Old English, Computer Software, History of Science and Technology, and Writings about Writing
Out with Winter, in with Spring!
Old English Poetry: An Anthology by R.M. Liuzza
I’ve been getting into Old English recently – that is, how English was spoken until around 1150. Think Beowulf. I’m kind of hopeful that the book will include the original language so that I can work on my translation skills.
Sir Gawain and the Old Knight; Pearl; and Sir Orfeo translated by J.R.R. Tolkein
Again, this also follows on my Old-English kick. Notice that it’s translated by Tolkein, author of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I’m curious how this will read. These three are some of the oldest written stories in the English language. I’m interested in how they portray late-medieval society.
UNIX: A Biography and a Memoir by Brian Kernighan
Since being exposed to it in college, I’ve been a big fan of the UNIX operating system (now in use on Mac OSX). It is more secure, easier to use, and more efficient than any other computer operating system available today. Having written a great work on the C programming language, Kernighan is one of the great pioneering computer programmers. This book has the potential to be treasured for a long time.
Life Out of Sequence: A Data-Driven History of Bioinformatics by Hallam Stevens
Bioinformatics is computer science for biological applications. Biomedical computer problems have a common set of complications. This history seems to focus on computers and genomics, which attempts to make biology more of an information science. This history should shine light upon these shared problems as I reflect upon my personal work.
Leonardo to the Internet: Technology and Culture from the Renaissance to the Present by Thomas J. Misa
Social histories of technology interest me deeply – how technology is treated by past and contemporary culture. Again, this book scratches that itch. This book is a high-level overview of and history of technology.
Biomedical Computing: Digitizing Life in the United States by Joseph A. November
Like Life Out of Sequence, this book covers how biomedically oriented computer science has progressed since computers first hit the scenes. This book is part of a series by Johns Hopkins University Press, a (the?) leader in history-of-science literature.
MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd Edition
Ever wonder when to use a semicolon instead of a period, or when to hyphenate a compound word? This book answers these questions when writing for a scholarly audience. This is more of a reference book than a friendly introduction, but it is very relevant to my life.