Technology Books
recommended by entrepreneurs and academics
Last updated: November 03, 2024
The best books on technology, as recommended by the most eminent computer scientists, game developers, ethicists and roboticists in the field. Reading lists on subjects including artificial intelligence, quantum computing, video games, the philosophy of technology, the world wide web, the origins of computing and applied mathematics.
For those looking to get their hands dirty, our list of the best books to get into computer science and programming, with Ana Bell from MIT, is one of the most popular on the site.
On the historical and philosophical side, we met with George Dyson to talk about the origins of computing, Evgeny Morozov to discuss the philosophy of technology, and Nicholas Carr to analyse the impact of the information age.
We have spoken to many experts to find the best artificial intelligence books and data science books.
Finally, if your heart goes to games and virtual worlds, don't miss our selections by Tom Chatfield and Katherine Isbister.
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1
Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence
by Kate Crawford -
2
The Planet Remade
by Oliver Morton -
3
Learning by Doing: The Real Connection between Innovation, Wages, and Wealth
by James Bessen -
4
The Ministry for the Future: A Novel
by Kim Stanley Robinson -
5
How Solar Energy Became Cheap: A Model for Low-Carbon Innovation
by Gregory F. Nemet
The Best Books on Tech, recommended by Azeem Azhar
The Best Books on Tech, recommended by Azeem Azhar
Technology is already running our lives and unless regulations are updated to keep up, it could upend our way of life completely, warns Azeem Azhar, entrepreneur, investor, and creator of the Exponential View newsletter. Here, he recommends his five top tech books to help us navigate the near future, from a technical tome to a science fiction novel.
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1
Structure and Interpretation of Computer Programs
by Gerald Jay Sussman, Harold Abelson & Julie Sussman -
2
The Algorithm Design Manual
by Steven S. Skiena -
3
The Pragmatic Programmer: From Journeyman to Master
by Andrew Hunt & David Thomas -
4
The Art of Readable Code
by Dustin Boswell & Trevor Foucher -
5
Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace
by Joseph Bizup & Joseph M. Williams
The best books on Computer Science for Data Scientists, recommended by Hadley Wickham
The best books on Computer Science for Data Scientists, recommended by Hadley Wickham
Data science is often said to be built on three pillars: domain expertise, statistics, and programming. Hadley Wickham, Chief Scientist at RStudio and creator of many packages for the R programming language, chooses the best books to help aspiring data scientists build solid computer science fundamentals.
The best books on Artificial Intelligence, recommended by Calum Chace
It could lead us all to immortality or spell the end of the human race. Author Calum Chace picks the best books on Artificial Intelligence or AI.
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The Fourth Revolution: How the Infosphere is Reshaping Human Reality
by Luciano Floridi -
2
The Philosophical Baby: What Children's Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life
by Alison Gopnik -
3
Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control
by Stuart Russell -
4
Privacy Is Power: Why and How You Should Take Back Control of Your Data
by Carissa Véliz -
5
Transcendence: How Humans Evolved Through Fire, Language, Beauty, and Time
by Gaia Vince
The best books on The Ethics of Technology, recommended by Tom Chatfield
The best books on The Ethics of Technology, recommended by Tom Chatfield
We are building ever more powerful machines that will compute answers to any questions we care to ask them, says Tom Chatfield, the author and tech philosopher. But are we asking the right questions? Here, he selects five of the best books on the ethics of technology—thoughtful explorations of how our newly-made tools might remake us.
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1
Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths: The Truth About AI and the Future of Humanity
by Steve Shwartz -
2
Mining Your Own Business: A Primer for Executives on Understanding and Employing Data Mining and Predictive Analytics
by Gerhard Pilcher & Jeff Deal -
3
Digital Decisioning: Using Decision Management to Deliver Business Impact from AI
by James Taylor -
4
The Rise of Big Data Policing: Surveillance, Race, and the Future of Law Enforcement
by Andrew Guthrie Ferguson -
5
Handbook of Statistical Analysis and Data Mining Applications
by Robert Nisbet, John Elder, Gary D. Miner
The best books on Machine Learning, recommended by Eric Siegel
The best books on Machine Learning, recommended by Eric Siegel
Machine learning uses data to predict outcomes, explains Eric Siegel, a former professor at Columbia who now advises companies on deploying it in their business. Unlike artificial intelligence, it’s a real technology with a proven track record, he says. He recommends practical books on machine learning that are accessible to the layperson and useful to anyone looking to use it in their business or organization.
