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Paul Ivanov's Reviews > The Soul of a New Machine
The Soul of a New Machine
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I can't believe this is not required reading for a computer architecture course!
In my high school Biology, H.G. Wells' The Time Machine was assigned to be read over the winter vacation. It was a bit of a stretch, but did make the class a bit more interesting. As I read Kidder describe the toil undertaken in creating this new computer - working under the pressure on the brink of insanity to find those incessant bugs - I thought this the perfect companion for the CS154B Computer Architecture class at UC Davis. As students, we worked on analogous type of problems and under similar conditions: this book provides a human angle to that struggle. If I recall correctly, pipelining is explained so well, I bet my grandma would even understand it! And yet there are plenty of subtle technical details buried in this masterfully written true story.
In my high school Biology, H.G. Wells' The Time Machine was assigned to be read over the winter vacation. It was a bit of a stretch, but did make the class a bit more interesting. As I read Kidder describe the toil undertaken in creating this new computer - working under the pressure on the brink of insanity to find those incessant bugs - I thought this the perfect companion for the CS154B Computer Architecture class at UC Davis. As students, we worked on analogous type of problems and under similar conditions: this book provides a human angle to that struggle. If I recall correctly, pipelining is explained so well, I bet my grandma would even understand it! And yet there are plenty of subtle technical details buried in this masterfully written true story.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
December 1, 2003
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Finished Reading
August 31, 2010
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Seth
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Sep 03, 2010 05:25AM
My mom used to work at Data General and I’ve had this book on my shelf for a long time without having had a chance to read it. It sounds like an even more enjoyable read for a person like me than I would have thought!
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Damn it Paul, your review makes me want to read this book. I don't have time in my life for reading books.
Mike, you don't have time *not* to read this book!
It was not the required reading but recommended by Prof. Chang at UMC's Dept. of Industrial & System Engineering on an MIS course in the late 80's. I wish I could have read it back then to get inspired. Your comment just reminds me how remorseful I am now.
