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Alan Kay's Reading List

The following list was prepared by Alan Kay for his students. We share it for those who want to learn more about some of the writing that influenced him and the creation of Etoys.

Technology & Media | Learning & Creativity | Anthropology & Psychology | Philosophy | Art & Perception | Design | Science & Mathematics | Politics & Economy | Computers

Technology & Media

	Gutenberg Galaxy by MARSHALL MCLUHAN			Understanding Media by MARSHALL MCLUHAN
	The Myth of the Machine by LEWIS MUMFORD			Technics and Civilization by LEWIS MUMFORD
	Technology, Management,and Society by PETER DRUCKER			Innovation and Entrepreneurship by PETER DRUCKER
	Amusing Ourselves to Death by NEIL POSTMAN			The Disappearance of Childhood by NEIL POSTMAN
	Conscientious Objections by NEIL POSTMAN

Learning & Creativity

	The Psycology of the Child by JEAN PIAGET			To Understand is to Invent by JEAN PIAGET
	Thought and Language by LEV VYGOTSKY			Mind in Society by LEV VYGOTSKY
	The Psychology of Art by LEV VYGOTSKY			Towards a Theory of Instruction by JEROME BRUNER
	The Relevance of Education by JEROME BRUNER			Instead of Education by JOHN HOLT
	Teach Your Own by JOHN HOLT			Essays into Literacy by FRANK SMITH
	Lateral Thinking by EDWARD de BONO			Six Thinking Hats by EDWARD de BONO
	The Inner Game of Tennis by TIM GALLWEY			Nurtured by Love by SHINICHI SUZUKI
	The Secret of Childhood by MARIA MONTESSORI			School and Society by JOHN DEWEY
	Freedom and Culture by JOHN DEWEY			Act of Creation by ARTHUR KOESTLER
	The Ghost in the Machine by ARTHUR KOESTLER			Mindstorms by SEYMOUR PAPERT
	The Childrens' Machine by SEYMOUR PAPERT

Anthropology & Psychology

	Myths to Live By by JOSEPH CAMPBELL			The Masks of God by JOSEPH CAMPBELL
	Language and Species by DEREK BICKERTON			The Psychology of Literacy by SILVIA SCRIBNER & MIKE COLE
	The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind by JULIAN JAYNES			The Interpretation of Cultures by CLIFFORD GEERTZ
	Beyond Boredom and Anxiety by MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALY			Flow by MIHALY CSIKSZENTMIHALYI
	New World, New Mind by ROBERT ORNSTEIN & PAUL ERLICH			Maps of the Mind by CHARLES HAMPTON-TURNER
	Man and his Symbols by CARL JUNG			Modern Woman in Search of a Soul by CARL JUNG
	Society of Mind by MARVIN MINSKY			Archetypes by ANTHONY STEVENS

Philosophy

	Timeaus by PLATO			Republic by PLATO
	History of Western Philosophy by BERTRAND RUSSELL			Human Knowledge, Its Scope and Limits by BERTRAND RUSSELL
	Sceptical Essays by BERTRAND RUSSELL			The Passion of the Western Mind by RICHARD TARNAS
	Ascent of Man by JACOB BRONOWSKI			Wisdom, Information & Wonder by MARY MIDGLEY
	Science as Salvation by MARY MIDGLEY			The Human Condition by HANNAH ARENDT
	Science and Sanity by COUNT KORZYBSKI			Science is not Enough by VANNEVAR BUSH
	What I Believe by MARK BOOTH (Ed)			Te-Tao Ching by LAO-TZU
	Zen Mind, Beginners' Mind by SHUNRYU SUZUKI

Art & Perception

Civilisation

by KENNETH CLARK

What is a Masterpiece

by KENNETH CLARK

Art and Illusion

by ERNST GOMBRICH

Eye and Brain

by RICHARD GREGORY

Visual Thinking

by RUDOLF ARNHEIM

Design

Notes on a Synthesis of Form

by CHRISTOPHER ALEXANDER

Gossamer Odyssey

by MORTON GROSSER

Vehicles

by VALENTINO BRAITENBERG

The Living Brain

by W. GRAY WALTER

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information

by EDWARD TUFTE

Envisioning Information

by EDWARD TUFTE

Science & Mathematics

	The Machinery of Life by DAVID GOODSELL			The Ring of Truth by PHILIP MORRISON
	The Animal in Its World by NIKO TINBERGEN			Relativity Visualized by L.C. EPSTEIN
	Engines of Creation by ERIC DREXLER			The Blind Watchmaker by RICHARD DAWKINS
	The Selfish Gene by RICHARD DAWKINS			Dragons of Eden by CARL SAGAN
	Broca's Brain by CARL SAGAN			Neuroethology by EWERT
	The Character of Physical Law by RICHARD FEYNMAN			QED by RICHARD FEYNMAN
	The God Particle by LEON LEDERMAN			From Quarks to Cosmos by LEON LEDERMAN
	The Double Helix by JAMES WATSON			Fractal Geometry by BENOIT MANDELBROT

Politics & Economy

	An American Primer by DANIEL BOORSTIN			The Americans by DANIEL BOORSTIN
	The Federalist Papers by MADISON, et al			The Anti-Federalist Papers by RALPH KETCHAM (Ed)
	Common Sense by TOM PAINE			The Rights of Man by TOM PAINE
	The Age of Reason by TOM PAINE			An Aristocracy of Everyone by BENJAMIN BARBER
	The Zero Sum Society by LESTER THUROW			Economics Explained by LESTER THUROW
	Head to Head by LESTER THUROW			Made in America by MIKE DERTUOZOS (Ed)

Computers

Building Large Knowledge-Based Systems

by DOUG LENAT

LISP 1.5 Manual (MIT Press)

by JOHN McCARTHY

Computation: Finite and Infinite Machines

by MARVIN MINSKY

The Architecture Machine

by NICHOLAS NEGROPONTE

Soft Architecture Machines

by NICHOLAS NEGROPONTE