Name: The Soul of a New Machine
ISBN: 9780316491976

The Soul of a New Machine

"The Soul of a New Machine" is a non-fiction book written by Tracy Kidder and published in 1981. It chronicles the experiences of a computer engineering team racing to design a next-generation computer at a blistering pace under tremendous pressure. The machine was launched in 1980 as the Data General Eclipse MV/8000. The book won the 1982 National Book Award for Non-fiction and a Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction.

What Hacker News says

kristopolousOct 2026

For historical technology, one of the must reads along with Soul of a New Machine and Hackers

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chessnodeOct 2026

Which books did you read at least twice? Please give author, title, and how often you have read it.

For me the (probably incomplete list) is:

Connie Willis: Doomsday Book (three times)

Neal Stephenson: Cryptonomicon, Anathem, Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World (twice or three times)

Frank Herbert: Dune (three times)

Tolkien: Lord of the Rings (three times)

Stephen King: Salem's Lot, The Shining, It (three times each)

Stephen King & Peter Straub: The Talisman (twice)

Vernor Vinge: A Deepness in the Sky, A Fire Upon The Deep, Rainbow's End (each twice)

Tracy Kidder: The Soul of a New Machine (twice)

Larry McMurtry: Lonesome Dove (twice)

Ross Thomas: Chinaman's Chance (twice)

William Gibson: Neuromancer, The Peripheral, Agency (each twice)

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genezetaOct 2026

Elizabeth Hand's Winterlong, probably 3-4 times.

Most of Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammet I've read multiple times. I've read Brautigan's Dreaming of Babylon a bunch of times too.

All of William Gibson. Miyazaki's Nausicaä of The Valley of Wind, in various languages. Stephen Cosgrove's Muffin Muncher, I couldn't say how many times I must have read that (It appears they've now changed the title to Muffin Dragon).

I've read The Soul of a New Machine a couple of times too. The Hitchhiker's and Dirk Gently's trilogies a few times.

Stefano Benni's Baol probably half a dozen times. And Acts of The Apostles by John FX Sundman a bunch too. Oh, and a few of Martin Gardner's books. And Smullyan's To Mock a Mockingbird.

And most probably also many others. Most of my books are now in boxes or have been gifted away, though.

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ferguess_kSep 2026

This is my 13th round to recommend "The Soul of a new Machine" as well as "Showstoppers".

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jackdoeMay 2026

relax man, just go and touch some grass, there is no 'we', do what you wanna do, go where you wanna go.

also, block the internet for a while, buy a commodore and code some machine code, make a forth, you will be alright.

read `the soul of a new machine`.

the world is in the middle of a storm right now, you cant do much, but weather through it.

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mchinenMay 2026

It's special for sure. For those on the fence, it has some writing and direction flaws, especially with minor characters, like the disgruntled neighbor and IP theft bit in the first season. But it grows as a show over time, and the 5 leads (including Toby Huss) smooth the problems out with their talent and chemistry.

They really captured the urge to build things in tech, and the problems that come with it. HACF, Silicon Valley, and The Soul of a New Machine are a trifecta.

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