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Alan Kay Recommended Books
Alan Kay has recommended 14 books. Browse the complete reading list with quotes and sources below.
Alan Kay is an American computer scientist.
(Read more on Wikipedia)14 Books Recommended
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A Programming Language
by Kenneth E. Iverson
"This has the same thought expanding properties of Lisp." - Alan Kay (Source)
The Art of the Metaobject Protocol
by Gregor Kiczales
"A real gem for helping to think about design and implementations." - Alan Kay (Source)
The Sciences of the Artificial
by Herbert A Simon
"A much stronger way to think about computing — and what 'Computer Science' might mean." - Alan Kay (Source)
The Principia
The Authoritative Translation and Guide: Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy
by Isaac Newton
"I have never forgotten the combined shock and thrill of making my way through this in my 20s." - Alan Kay (Source)
Also recommended by
2 people
Neil deGrasse Tyson recommended this bookNeil deGrasse Tyson
"The man was connected to the universe in ways that I've never seen another human being connect." - Neil deGrasse Tyson
Neil deGrasse Tyson's recommendation of this book 
Sam Altman recommended this bookSam Altman
One of Sam Altman's answers to "What are some of the best books you recommend for a young startup founder?"
Sam Altman's recommendation of this book
LISP 1.5 Programmer's Manual
by John McCarthy
"I have called this the 'Maxwell’s Equations' of computing, because it presents a very large part of what’s important about programming languages." - Alan Kay (Source)
"It is actually a 'math book' — with lots of ideas, theorems, proofs, etc., — but presented in the friendliest way imaginable by a great mind." - Alan Kay (Source)
The Organ-Builder
by Francois Bedos de Celles
"A very different kind of book." - Alan Kay (Source)
"An early look and experience with timeless truths (and gotchas) from systems building with teams" - Alan Kay (Source)
Also recommended by
4 people
Jeff Bezos recommended this bookJeff Bezos
Part of "Jeff's Reading List."
Jeff Bezos's recommendation of this book 
Larry Ellison recommended this bookLarry Ellison
"Larry [Ellison] had given this book to every software executive whom he met within the company." - Marc Benioff
Larry Ellison's recommendation of this book 
Marc Benioff recommended this bookMarc Benioff
"Had a huge impact on me." - Marc Benioff
Marc Benioff's recommendation of this book 
Jeff Atwood recommended this bookJeff Atwood
"Arguably the only classic book in our field. If you haven't read it, shame on you." - Jeff Atwood
Jeff Atwood's recommendation of this book
Molecular Biology of the Cell
by Bruce Alberts
"For many years it has been the best single volume narrative of 'life from scratch.'" - Alan Kay (Source)
Also recommended by
1 person- Sam Altman recommended this book
Sam Altman
One of Sam Altman's answers to "What are some of the best books you recommend for a young startup founder?"
Sam Altman's recommendation of this book
"A formative book in so many ways." - Alan Kay (Source)
Also recommended by
1 person
Richard Branson recommended this bookRichard Branson
Richard Branson recommended this book on his "70 must-read books" blog post.
Richard Branson's recommendation of this book
Molecular Biology of the Gene
by James Watson
"A lovely book to read." - Alan Kay (Source)
"[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." - Alan Kay (Source)
"One of the books that Bob Barton had us read in his famous advanced systems design class in 1967." - Alan Kay (Source)
Edited by
Richard Reis
Software engineer whose passion for tracking book recommendations from podcasts inspired the creation of MRB.
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Anurag Ramdasan
Lead investor at 3one4 Capital whose startup expertise and love for books helped shape MRB and its growth.
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