Can you Recommend a Good Pop-Tech Book?

I'm interested in tech books that are aimed at a more general, non-technical audience. Which book would you recommend to, say, a curious friend?

Comments

[Jason C. McDonald]

Dreaming in Code by Scott Rosenberg is excellent, both for programmers (every coder alike should read it!) and non-programmers. It really helps explain why software is what it is: the nature of bugs, shifting production schedules, general weirdness, and all!

[MurrayVarey]

This has me at the author's note:

So while I hope that programmers will enjoy this work, it is meant equally or more for the rest of us. It poses a question and tells a tale. Why is good software so hard to make?

Sounds fantastic -- exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks for the recommendation, Jason!

[Alex Lab]

I would recommend Kevin Mitnick Ghost in the wires. More about the starts of cyberhacking and his story but really great to read something a little bit less technically. And I recommend also Permanent Record from Edward Snowden !

[MurrayVarey]

Ghost in the wires

Sounds really fun, like an updated Catch Me If You Can. Tech + true crime always make for a great story (as the writers at Wired would no doubt testify).

Thank you, Alex!

[Alex Lab]

Exactly ! There is a movie adaptation of the book but I will recommend to read it instead. Yes Wired has some really great articles !

[MurrayVarey]

Thanks for the heads up -- I wouldn't want to spoil the book!

[MurrayVarey]

My current recommendation is Algorithms to Live By, by Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths. It's a light-hearted (and also informative) look at how computer science has solved all of life's problems. Spoiler: it hasn't really ... but the book is still good fun.