computer science

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution rather than just read about it. In short: Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (ISBN 978-0-385-19195-1) is a book by Steven Levy about hacker culture. It was published in 1984 in Garden City, New York by Doubleday.

Key takeaways

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (ISBN 978-0-385-19195-1) is a book by Steven Levy about hacker culture. It was published in 1984 in Garden City, New York by Doubleday. Levy describes the people, the machines, and the events that defined the Hacker culture and the Hacker Ethic, from the early mainframe hackers at MIT, to the self-made hardware hackers and game hackers. The book saw an edition with a new afterword (entitled "Afterword: Ten Years After") by the author in 1994. In 2010, a 25th anniversary edition with updated material was published by O'Reilly.

Summary Levy traces developments in the history of hacking, beginning with The Tech Model Railroad Club at MIT, whose members were among the first hackers. He discusses the Hacker Ethic, a set of concepts, beliefs, and morals that came out of a symbiotic relationship between the hackers and the machines. The Ethic consisted of allowing all information to be open and accessible in order to learn about how the world worked; using the already available knowledge to create more knowledge.

Several chapters discuss the history of computer gaming, beginning with Spacewar! in September 1961. This paved the way for major gaming companies such as On-Line, Broderbund, and Sirius Software. Other highlights include: Conway's Game of Life, a computer simulation written by John Horton Conway which became Bill Gosper's focus in 1970. Revolt in 2100: Lee Felsenstein and Jude Milhon founded Community Memory, an offshoot of Resource One based in Berkeley, California. Bob Albrecht and his computer-book publishing company Dymax also brought computing to the people by teaching young students to program. Albrecht formed People's Computer Company, a storefront in Menlo Park, California, to offer computer time and classes. Every Man a God: In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Ed Roberts founded Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems created the Altair 8800, a computer kit that cost only $397.

The Homebrew Computer Club was founded by Fred Moore and Gordon French as a way for electronics hobbyists and hackers to get together and exchange information and talk about their projects. The first meeting took place on March 5, 1975 in Gordon's garage. Tiny BASIC: Altair BASIC was an interpreter that translated instructions from the BASIC programming language into assembly instructions that the Altair 8800 could understand. It was developed by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, the founders of Microsoft, then styled "Micro-soft", specifically for the 8800 and it would fit in 4K of memory. In addition, Levy profiles important hacker figures, including John Draper, Bill Gates, Richard Greenblatt, and Steve Wozniak.

Reception PC Magazine stated that Levy "does capture the essential composite of the hacker personality but fails to accept that the true hacker, driven by machine lust, is equally content to hack in the corporate corridors. He is also naively optimistic about the collective spirit of computing, which he believes will ultimately prevail".

References

External links Read Chapters 1 and 2 from Project Gutenberg.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution

In research: Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1984 non-fiction books, Books about computer and internet entrepreneurs, Books about computer hacking, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution in simple terms?

Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution (ISBN 978-0-385-19195-1) is a book by Steven Levy about hacker culture. It was published in 1984 in Garden City, New York by Doubleday.

Why does Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution.