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The Aremac Project
While a pair of grad students push the boundaries of neuroscience and nanotechnology to create software that takes pictures of a person's memory, a terrorist group has been bombing landmarks in Chicago, attempting to extort millions from the city. In the desperate search for clues, two agents hire the grad students, hoping to apply their experimental discoveries to learn more from a suspect's mind. When a sudden murder stymies their investigation, the investigators and the unique Aremac project become the terrorist's next target!
Gerald M. Weinberg has covered the area of systems thinking, writing, and secrets of consulting with a handful of books already. In the light of his previous publications "The Aremac Project" is perhaps an odd one - it's a thriller, not a handbook. "The Aremac Project" is a thrilling story about young geniuses, terrorism, FBI agents, bombs, a mind reading device, and above all it really is a story about a software development project.
Software development is a rare subject in fiction. If you've read any or some of mr Weinberg's other books you'll see pieces of wisdom sprinkled throughout the book. Like the "A Buffalo Story" from "The Secrets of Consulting". "He's like a buffalo. I can get him to do anything I want him to do, as long as he wants to do it." And there's a Robin Hood character, the "Bag Bandit", who teaches bureaucrats about queueing theory and systems thinking.
The heroes of this story, the two married genius hardware and software engineers, Tess and Roger, are assigned to a federal-funded anti-terrorism project, with the aim to develop a mind reading device, lead by professor Wyatt. Tess and Roger are of course not informed about the true origins of this project when they sign on the project, but the implications of the project are bound to make them aware soon enough. Professor Wyatt turns out to be utterly incompetent. In fact, you could read the book and use his examples as anti patterns for project management.
Professor Wyatt isn't just an incompetent leader, he's a dangerous programmer as well. A hack in the Aremac's control program's compiled code causes a massive electromagnetic jolt to be released while Tess is strapped to the machine, rendering Tess to a stable paralyzed condition. With Tess paralyzed, Roger turns his focus on helping Tess back to normal, using the Aremac technology. At the same time a group of terrorists are bombing soft targets in Chicago and the FBI is growing more and more impatient to use the Aremac. Tess and Roger are soon entangled in a very challenging software development project.
Gerald M. Weinberg has covered the area of systems thinking, writing, and secrets of consulting with a handful of books already. In the light of his previous publications "The Aremac Project" is perhaps an odd one - it's a thriller, not a handbook. "The Aremac Project" is a thrilling story about young geniuses, terrorism, FBI agents, bombs, a mind reading device, and above all it really is a story about a software development project.
Software development is a rare subject in fiction. If you've read any or some of mr Weinberg's other books you'll see pieces of wisdom sprinkled throughout the book. Like the "A Buffalo Story" from "The Secrets of Consulting". "He's like a buffalo. I can get him to do anything I want him to do, as long as he wants to do it." And there's a Robin Hood character, the "Bag Bandit", who teaches bureaucrats about queueing theory and systems thinking.
The heroes of this story, the two married genius hardware and software engineers, Tess and Roger, are assigned to a federal-funded anti-terrorism project, with the aim to develop a mind reading device, lead by professor Wyatt. Tess and Roger are of course not informed about the true origins of this project when they sign on the project, but the implications of the project are bound to make them aware soon enough. Professor Wyatt turns out to be utterly incompetent. In fact, you could read the book and use his examples as anti patterns for project management.
Professor Wyatt isn't just an incompetent leader, he's a dangerous programmer as well. A hack in the Aremac's control program's compiled code causes a massive electromagnetic jolt to be released while Tess is strapped to the machine, rendering Tess to a stable paralyzed condition. With Tess paralyzed, Roger turns his focus on helping Tess back to normal, using the Aremac technology. At the same time a group of terrorists are bombing soft targets in Chicago and the FBI is growing more and more impatient to use the Aremac. Tess and Roger are soon entangled in a very challenging software development project.
368 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 2, 2007
1 person is currently reading
12 people want to read
About the author
Gerald M. Weinberg
95 books373 followersGerald Marvin Weinberg (October 27, 1933 – August 7, 2018) was an American computer scientist, author and teacher of the psychology and anthropology of computer software development.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 11, 2011
Not many books take an invention from the start to the working-prototype finish. This is one such book.
A new invention, the intimate affects on the lives of the inventors, the conspiring political scene, both in the US and the world, and more. I enjoyed the ride, with it all coming together in a great action sequence.
I thought the story had a nice balance between the science and the effects on the lives of the main characters. It didn't delve into dry scientific terms and explanations, but instead kept my interest to keep reading to learn more. I also liked the changing relationship between the two main characters, in a development in their affection to each other from something more clinical to something more emotional-based.
This was the first book of a series, and I'm looking forward to reading the others.
A new invention, the intimate affects on the lives of the inventors, the conspiring political scene, both in the US and the world, and more. I enjoyed the ride, with it all coming together in a great action sequence.
I thought the story had a nice balance between the science and the effects on the lives of the main characters. It didn't delve into dry scientific terms and explanations, but instead kept my interest to keep reading to learn more. I also liked the changing relationship between the two main characters, in a development in their affection to each other from something more clinical to something more emotional-based.
This was the first book of a series, and I'm looking forward to reading the others.
July 30, 2009
Enjoyed but a bit too dispassionately written I thought- felt like a text book rather than telling an exciting story
July 1, 2011
Enjoyable inventor-porn.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews