Author:Pekka Himanen
The Hacker Ethic takes us on a journey through fundamental questions about life in the information age - a trip of constant surprises, after which our time and our lives can be seen from unexpected perspectives.Nearly a century ago, Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism articulated the animating spirit of the industrial age, the Protestant ethic. In the original meaning of the word, hackers are enthusiastic computer programmers who share their work with others; they are not computer criminals. Now Pekka Himanen - together with Linus Torvalds and Manuel Castells - articulates how hackers represent a new opposing ethos for the information age.Underlying hackers' technical creations - such as the Internet and the personal computer, which have become symbols of our time - are the hacker values that produced them. These values promote passionate and freely rhythmed work; the belief that individuals can create great things by joining forces in imaginative ways; and the need to maintain our existing ethical ideals, such as privacy and equality, in our new increasingly technologized society.
Science writing at its best ... fascinating and beautiful ... if only chemistry had been like this at school ... to meander through the periodic table with him ... is like going round a zoo with Gerald Durrell ... a rich compilation of delicious tales, but it offers greater rewards, too
—— Matt RidleyImmensely engaging and continually makes one sit up in surprise
—— Sunday TimesSplendid ... enjoyable and polished
—— ObserverFull of good stories and he knows how to tell them well ... an agreeable jumble of anecdote, reflection and information
—— Sunday TelegraphGreat fun to read and an endless fund of unlikely and improbable anecdotes ... sharp and often witty
—— Financial TimesA joyous romp through the chemical elements
—— Today, BBC Radio 4Not only a cultural history of the elements, it is also a lament to the loss of science as a hobby
—— EconomistA flashily brainy book, crammed with literary references and held together by a personal quest to collect as many elements as possible
—— Telegraph'Elements are fun' is the essential premise of Hugh Aldersey-Williams's new book and by heck he's right ... Aldersey-Williams mourns the fact chemistry isn't really sexy any more; Periodic Tales is a step towards it getting its mojo back
—— Metro ****Imaginative and fun ... almost every page yields a nugget
—— Nature
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