Books I'm reading right now
Apr. 2nd, 2012 12:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
carlfoxmarten"Focus on: 3D Terrain Programming" by Trent Polack
A small book that describes several extremely practical methods for generating, storing, and rendering a 3D terrain map.
"The Sable Quean" by Brian Jacques
Yes, that is a spelling mistake. And on the cover of the book, too!
It's the latest paperback edition in the Redwall series, and the first to be published after the death of its author.
Because the vermin's primary method of attack has been to steal away proper, upstanding citizen's children, it's been a rather difficult read for me so far.
"The Soul of a New Machine" by Tracy Kidder
Back when computers were still made out of discrete parts and were almost as large as refrigerators, a small team of extremely young engineers at Data General Corp, mentored by an even smaller group of well-seasoned veterans, produced the company's first 32-bit processing unit.
They did this while management tried to move most research and development out-of-state, and kept the majority of the project under wraps, even within the company, until it was completed.
All-in-all, a very fascinating book.
"Reluctant Genius: Alexander Graham Bell and the passion for invention" by Charlotte Gray
This book is about an inch and a half thick, and is so packed with info that despite not even getting out of the first chapter yet, I've learned quite a lot about old Alec already.
When he was young, he and his brother had built a replica of the human mouth and larynx, which they eventually figured out how to "talk" with. They'd actually scared one of their tenants on a floor below when they'd figured out how to say "mama" with it.
Unfortunately, only Alexander Graham Bell had survived tuberculosis, both brothers and a brother's son all died with TB as a suspect.
Also, he wasn't actually given a middle name when he was born. It was due to a very strong independent streak, and the fact that both his grandfather and great grandfather were called Alexander Bell, that he added "Graham" as his middle name.
On top of all of this, my mom's still trying to get me to read "Snow Crash" by Neil Stephenson...
A small book that describes several extremely practical methods for generating, storing, and rendering a 3D terrain map.
"The Sable Quean" by Brian Jacques
Yes, that is a spelling mistake. And on the cover of the book, too!
It's the latest paperback edition in the Redwall series, and the first to be published after the death of its author.
Because the vermin's primary method of attack has been to steal away proper, upstanding citizen's children, it's been a rather difficult read for me so far.
"The Soul of a New Machine" by Tracy Kidder
Back when computers were still made out of discrete parts and were almost as large as refrigerators, a small team of extremely young engineers at Data General Corp, mentored by an even smaller group of well-seasoned veterans, produced the company's first 32-bit processing unit.
They did this while management tried to move most research and development out-of-state, and kept the majority of the project under wraps, even within the company, until it was completed.
All-in-all, a very fascinating book.
"Reluctant Genius: Alexander Graham Bell and the passion for invention" by Charlotte Gray
This book is about an inch and a half thick, and is so packed with info that despite not even getting out of the first chapter yet, I've learned quite a lot about old Alec already.
When he was young, he and his brother had built a replica of the human mouth and larynx, which they eventually figured out how to "talk" with. They'd actually scared one of their tenants on a floor below when they'd figured out how to say "mama" with it.
Unfortunately, only Alexander Graham Bell had survived tuberculosis, both brothers and a brother's son all died with TB as a suspect.
Also, he wasn't actually given a middle name when he was born. It was due to a very strong independent streak, and the fact that both his grandfather and great grandfather were called Alexander Bell, that he added "Graham" as his middle name.
On top of all of this, my mom's still trying to get me to read "Snow Crash" by Neil Stephenson...
