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Alan Kay's Top Book Recommendations

Want to know what books Alan Kay recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Alan Kay's favorite book recommendations of all time.

1

The Art of the Metaobject Protocol

Gregor Kiczales, Jim des Rivieres, Daniel G. Bobrow | 4.40

The CLOS metaobject protocol is an elegant, high-performance extension tothe CommonLisp Object System. The authors, who developed the metaobject protocol andwho were among the group that developed CLOS, introduce this new approach toprogramming language design, describe its evolution and design principles, andpresent a formal specification of a metaobject protocol for CLOS.Kiczales, desRivi?res, and Bobrow show that the "art of metaobject protocol design" lies increating a synthetic combination of object-oriented and reflective techniques thatcan be applied under existing software...

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Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan KayA real gem for helping to think about design and implementations. (Source)

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2

A Programming Language

Kenneth E. Iverson | 4.58

Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan KayThis has the same thought expanding properties of Lisp. (Source)

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3

The Sciences of the Artificial

Herbert A Simon | 4.33

Continuing his exploration of the organization of complexity and the science of design, this new edition of Herbert Simon's classic work on artificial intelligence adds a chapter that sorts out the current themes and tools -- chaos, adaptive systems, genetic algorithms -- for analyzing complexity and complex systems. There are updates throughout the book as well. These take into account important advances in cognitive psychology and the science of design while confirming and extending the book's basic thesis: that a physical symbol system has the necessary and sufficient means for intelligent... more
Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan KayA much stronger way to think about computing — and what 'Computer Science' might mean. (Source)

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4

Advances in Programming Non-Numerical Applications to Computing Machines

L Fox and L. Fo | 4.50

Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan KayOne of the books that Bob Barton had us read in his famous advanced systems design class in 1967. (Source)

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5

Art in the Blood (A Sherlock Holmes Adventure)

Bonnie MacBird | 4.07

London. A snowy December, 1888. Sherlock Holmes, 34, is languishing and back on cocaine after a disastrous Ripper investigation. Watson can neither comfort nor rouse his friend – until a strangely encoded letter arrives from Paris.

Mlle La Victoire, a beautiful French cabaret star writes that her young son has vanished, and she has been attacked in the streets of Montmartre.

Racing to Paris with Watson at his side, Holmes discovers the missing child is only the tip of the iceberg of a much larger problem. The most valuable statue since the Winged Victory has been... more
Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan Kay[My wife] completely nailed the Arthur Conan Doyle voice of the characters and narrative, while being able to carry a marvelous story into the much larger realm of the novel. (Source)

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6

The Organ Builder

Francois Bedos de Celles and Charles Ferguson | 4.50

Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan KayA very different kind of book. (Source)

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7

Computation

Finite and Infinite Machines (Automatic Computation)

Marvin Lee Minsky | 4.81

Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan KayIt is actually a 'math book' — with lots of ideas, theorems, proofs, etc., — but presented in the friendliest way imaginable by a great mind. (Source)

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8

LISP 1.5 Programmer's Manual

Michael I. Levin, John McCarthy | 4.56

The LISP language is designed primarily for symbolic data processing used for symbolic calculations in differential and integral calculus, electrical circuit theory, mathematical logic, game playing, and other fields of artificial intelligence.The manual describes LISP, a formal mathematical language. LISP differs from most programming languages in three important ways. The first way is in the nature of the data. In the LISP language, all data are in the form of symbolic expressions usually referred to as S-expressions, of indefinite length, and which have a branching tree-type of structure,... more
Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan KayI have called this the 'Maxwell’s Equations' of computing, because it presents a very large part of what’s important about programming languages. (Source)

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9

Molecular Biology of the Cell

Bruce Alberts, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, Peter Walter | 4.52

Molecular Biology of the Cell is the classic in-dept text reference in cell biology. By extracting the fundamental concepts from this enormous and ever-growing field, the authors tell the story of cell biology, and create a coherent framework through which non-expert readers may approach the subject. Written in clear and concise language, and beautifully illustrated, the book is enjoyable to read, and it provides a clear sense of the excitement of modern biology. Molecular Biology of the Cell sets forth the current understanding of cell biology (completely updated as of Autumn 2001), and it... more
Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan KayFor many years it has been the best single volume narrative of 'life from scratch.' (Source)

