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A review by nkmeyers
Adventures of a Computational Explorer by Stephen Wolfram
4.0
[b:Adventures of a Computational Explorer|44196066|Adventures of a Computational Explorer|Stephen Wolfram|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563769307l/44196066._SX50_.jpg|68734018], a compilation of essays, blog posts and speeches, is great reading as a stand-alone book, and it also rewards the attention of those who come to it from [a:Stephen Wolfram|139599|Stephen Wolfram|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1384533467p2/139599.jpg] 's earlier [b:A New Kind of Science|238558|A New Kind of Science|Stephen Wolfram|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386925097l/238558._SX50_.jpg|231083] and/or [b:Idea Makers: Personal Perspectives on the Lives & Ideas of Some Notable People|30618260|Idea Makers Personal Perspectives on the Lives & Ideas of Some Notable People|Stephen Wolfram|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1468669633l/30618260._SX50_.jpg|51149738] .
For anyone who watched all three episodes of the Netflix documentary Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates and kept tuning in, this compilation from Stephen Wolfram dares to go a couple steps further. It's idiosyncratically personal. The book's got its own sense of humor even though the installments that make it up cover several years. Plus, Wolfram's curiosity and his problem-solving-mind together make reading these memoirs a lot of fun.
Some chapters, like the one on personal productivity, give the reader a glimpse of the "man behind the computation". From an illustrated look at Wolfram's filing solution [spoiler: yes, it's like a mailbox slot], to a way to take a walk in the woods with your laptop.
On Wolfram's blog (writings.stephenwolfram.com) you can get a taste of how fun it is to think inventively reading his companion post Seeking the Productive Life on which the chapter is based .
There you'll see him out on the trails getting in his steps with a cigarette-girl style walking desk, and keeping up with the world with his laptop perched on a stadium hawking tray-type apparatus at the same time .
Wolfram shares with the reader the notion that " the same intellectual thought processes can be applied not just to what one thinks of as science, but to pretty much anything. And for me there’s tremendous satisfaction in seeing how this works out." Indeed! And, [b:Adventures of a Computational Explorer|44196066|Adventures of a Computational Explorer|Stephen Wolfram|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563769307l/44196066._SX50_.jpg|68734018] lets the armchair traveler have a front row seat .
If you're trying to decide which edition, especially for gift-giving, the illustrations are part of the information AND part of the fun with this book. I found them to be easier on the eye in the print edition than the e-book on my Oasis but your mileage may differ.
4.5 big stars for the thoughtful fun. -.5 star bcs some of the material upcycled from the blog into the compilation might have been brought more up-to-date and there's no index which, given Wolfram's wide ranging activities, would have been the icing on the cake.
I'm giving it a Great on the natometer anyway!
I would like to thank NetGalley & Stephen Wolfram, LLC for providing an e-copy & reviewer's print copy for use in the preparation of an honest review.
For anyone who watched all three episodes of the Netflix documentary Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates and kept tuning in, this compilation from Stephen Wolfram dares to go a couple steps further. It's idiosyncratically personal. The book's got its own sense of humor even though the installments that make it up cover several years. Plus, Wolfram's curiosity and his problem-solving-mind together make reading these memoirs a lot of fun.
Some chapters, like the one on personal productivity, give the reader a glimpse of the "man behind the computation". From an illustrated look at Wolfram's filing solution [spoiler: yes, it's like a mailbox slot], to a way to take a walk in the woods with your laptop.
On Wolfram's blog (writings.stephenwolfram.com) you can get a taste of how fun it is to think inventively reading his companion post Seeking the Productive Life on which the chapter is based .
There you'll see him out on the trails getting in his steps with a cigarette-girl style walking desk, and keeping up with the world with his laptop perched on a stadium hawking tray-type apparatus at the same time .
Wolfram shares with the reader the notion that " the same intellectual thought processes can be applied not just to what one thinks of as science, but to pretty much anything. And for me there’s tremendous satisfaction in seeing how this works out." Indeed! And, [b:Adventures of a Computational Explorer|44196066|Adventures of a Computational Explorer|Stephen Wolfram|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563769307l/44196066._SX50_.jpg|68734018] lets the armchair traveler have a front row seat .
If you're trying to decide which edition, especially for gift-giving, the illustrations are part of the information AND part of the fun with this book. I found them to be easier on the eye in the print edition than the e-book on my Oasis but your mileage may differ.
4.5 big stars for the thoughtful fun. -.5 star bcs some of the material upcycled from the blog into the compilation might have been brought more up-to-date and there's no index which, given Wolfram's wide ranging activities, would have been the icing on the cake.
I'm giving it a Great on the natometer anyway!
I would like to thank NetGalley & Stephen Wolfram, LLC for providing an e-copy & reviewer's print copy for use in the preparation of an honest review.