Tony Bowden <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: > On Thu, Oct 18, 2001 at 05:49:57AM -0700, Dave Cross wrote: >> And a couple that will probably be seen as classics in the future: >> >> Extreme Programming Explained - Kent Beck >> Refactoring - Martin Fowler > > I'd possibly change XPe to "Planning Extreme Progamming" - Beck and > Fowler.
Yeah, Planning's a good one. I've just done a largish order at Amazon and, like a good cult member, I'll be getting a couple of the other XP books. The 'war story' one looks like it might be fun. > I'd also add Fowler's "Analysis Patterns" (the lesser known cousin of the > Gang of Four book), This one's on the list too. Fowler's a damned fine writer, if it's half as good as Refactoring I'll be happy. I'm also expecting Beck's 'Smalltalk Best Practice Patterns' (it's the cult I think, but the Smalltalk literature that I've read so far has had that 'whack on the side of the head' quality I like in a technical book.) As for non programming books that are definitely worth the read may I recommend: The Pleasures of Counting by TW Korner http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0521568234 It's a maths book, and the maths is not exactly easy, but the exposition is fantastic and there's some fascinating stuff about operational research in the first and second world wars (including some quite shocking stuff about how much stuff was simply forgotten second time around), the invention of statistics (Whatsisname, the Cholera Outbreak in Victorian London without failing to point out that actually the conclusion wasn't supported by the evidence.) Korner eschews 'Lies to children', and the book is fantastic because of it. Six Not So Easy Pieces, Dick Feynman http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/014027667X Utterly brilliant. Feynman's another who has little truck with lies to children, and the stuff in here can be heavy going mathematically, but it's a tour de force. In the space of six lectures, each building on the last, Feynman walks us through the importance of symmetry and conservation laws and then uses that to give a fantasticly lucid and 'inevitable' exposition of Special and General Relativity. The best book on a hard subject I've ever read and *beautifully* written. He'd hate me for saying it, but Feynman was a poet. I made the mistake of lending this to someone and the bugger never gave it back, might have to buy another copy. Or maybe I'll bite the bullet and buy the remaining two volumes of: The Feynman Lectures on Physics, volumes 1-3 http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0201021153 I only have volume one of this. When I really want to exercise my brain I work through a lecture. Ooohh... and Amazon tells me they're releasing the tapes. The Feynman Lectures on Computation are pretty damned fine too. His characteristic style of starting from very simple beginnings (he uses the analogy of a computer as a filing clerk who will do what you tell him, but is incapable of thought) and careful, clear, logical exposition works its magic here too. His stuff on Turing machines is (as per bloody usual with Feynman) is some of the clearest writing on the subject I've read; good stuff. Hmm... I didn't *mean* this to turn into a Feynman love in, I was just following a train of thought. So, here's a few more non computer but utterly wonderful technical books Examples: The Making of 40 Photographs, Ansel Adams http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/082121750X You'll know the photographs, but what's great about this book is Adams clear headed exposition of how he made the photographs, from his thoughts while he stood in front of the landscape with a 10x8 camera and two or three plates that he'd just lugged some ludicrous distance up a mountain (you really don't want to screw up after that much effort) through to the work that was done to make the final print. If you're even slightly interested in the process of black and white photographic print making you should read this (and The Negative, The Camera and The Print). Even if you're not, Adams' craftsman-like, disciplined approach to a subject where the creative and the technical are so deeply intertwined might well ring bells with you. Winning Ways for Your Mathematical Plays, Berlekamp, Conway & Guy Hmm... it's been split up in a new, weird way or so it seems. A comprehensive analysis and toolset for thinking about and analysing games of no chance. Hard maths, terrible puns. A proof by example that a Rubik's cube can be solved in at most 'n' manipulations (can't remember how many 'n' is, but it's not many). An exposition on Life by the game's creator, including the proof that the game is Turing Complete. Some mind bending stuff on P/NP completeness. And other weirdness. Again, not an easy read -- you need to understand the notation to get anything out of it, and some of the notation is rather hard to get your head 'round -- but a rewarding one. Almost anything by Martin Gardner. Card College Volumes 1-4, Roberto Giobbi Not available from Amazon, go see Martin MacMillan at International Magic on Clerkenwell Road. If you've read Tufte's magisterial 'Visual Explanations', you'll know he's fascinated by magic book illustration. Card College is a complete course on sleight of hand card magic (with a bit of theory thrown in) and it's wonderful. Starting with things like 'how to hold a deck of cards' (not quite, but close), Giobbi teaches you almost everything you need to know to do card magic (and gives you the skills to learn anything else you know), and teaches some cracking tricks along the way. Just don't let Mr Cross know you've worked through these books or he'll never let you play poker with him again. Wonderful illustrations and splendidly clear, thoughtful text. Good stuff; practice not included. I think I'd better stop now. -- Piers
