Reading for the summer: books for techies

    We have compiled books that are recommended to our fellow workers by Hacker News residents. There are no reference books or programming manuals, but there are curious publications about cryptography and theoretical informatics, about the founders of IT companies, there is also science fiction written by developers and about developers - just what you can take on vacation. Photo: Max Delsid / Unsplash.com





    Science and technology



    What Is Real ?: The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics

    For many years, scientists and philosophers have tried to define what “reality” is. Astrophysicist and writer Adam Becker turns to quantum mechanics in an attempt to clarify this issue and challenge the popular "myths about reality."

    It readily explains the basic postulates of science and the philosophical conclusions that can be drawn from them. A significant part of the book is devoted to criticizing the so-called “ Copenhagen interpretation ” and considering its alternatives. The book will equally interest both lovers of physics and those who just like to conduct thought experiments.

    The New Turing Omnibus: Sixty-Six Excursions in Computer Science

    A collection of fascinating essays written by Canadian mathematician Alexander Dewdney. Articles cover the basics of theoretical computer science - from algorithms to system architecture. Each of them is built around puzzles and tasks that clearly illustrate the topic. Despite the fact that the second and, at the moment, the latest edition was published back in 1993, the information in the book is still relevant. It is one of the favorite books of Jeff Atwood, StackExchange founder. He advises her practical programmers who need a fresh look at the theoretical side of the profession.

    Crypto

    In the book “Crypto” journalist Steven Levy, who has been disclosing information security issues in his materials since the 80s, tried to collect information about the most important events in the development of digital encryption. He will talk about how cryptography was formed and the relevant standards, as well as about the movement of “Shifropanks”.

    On the pages of this book, technical details, political intrigues, and philosophical considerations dwell hand in hand. It will interest both people who are not familiar with cryptography and professionals who want to understand why this area was formed just like that.


    Photo: Drew Graham / Unsplash.com

    Life 3.0. To be human in the age of artificial intelligence

    Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Max Tegmark is one of the leading experts on the theory of artificial intelligence systems. In the book “Life 3.0”, he talks about how the appearance of AI will affect the functioning of our society and what meaning we will put in the concept of “humanity”.

    He considers a variety of scenarios for the possible development of events - from the enslavement of the human race to the utopian future under the protection of AI, and gives scientific arguments. It will not do without a philosophical component with discussions about the essence of "consciousness" as such. This book is recommended, in particular, by Barack Obama and Elon Musk.


    Startups and soft skills



    Extremely high-value win-win negotiations

    Negotiations are a non-trivial process. Especially if the other side has an advantage over you. Former FBI employee Chris Voss knows this firsthand, as he personally negotiated to free the hostages from the hands of criminals and terrorists.

    Chris reduced his negotiation strategy to a number of rules that can be applied in order to achieve what is desired in everyday situations: from discussing a project to the conditions of a deserved increase. Each rule is illustrated by stories from the professional activities of the author. This book is recommended immediately by several residents of Hacker News, and all of them note its exceptional practical usefulness in working communications.


    Photo: Banter Snaps / Unsplash.com

    How two guys created the gaming industry and raised a generation of gamers

    The name id Software - Doom and Quake developers - is known to many. What can not be said about the history of this amazing company. The book “Masters Of Doom” tells about the take-off of the project and its unusual founders - the quiet introvert Carmack and the impulsive extrovert Romero.

    It was written by the skilled hand of David Kushner, editor of Rolling Stone magazine and winner of prestigious journalism awards. You will find out why the approach of Carmack, Romero and their colleagues to the development of games turned out to be so successful, and Doom and Quake themselves have remained "on the ear" for many years. We will also talk about the difficult decisions made during the development of the company, and the approach to management that allowed id Software to achieve such success.

    Candid Conversations with the Visionaries of the Digital World

    This is a collection of interviews with successful IT entrepreneurs. Among them are both well-known personalities - Steve Jobs, Michael Dell and Bill Gates, as well as less popular "giants" from the enterprise space - Silicon Graphics CEO Edward McCracken and DEC founder Ken Olsen. In total, the book contains 16 interviews about doing business in IT and future technologies, as well as small biographies of the people from whom they interviewed. It is worth noting that the book was published in 1997, when Jobs just returned to the post of Apple CEO, so the interview with him is especially interesting - from a historical point of view.


    Fiction



    Remember Phleb

    In addition to Aspen Factory and other post-modern novels, the acclaimed Scottish writer Ian M. Banks also worked in the science fiction genre. His book series, dedicated to the utopian society “Culture”, has acquired a large community of fans, including, for example, Elon Musk and many residents of Hacker News.

    The first book in the series - “Remember Phleb” - tells about the war between Culture and the Idiran Empire. And also about the fundamental differences between social anarchist, hedonistic life in symbiosis with artificial intelligence, on the one hand, and the religious worldview of opponents of such a life, on the other. By the way, last year Amazon acquired the rights to film adaptation of the novel for its streaming service.

    Periodic system

    The collection of the Italian chemist and writer Primo Levi is 21 stories, each of which is named after a specific chemical element. They are talking about the scientific activities of the author against the background of the events of the Second World War. You will read about the beginning of his career as a chemist, the life of the Sephardic community in France, the author’s conclusion at Auschwitz and the unusual experiments that he conducted at large. In 2006, the Royal Institute of Great Britain named the Periodic System the best scientific book in history.

    Sum: Fourty Tales from the Afterlives

    Speculative fiction is being authored by prominent American neuroscientist David Eagleman, now a professor at Stanford. David devoted his life to the study of neuroplasticity, perception of time and other aspects of neuroscience. In this book, he offers 40 hypotheses about what happens to our minds when we die. The author considers various metaphysical systems and their potential impact on our death. The book has black humor and serious questions, and the material is based on the knowledge that Eagleman acquired in the process of professional activity. Among book lovers are Stripe founder Patrick Collinson and other figures from the IT world.


    Photo: Daniel Chen / Unsplash.com

    Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears

    Another science fiction novel, this time about the potential consequences of achieving a singularity. David Ryan, the protagonist of the book, is engaged in a fairly simple task - he writes a program to optimize mail correspondence within the company. When management questions the existence of a project, David integrates an artificial intelligence system into it to convince them. Additional resources are allocated to the project - human and computer, and, unnoticed by everyone, a simple program for writing letters begins to manipulate its own programmers. Work approvedmany prominent names are Silicon Valley. The author of the book, William Hertling, is a programmer and co-founder of Tripwire, a cyber security company. According to him, the events described in the book are becoming more likely every year.



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