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Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science Fictions
by Fredric Jameson -
2
The Birth of Tragedy Out of the Spirit of Music
by Friedrich Nietzsche -
3
How Does Government Listen to Scientists?
by Claire Craig -
4
Voices From Chernobyl
by Svetlana Alexievich -
5
Citizen: An American Lyric
by Claudia Rankine
The best books on Tech Utopias and Dystopias, recommended by Mahlet Zimeta
The best books on Tech Utopias and Dystopias, recommended by Mahlet Zimeta
As advances in AI lead some to dream of utopia, the reality is that dystopia is a lot easier to get to, says tech policy adviser Mahlet Zimeta. She recommends books to think more deeply about how technology affects the world around us, from Nietzsche to Chernobyl and from poetry to speculative fiction.
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1
AI 2041: Ten Visions for Our Future
by Chen Qiufan & Kai-Fu Lee -
2
Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence
by Kate Crawford -
3
Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach
by Peter Norvig & Stuart Russell -
4
The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World
by Pedro Domingos -
5
Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies
by Nick Bostrom
The best books on Artificial Intelligence, recommended by ChatGPT
The best books on Artificial Intelligence, recommended by ChatGPT
Normally at Five Books we ask experts to recommend the best books in their field and talk to us about them in an interview, either in person, by phone or via Zoom. In January 2023, we asked the AI bot, ChatGPT, to recommend books to us on the topic of AI. Being an AI doesn’t necessarily make the chatbot an expert on AI books, but we thought it might have some ideas. This week we caught up with ChatGPT to find out if there were any new AI books it wanted to recommend in the year since we spoke. Read more nonfiction book recommendations on Five Books
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Zed: A Novel
by Joanna Kavenna -
2
Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
by Cathy O'Neil -
3
Mindf*ck: Inside Cambridge Analytica’s Plot to Break the World
by Christopher Wylie -
4
Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism
by Safiya Umoja Noble -
5
AI Ethics
by Mark Coeckelbergh
The best books on Digital Ethics, recommended by Carissa Véliz
The best books on Digital Ethics, recommended by Carissa Véliz
Philosophers have a lot to add to debates about digital technology and the moral issues raised by its rapid rise, argues Carissa Véliz, a professor at the University of Oxford’s Institute for Ethics in AI. Here she talks us through books for the general reader that introduce some of the challenges of digital ethics, from concerns about privacy and bias to the threat to democracy and the future of humanity.
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1
Invisible Users: Youth in the Internet Cafés of Urban Ghana
by Jenna Burrell -
2
Digital Entrepreneurship in Africa: How a Continent Is Escaping Silicon Valley's Long Shadow
by Mark Graham, Michel Wahome & Nicholas Friederici -
3
China Africa and the Future of the Internet
by Iginio Gagliardone -
4
Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics: How the Internet Era is Transforming Politics in Kenya
by Nanjala Nyabola -
5
Africa's Information Revolution
by James Murphy & Padraig Carmody
The best books on Digital Africa, recommended by Mohammad Amir Anwar
The best books on Digital Africa, recommended by Mohammad Amir Anwar
The internet and digital technology are transforming not only the way African countries trade and conduct business but also how they cohere socially and politically. Mohammad Amir Anwar, Lecturer in African Studies and International Development at the University of Edinburgh, recommends books that investigate the opportunities for Africa from the growth of technology—but focus on specifics and avoid the hype.
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The Age of Cryptocurrency: How Bitcoin and Digital Money Are Challenging the Global Economic Order
by Michael Casey & Paul Vigna -
2
Digital Cash: The Unknown History of the Anarchists, Utopians, and Technologists Who Created Cryptocurrency
by Finn Brunton -
3
A History of Money
by Glyn Davies -
4
Paid: Tales of Dongles, Checks, and Other Money Stuff
Bill Maurer and Lana Swartz (eds) -
5
The Basics of Bitcoins and Blockchains
by Antony Lewis
The best books on Cryptocurrency, recommended by David Birch
The best books on Cryptocurrency, recommended by David Birch
Proselytes for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin extol them as a liberation technology to free us from big government. Sceptics insist that while they have been the source of useful technologies, as units of value, account and exchange, they will remain marginal. Here, digital currency expert David Birch chooses five books to help you understand the utopian roots of cryptocurrencies, the technology behind how they work, their functions and uses, and their broader place in the long history of money.