These are the books and CD-ROMs that have advanced the state of computing, that best chronicle the past two digital decades, and that manifest the innovative use of electronic publishing. Read on.
BOOKS
THE ART OF COMPUTER PROGRAMMING by Donald E. Knuth, (Addison-Wesley, 1973-1981)
The bible of all fundamental algorithms and the work that taught many of today's software developers most of what they know about computer programming.
THE CUCKOO'S EGG
: TRACKING A SPY THROUGH THE MAZE OF COMPUTER ESPIONAGE by Clifford Stoll, (Doubleday, 1989)
Astronomer Stoll notices a tiny accounting error and ends up catching a spy in this real-life thriller. The Cuckoo's Egg is much more than your basic thriller, though; it raises extremely important questions about inter
national on-line ethical behavior, which is an important issue in the information age.
FLUID CONCEPTS AND CREATIVE ANALOGIES: COMPUTER MODELS OF THE FUNDAMENTAL MECHANISMS OF THOUGHT by Douglas Hofstadter and the Fluid Analogies Research Group, (Basic Books, 1995)
Whether you agree with Hofstadter's concepts or not, he has moved the AI debate beyond mere rhetoric to actually writing programs that can test the AI hypothesis.
FUMBLING THE FUTURE: HOW XEROX INVENTED, THEN IGNORED, THE FIRST PERSONAL COMPUTER by Douglas K. Smith and Robert C. Alexander, (William Morrow, 1988)
A sad tale of a company that comes up with so many brilliant ideas but lets them die in the R&D labs.
HACKERS: HEROES OF THE COMPUTER REVOLUTION
by Steven Levy, (Anchor Doubleday, 1984)
The best book there is about the unconventional brainiacs and code wizards who started it all.
INSIDE THE IBM PC by Peter Norton, (R. J. Brady, 1983)
The Master of Utilities rolls up
his sleeves and produces the first popular book to expose the innards of IBM's personal computer. One of the best tutorials on what's inside the box.
PROGRAMMING WINDOWS 3.1 by Charles Petzold, (3d edition, Microsoft Press, 1992)
In its time, it was the ultimate guide for Windows applications developers.
THE SOUL OF A NEW MACHINE
by Tracy Kidder, (Little, Brown, 1981)
A true-life engineering adventure story.
UNAUTHORIZED WINDOWS 95: DEVELOPER'S RESOURCE KIT by Andrew Schulman, (IDG Books Worldwide, 1994)
What makes Windows 95 tick? Not only does Schulman tell developers about the code behind Windows 95, he tells them what decisions and trade-offs Microsoft made.
UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS AND COGNITION: A NEW FOUNDATION FOR DESIGN by Terry Winograd and Fernando Flores, (Ablex, 1986)
One of the first books that explores for a large audience how computers fit into--and change--our lives.
CD-ROMS
CINEMANIA by Microsoft
A must for movie lovers. Great for settling trivia debates. Summaries of more than 19,000 films, from contemporary to classic. Updated annually. Nothing like it exists in book form. Many thumbs up.
COMPUTER SELECT by Ziff Communications
Do you need to research a computer product or get a feel for what's hot? Do you want to find the printed buzz on a particular piece of hardware or software? Computer Select is the easiest way to search the full text of 28 computer magazines and abstracts from 110 other periodicals. Updated monthly.
COMPTON'S INTERACTIVE ENCYCLOPEDIA FOR WINDOWS by Compton's Learning Co.
The best interactive encyclopedia keeps getting better. Maps, charts, animations, high-resolution pictures, and an easy-to-use interface bring the printed version's 32,000 articles to life.
HIGHWAY 61 INTERACTIVE
by Graphix Zone
When you're lost in the rain in Juarez, and it's Easter time,
too, turn on this disc to see just how good a CD-ROM can be. A Bob Dylan multimedia museum.
MAYO CLINIC FAMILY HEALTH BOOK by IVI Publishing
Helps you understand anatomy, diseases, and health issues. Provides the full text of the 1378-page printed version, plus 500 narrated illustrations. Uses animations and video clips to explain basic physiological concepts. Has a slick morph-like animation of human anatomy.
Concise Encyclopedia of Science and Technology
Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms
. Your technical library just isn't complete without it.
MICROSOFT BOOKSHELF by Microsoft
Tons of information at your fingertips, with some of it illuminated by audio and graphics. Includes
The American Heritage Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus, World Almanac, The Hammond Intermediat
e World Atlas
, the
Concise Columbia Encyclopedia
, and the
Columbia Dictionary of Quotations
. Updated annually.
MYST by Broderbund Software
A fantastic fantasy game with great graphics, animation, music, and entertaining (if diabolical) puzzles. The first CD to bring a new kind of art to our society.
STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION
INTERACTIVE TECHNICAL MANUAL by Simon & Schuster Interactive
Apple's QuickTime VR panoramic video technology lets you explore the starship
Enterprise
and the entire Federation as never before possible.
TAXI by Middlegate
Before you go to New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., check out Taxi. It lets you create personalized city maps for the above cities, including Zagat Survey reviews and ratings of hotels and restaurants. Information becomes more important when it's personalized to your needs.
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Some went on to become millionaires. Some went directly to jail.
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Inside you'll find a great recipe for chocolate-chip cookies. Really.
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These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise-your voyages, thanks to some astounding virtual reality.
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Tangled up in Big Blue: Dylan's new Highway 61
Best Books & CD-ROMs
