R
Index

Shelf — project details

No. 01 · 1988

The Design of Everyday Things

Donald A. Norman

The Design of Everyday Things is a best-selling book by cognitive scientist and usability engineer Donald Norman about how design serves as the communication between object and user, and how to optimize that conduit of communication in order to make the experience of using the object pleasurable. One of the main premises of the book is that although people are often keen to blame themselves when objects appear to malfunction, it is not the fault of the user but rather the lack of intuitive guidance that should be present in the design.

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Open Libraryopenlibrary.orgDonald A. Normanopenlibrary.org

Colophon

Subjects
ErgonomieIndustrial PsychologyIndustriële vormgevingIndustrial DesignPsychological aspects
First published
1988271 pages
On the shelf
01 of 12

No. 02 · 1974

The Mythical Man-Month

Frederick P. Brooks

Classic text on the human side of software engineering, containing essays on the management of software teams, projections about how computer languages and tools will evolve, and philosophical speculation. Unlike most other books about computing, Brooks' work has been remarkably enduring, remaining in print for at least four decades. The book is most famous for its statement of Brooks' Law: "adding manpower to a late software project makes it later".

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Open Libraryopenlibrary.orgFrederick P. Brooksopenlibrary.org

Colophon

Subjects
Addresses, essays, lecturesSoftware engineeringElectronic digital computersProgrammingComputer programming
First published
1974195 pages
On the shelf
02 of 12

No. 03 · 1979

Gödel, Escher, Bach

Douglas R. Hofstadter

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize A metaphorical fugue on minds and machines in the spirit of Lewis Carroll Douglas Hofstadter's book is concerned directly with the nature of "maps" or links between formal systems. However, according to Hofstadter, the formal system that underlies all mental activity transcends the system that supports it. If life can grow out of the formal chemical substrate of the cell, if consciousness can emerge out of a formal system of firing neurons, then so too will computers attain human intelligence.

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Open Libraryopenlibrary.orgDouglas R. Hofstadteropenlibrary.org

Colophon

Subjects
LogicsTeoria Do ConhecimentoArtificial intelligenceMetamathematicsSymmetry
First published
1979777 pages
On the shelf
03 of 12

No. 04 · 2018

The Library Book

Susan Orlean

The Library Book alternates between a true-crime work on the suspicion of arson in the 1986 fire at the Los Angeles Central Library; and a broader history of that library and Orlean's personal devotion to libraries in general, especially as the site of fond memories she shared with her mother.

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Open Libraryopenlibrary.orgSusan Orleanopenlibrary.org

Colophon

Subjects
LibrariesLos Angeles Public LibraryArsonHistoryLibraries and society
First published
2018336 pages
On the shelf
04 of 12

No. 05 · 1977

A Pattern Language

Christopher Alexander & Sara Ishikawa

Alexander and his co-authors present us with over two hundred (roughly 250) "patterns" that they believe must be present in order for an environment to be pleasing, comfortable, or in their words, "alive." The patterns start at the most general level -- the first pattern, "Independent Regions," describes the ideal political entity, while another of my favorite patterns, "Mosaic of Subcultures," described the proper distribution of different groups within a city.

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Open Libraryopenlibrary.orgChristopher Alexanderopenlibrary.org

Colophon

Subjects
Symbolism in architectureTown planningSemioticsCity planningHuman factors
First published
19771172 pages
On the shelf
05 of 12

No. 06 · 2001

The Dream Machine

M. Mitchell Waldrop

"The year is 1962. More than a decade will pass before personal computers emerge from the garages of Silicon Valley, and a full thirty years before the Internet explosion of the 1990s. The word computer still has an ominous tone, conjuring up the image of a huge, intimidating device hidden away in an overlit, air-conditioned basement, relentlessly processing punch cards for some large institution: them. Yet, sitting in a nondescript office in Robert McNamara's Pentagon, a quiet forty-seven-year-old civilian is already planning the revolution that will change forever the way computers are perceived.

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Open Libraryopenlibrary.orgM. Mitchell Waldropopenlibrary.org

Colophon

Subjects
MicrocomputersHistoryComputer softwareComputers, historyComputer scientists
First published
2001528 pages
On the shelf
06 of 12

Colophon

Subjects
—
First published
1997
On the shelf
07 of 12

Colophon

Subjects
SciencesHistoirePhilosophieSciencePhilosophy
First published
1955210 pages
On the shelf
08 of 12

No. 09 · 2008

Thinking in Systems

Donella H. Meadows & Diana Wright

A clear, thoughtful, and wide-reaching exploration of complex systems, in theory and in practice. Meadows was a masterful and elegant writer and researcher, and an early voice in systems analysis at MIT and elsewhere. This book, completed from draft manuscript after Meadows' death, is both accessible and deeply thought-provoking. She connects the dots between careful descriptions of systems analysis and systems insights, and the personal, social, societal, and political implications of systems thinking.

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Open Libraryopenlibrary.orgDonella H. Meadowsopenlibrary.org

Colophon

Subjects
critical thinkingsystems thinkingsystems dynamicscomplex systemspolicy
First published
2008240 pages
On the shelf
09 of 12

No. 10 · 1981

The Soul of a New Machine

Tracy Kidder

"The Soul of a New Machine" is a non-fiction book written by Tracy Kidder and published in 1981. It chronicles the experiences of a computer engineering team racing to design a next-generation computer at a blistering pace under tremendous pressure. The machine was launched in 1980 as the Data General Eclipse MV/8000. The book won the 1982 National Book Award for Non-fiction and a Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction.

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Open Libraryopenlibrary.orgTracy Kidderopenlibrary.org

Colophon

Subjects
minicomputersInformaticaOrdinateursDesign and constructionOuvrages de vulgarisation
First published
1981293 pages
On the shelf
10 of 12

No. 11 · 1984

Hackers

Steven Levy

Today, technology is cool. Owning the most powerful computer, the latest high-tech gadget, and the whizziest website is a status symbol on a par with having a flashy car or a designer suit. And a media obsessed with the digital explosion has reappropriated the term "computer nerd" so that it's practically synonymous with "entrepreneur." Yet, a mere fifteen years ago, wireheads hooked on tweaking endless lines of code were seen as marginal weirdos, outsiders whose world would never resonate with the mainstream.

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Open Libraryopenlibrary.orgSteven Levyopenlibrary.org

Colophon

Subjects
Computer programmingElectronic digital computersProgrammingComputer hackersHistory
First published
1984456 pages
On the shelf
11 of 12

No. 12 · 1999

The Cathedral and the Bazaar

Eric S. Raymond

Open source provides the competitive advantage in the Internet Age. According to the August Forrester Report, 56 percent of IT managers interviewed at Global 2,500 companies are already using some type of open source software in their infrastructure and another 6 percent will install it in the next two years.

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Open Libraryopenlibrary.orgEric S. Raymondopenlibrary.org

Colophon

Subjects
DevelopmentComputer hackersopen source developmentopen sourceOpen source software
First published
1999256 pages
On the shelf
12 of 12