3 Books Weekly #22: Featuring Nat Hunter from Machines Room

09.00, Friday 29 Jul 2016

The following was first posted on the 3 Books Weekly email newsletter and has since been archived here.


Hullo hullo

This week we have three fantastic recommendations from Nat Hunter. Nat is Strategic Director at Machines Room and you can follow her on Twitter as @redfishnat.

The vending machine is all moved in to Machines Room for the summer and we’ve collectively decided that it’s their very first Machine-in-Residence. Hurrah! It’s where Machine Supply will be located throughout August, so head down and check it out for some summer holiday reading. You can find a couple of Nat’s picks in stock :) (On a personal note, I read Shaping Things when it came out and it totally blew my mind. So get that.)

In other news, I’m super excited to have a Machine Supply partner in crime! Lisa Ritchie is joining me to help write the newsletter and run the vending machine. Stay tuned for Lisa’s book recommendations next week.

Have a great week, and happy reading!

Matt

#1. The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer, by Sydney Padua

A beautifully drawn and slightly bonkers graphic novel about Ada Lovelace and Charles Babbage and the birth of computing. It starts out as a true story about Byron and Maths then becomes a bit more whimsical as the book goes on. Interesting, informative and entertaining.

The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage: The (Mostly) True Story of the First Computer: Amazon / Amazon UK

#2. Sex, Bombs and Burgers: How War, Porn and Fast Food Created Technology as We Know it, by Peter Nowak

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, this is the story of how the killer trio of war, fast food and pornography have accelerated the pace of change of our technology.

Sex, Bombs and Burgers: How War, Porn and Fast Food Created Technology as We Know it: Amazon / Amazon UK

#3. Shaping Things (Mediawork Pamphlet), by Bruce Sterling

Ever wanted to know what a “spime” is? Well, read this book. A spime turns out to be an object with “informational support so extensive and rich that they are regarded as material instantiations of an immaterial system”. They are designed on screens, fabricated by digital means, and precisely tracked through space and time. So there. Now you know.

Shaping Things (Mediawork Pamphlet): Amazon / Amazon UK

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