Getting an accurate read on the world of technology

Here’s my pick of the best technology books of 2012 – and a few timeless classics to boot

Thinking of a good technology read for yourself over the holidays, or a geeky gift for someone else who loves technology (or whom you hope might be persuaded to)?

Here are some recommended books from the fresh technology reads published over the past year – plus a few oldies but goodies that should be on any tech enthusiast’s bookshelf.

Some of the best of 2012 . . . .

The Signal and the Noise: Why Most Predictions Fail but Some Don’t

Nate Silver; Allen Lane, £25

A tale of the rise of the rule of the algorithm, and a must-read book, after the US presidential election. The unassuming numbers geek Silver – obsessed since childhood with statistics, number crunching and probabilities – became the man of the moment after he correctly predicted the election results in all 50 states. Here, he gives a look inside the mathematical processes that let people – sometimes – see the forest rather than the individual trees.

The Human Face of Big Data

Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt, £35

Though this 7.5lb volume might require a small truck to deliver to your door, it will then easily end up on the coffee table and become the geek book all the family will enjoy exploring. Award-winning National Geographic photographer Smolan and co-author Erwitt fill this volume with images, illustrations and essays that will bring the amazing world of “Big Data” to life.

From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg: What You Really Need to Know About the Internet

John Naughton, Quercus, £10.99

The Observer science writer Naughton excels at making technology – and the issues, politics and ideas surrounding it – not just accessible but captivating. This intriguing read will give a real understanding of the internet and its cultural, business and societal significance.

Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet

Andrew Blum, HarperCollins, $26.00

A fascinating look at the “pipes” behind the clicks. Most of us have no sense of what happens after we click on a link, the hardware and software behind our internet connections that span the globe and make this extraordinary network possible. Not available over here until the middle of next year, but you can get this bestseller from the US right now.

We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency

Parmy Olson, Little and Brown, $26.00

Media stories tend to depict these groups as either full-on nasty bad guys or buffoonish adolescents with too much time on their coding hands. This is a gripping insider look at these mysterious and complex organisations, and some of the hackers at their core, and gives a more nuanced insight than the headlines. Available from the US; the paperback comes out next year in the UK.

Turing’s Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe

George Dyson, Allen Lane, £25

A blend of technology history and creative consequence, Dyson brings to life the story behind some of the original innovators who gave birth to today’s digital world. Then he explores how the work of these pioneers has fundamentally influenced – and created – so many fields and so much innovation.

The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation

Jon Gertner, Penguin, £20

In many ways, Silicon Valley was actually born in New Jersey in the famed Bell Labs (home of the transistor, precursor to the microchip), as so many of its key people eventually made their way across the continent to California, or influenced Valley industries. Radar, satellites, transistors, mobiles: all came from Bell Labs. Essential reading. The paperback is out in the UK next year.

. . . and some classics

In the fast-paced world of digital technologies, some books written in the past can quickly become creaky and outdated.

But there are so many that remain evergreen for their insight into technology’s history, and because they remain outstanding reads in their own right.

Here are a couple of must-haves, though it is hard to select so few from an ever-increasing field of tech classics.

The Soul of a New Machine

Tracy Kidder, Modern Library, £14.99

If you don’t have this marvellous book, buy it immediately. Never out of print since publication three decades ago, it is a widely admired, cross-genre classic; hence this hardcover reissue is still going strong. It has been described as possibly the best-ever story of the development of a product, and definitely of a computer. Paced like a novel, it delivers an unforgettable experience for readers.

The New New Thing

Michael Lewis, Hodder, £8.99

Lewis’s latest book, Boomerang, includes a wry look at our home-grown economic disaster, but this one made his name more than a decade ago as the must-read of the dot-com boom. It focuses on Jim Clark, founder of Silicon Graphics and the pivotal web browser company Netscape, who seemed the quintessential digital entrepreneur. This is one for anyone too young to remember the original dot-com bubble, or too willing to forget it.

Accidental Empires: How the Boys of Silicon Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can’t Get a Date Robert X Cringely, Harper Collins, $16.99

A hilarious, fast-paced take from one of the Valley’s best known writers on some of the big computing entrepreneurs: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mitch Kapor and others. Highly readable, and highly likely to make you LOL (laugh out loud).

The book became a three-part documentary on US public television. Out of print in the UK but you can order the US version at UK and Irish book websites or in local bookshops.

If you want more, Venturebeat has an excellent list of what it considers the 25 top tech books of all time, see iti.ms/VQnwQw