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10

Molecular Biology of the Gene

James D. Watson, Tania A. Baker, Stephen P. Bell, Alexander Gann, Michael Levine, Richard Losick | 4.15

Now completely up-to-date with the latest research advances, the Seventh Edition of James D. Watson's classic book, Molecular Biology of the Gene retains the distinctive character of earlier editions that has made it the most widely used book in molecular biology. Twenty-two concise chapters, co-authored by six highly distinguished biologists, provide current, authoritative coverage of an exciting, fast-changing discipline. less
Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan KayA lovely book to read. (Source)

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11

Mythology

Edith Hamilton | 4.30

The world-renowned classic that has enthralled and delighted millions of readers with its timeless tales of gods and heroes.

Edith Hamilton's mythology succeeds like no other book in bringing to life for the modern reader the Greek, Roman and Norse myths that are the keystone of Western culture-the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.

We follow the drama of the Trojan War and the wanderings of Odysseus. We hear the tales of Jason and the Golden Fleece, Cupid and Psyche, and mighty King Midas. We discover the... more
Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan KayA few more books like this, and by the time I got to first grade I had been ruined for the 'single book - single truth' ideas of school and church. (Source)

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12

The Principia

Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy

René Descartes | 3.72

In his monumental 1687 work Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, known familiarly as the Principia, Isaac Newton laid out in mathematical terms the principles of time, force, and motion that have guided the development of modern physical science. Even after more than three centuries and the revolutions of Einsteinian relativity and quantum mechanics, Newtonian physics continues to account for many of the phenomena of the observed world, and Newtonian celestial dynamics is used to determine the orbits of our space vehicles.
This completely new translation, the first... more
Recommended by Alan Kay, and 1 others.

Alan KayI have never forgotten the combined shock and thrill of making my way through this in my 20s. (Source)

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13

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Jules Verne, William O'Connor | 4.09

Go 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea with Sterling's Illustrated Classics series, and see Jules Verne's fantastic water-world as never before: through more than 70 stunning steampunk images illustrated by the incredible William O'Connor. Originally published in 1870, Verne’s amazing adventure is one of the earliest sci-fi novels ever written—and one of the most popular. Come on board the Nautilus and plunge below the waves with Captain Nemo on a voyage of exploration and imagination. less
Recommended by Richard Branson, Alan Kay, Jan Zalasiewicz, and 3 others.

Richard BransonToday is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. (Source)

Alan KayA formative book in so many ways. (Source)

Jan ZalasiewiczRe-reading it recently, I was struck not just by its dynamic plot, but also by how much science he smuggled in. (Source)

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14

The Mythical Man-Month

Essays on Software Engineering

Frederick P. Brooks Jr. | 4.28

Few books on software project management have been as influential and timeless as The Mythical Man-Month. With a blend of software engineering facts and thought-provoking opinions, Fred Brooks offers insight for anyone managing complex projects. These essays draw from his experience as project manager for the IBM System/360 computer family and then for OS/360, its massive software system. Now, 20 years after the initial publication of his book, Brooks has revisited his original ideas and added new thoughts and advice, both for readers already familiar with his work and for readers discovering... more
Recommended by Jeff Bezos, Andrew Chen, Alan Kay, and 4 others.

Jeff Bezos[From "The Everything Store", written by Brad Stone] “An influential computer scientist makes the counterintuitive argument that small groups of engineers are more effective than larger ones at handling complex software projects. The book lays out the theory behind Amazon’s two pizza teams,” Stone writes. (Source)

Alan KayAn early look and experience with timeless truths (and gotchas) from systems building with teams (Source)

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Don't have time to read Alan Kay's favorite books? Read Shortform summaries.

Shortform summaries help you learn 10x faster by:

  • Being comprehensive: you learn the most important points in the book
  • Cutting out the fluff: you focus your time on what's important to know
  • Interactive exercises: apply the book's ideas to your own life with our educators' guidance.
Sign Up for Free Book Summaries