's The Soul of a New Machine might be good for your friend.

http://www.amazon.com/Soul-New-Machine-Tracy-Kidder/dp/03164...

Another good option might be Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software by Charles Petzold.

http://www.amazon.com/Code-Language-Computer-Hardware-Softwa...

Or, how about Coders at Work?

http://www.amazon.com/Coders-Work-Reflections-Craft-Programm...

Another one that I have (but haven't had time to read yet) is Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software by Scott Rosenberg. It might have something that your friend would find interesting.

http://www.amazon.com/Dreaming-Code-Programmers-Transcendent...

Another one that may be inspirational, although it's more about personalities than computer science per-se, would be Steven Levy's Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution.

http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Steven-Lev...

thanks for the references! i really appreciate you taking the time to reply to my question.

btw "Dreaming in Code" is the only one of those that I've read, and I don't think it's a good fit for my friend because it's basically the story of software project management gone awry ... hardly inspirational for someone aspiring to learn about the beauty of CS :)

Clifford Stoll's The Cuckoo's Egg comes immediately to mind.

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