The Machine War

by Noah Kumin

A philosophical history of the computer from Archimedes to today, and an investigation into Urbit's project to reinvent computing from scratch.

134 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-written summary of some important elements of the history of computing, combined with very digestible explanations of some modern systems that may affect the next paradigm. While much of the subject matter is inherently political (and the Urbit system under discussion definitely has a position), the author does an admirable job of keeping the prose fairly neutral and informative.

[Arthur Choate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it in a day, great book. Have a deeper appreciation for the beauty of Hoon code and Urbit.

The writing was suburb. It was a complicated topic distilled down, and very digestible.