This 25th anniversary edition of Steven Levy's classic book traces the exploits of the computer revolution's original hackers -- those brilliant and eccentric nerds from the late 1950s through the early '80s who took risks, bent the rules, and pushed the world in a radical new direction. With updated material from noteworthy hackers such as Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Stallman, and Steve Wozniak, Hackers is a fascinating story that begins in early computer research labs and leads to the first home computers. Levy profiles the imaginative brainiacs who found clever and unorthodox solutions to computer engineering problems. They had a shared sense of values, known as "the hacker ethic," that still thrives today. Hackers captures a seminal period in recent history when underground activities blazed a trail for today's digital world, from MIT students finagling access to clunky computer-card machines to the DIY culture that spawned the Altair and the Apple II.

"Building on his highly successful textbook on C++, David Yevick provides a concise yet comprehensive one-stop course in three key programming languages, C++, Java and Octave (a freeware alternative to MATLAB). Employing only public-domain software to ensure straightforward implementation for all readers, this book presents a unique overview of numerical and programming techniques relevant to scientific programming, including object-oriented programming, elementary and advanced topics in numerical analysis, physical system modeling, scientific graphics, software engineering and performance issues. Relevant features of each programming language are illustrated with short, incisive examples, and the installation and application of the software is described in detail. Compact, transparent code in all three programming languages is applied to the fundamental equations of quantum mechanics, electromagnetics, mechanics and statistical mechanics. Uncommented versions of the code that can be immediately modified and adapted are provided online for the more involved programs. This compact, practical text is an invaluable introduction for students in all undergraduate- and graduate-level courses in the physical sciences or engineering that require numerical modeling, and also a key reference for instructors and scientific programmers"--