The Books That Made A Difference To 14 Leading Technologists
IEEE Spectrum asked 14 leading technologists to name the novel that influenced them the
most. You'll be surprised at how often they agreed.
- Vinton Cerf ,Chief Internet Evangelist, Google , Founding father of the Internet, helped develop TCP/IP standards
Novel: The Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien (3 volumes, 1954–1955)
- Donald Christiansen,Former editor, IEEE Spectrum; President of Informatica
Novel: War and Remembrance, Herman Wouk (1978)
- David Mindell ,Frances and David Dibner Associate Professor of the History of Engineering and Manufacturing, MIT
Novel: Gravity’s Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon (1973)
- James Isaak ,Assistant professor of information technology, Southern New Hampshire University, in Manchester
Novel: Stand on Zanzibar, John Brunner (1968)
- Samuel C. Florman,Principal and owner, Kreisler Borg Florman General Construction Co., Scarsdale, N.Y.
Novel: A Single Pebble, John Hersey (1956)
- Vernor Vinge,Retired professor of computer science, San Diego State University
Novel: Between Planets, Robert A. Heinlein (1957)
- Danny Hillis,Cochairman, Applied Minds, Glendale, Calif. Cofounded Thinking Machines, pioneer of massively parallel computer architectures
Novel: Have Spacesuit, Will Travel, Robert A. Heinlein (1958)
- Barrett Hazeltine,Professor of engineering emeritus, Brown University, Providence, R.I.
Novel: The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)
- Nick Tredennick , Editor, the Gilder Technology Report, Great Barrington, Mass.
Novel: Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand (1957)
- Steven W. Squyres, Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy, CornellUniversity, Ithaca, N.Y.
Novel: Gravity’s Rainbow, Thomas Pynchon (1973)
- Jaron Lanier,Artist, composer, and Fellow, International Computer Science Institute, BerkeleyComposer, artist, inventor;
Novel: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (1916), James Joyce
- Henry Petroski,Aleksandar S. Vesic Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Duke University, Durham, N.C.
Novel: A Single Pebble, John Hersey (1956)
- Jon Rubinstein, Key developer of Apple’s iPod, now chairman, Immersion Corp., San Jose
Novel: The Mad Scientists’ Club, Bertrand R. Brinley (1965)
- Owen K. Garriott,Engineer and former astronaut
Novel: Rocket Boys: A Memoir, Homer A. Hickam Jr. (1998)