Newsgroups: comp.arch,comp.sys.super,comp.lang.lisp
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!rochester!cornellcs!newsstand.cit.cornell.edu!newstand.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!www.nntp.primenet.com!nntp.primenet.com!feed1.news.erols.com!dciteleport.com!worldnet.att.net!uunet!in2.uu.net!uucp1.uu.net!world!wware
From: wware@world.std.com (Will Ware)
Subject: Re: Parallelism
Message-ID: <E1x95w.51w@world.std.com>
Followup-To: comp.arch,comp.sys.super,comp.lang.lisp
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]
References: <5536n3$90j@nanaimo.island.net> <57ovif$1c9@lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk> <57uoo0$d7b@inxs.ncren.net> <57vbq8$pps@news.unocal.com> <581v2k$41j@darkstar.ucsc.edu> <handleym-0312961530210001@handma.apple.com> <849729251snz@wildcard.demon.co.uk>
Distribution: inet
Date: Thu, 5 Dec 1996 03:46:44 GMT
Lines: 47
Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.arch:73034 comp.sys.super:7503 comp.lang.lisp:24032

In article <handleym-0312961530210001@handma.apple.com>
           handleym@apple.com "Maynard Handley" writes:
: The computer languages field seems to have no Dawkins, no
: Gould, no popularizers and not even any very good text books.

What an interesting observation! You're right. When Dawkins came to Boston
to promote his new book, I took pains to see him talk, and was happy to sit
on the floor when there were no more chairs. I can't think of anybody in
computer science I'd do that for.

You said you didn't like books that immediately throw code samples at the
reader. I think the intent in such cases is to immerse the reader in the
language, like the idea of learning French by getting lost in Paris without
a guide book. But there's a question of impedance matching, or assumptions
about just how much immersion the reader is ready for. The immersion idea
has definite merits, but perhaps the art hasn't yet been perfected.

Cyber Surfer (cyber_surfer@wildcard.demon.co.uk) wrote:
: ...whether we're talking about Lisp or
: Linux, the books tend to be "preaching to the converted".

I think this might be the reason, that "the converted" exist in such numbers
and with such intensity of feeling in various areas of computer science
(OSes, languages). Joe Weizenbaum talked about "compulsive programmers"
and I think there was a little truth to that. There are lots of undergrads
who are powerfully drawn to computer science, and there's no pressure on
anybody to provide a greater incentive by writing really compelling books
on computer languages that you just can't put down. Maybe this isn't the
case for evolution; I don't recall ever meeting a "compulsive evolution
hacker" when I was in school.

As far as Dawkins, I love his stuff, but he harbors a powerful grudge against
creationists and at times, that grudge drags his writing in a particular
direction, leaving me wondering what it would have been like if he'd just
written out of a passion for explaining things without that kind of agenda.
"Climbing Mount Improbable" is a lovely book, but the whole thing is an
anti-creationist argument.

But you're right, really compelling computer science books would be a great
thing, particularly as computers continue to impact the lives of average
people. And even as somebody who is himself a slightly compulsive programmer,
I often find computer science books pretty inaccessible if they're about a
topic that's pretty new to me.
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------
Will Ware <wware@world.std.com> web <http://world.std.com/~wware/>
PGP fingerprint   45A8 722C D149 10CC   F0CF 48FB 93BF 7289
