Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities

Download Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262034204
Total Pages : 329 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities by : Nick Montfort

Download or read book Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities written by Nick Montfort and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2016-04-08 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A book for anyone who wants to learn programming to explore and create, with exercises and projects to help the reader learn by doing. This book introduces programming to readers with a background in the arts and humanities; there are no prerequisites, and no knowledge of computation is assumed. In it, Nick Montfort reveals programming to be not merely a technical exercise within given constraints but a tool for sketching, brainstorming, and inquiring about important topics. He emphasizes programming's exploratory potential—its facility to create new kinds of artworks and to probe data for new ideas. The book is designed to be read alongside the computer, allowing readers to program while making their way through the chapters. It offers practical exercises in writing and modifying code, beginning on a small scale and increasing in substance. In some cases, a specification is given for a program, but the core activities are a series of “free projects,” intentionally underspecified exercises that leave room for readers to determine their own direction and write different sorts of programs. Throughout the book, Montfort also considers how computation and programming are culturally situated—how programming relates to the methods and questions of the arts and humanities. The book uses Python and Processing, both of which are free software, as the primary programming languages.

Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities, second edition

Download Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities, second edition PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262044609
Total Pages : 385 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities, second edition by : Nick Montfort

Download or read book Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities, second edition written by Nick Montfort and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new edition of a book for anyone who wants to learn programming to explore and create, with exercises and projects to help readers learn by doing. This book introduces programming to readers involved with the arts and humanities; there are no prerequisites, and no previous knowledge of programming is assumed. Nick Montfort reveals programming to be not merely a technical exercise within given constraints but a tool for sketching, brainstorming, and inquiry. He emphasizes programming's exploratory potential--its facility to create new kinds of artworks and to probe data for new ideas. The book is designed to be read alongside the computer, allowing readers to program while making their way through the chapters. It offers practical exercises in writing and modifying code and outlines "free projects" that allow learners to pursue their own interests.

Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities, second edition

Download Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities, second edition PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262360764
Total Pages : 385 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities, second edition by : Nick Montfort

Download or read book Exploratory Programming for the Arts and Humanities, second edition written by Nick Montfort and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2021-05-18 with total page 385 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new edition of a book for anyone who wants to learn programming to explore and create, with exercises and projects to help readers learn by doing. This book introduces programming to readers involved with the arts and humanities; there are no prerequisites, and no previous knowledge of programming is assumed. Nick Montfort reveals programming to be not merely a technical exercise within given constraints but a tool for sketching, brainstorming, and inquiry. He emphasizes programming's exploratory potential--its facility to create new kinds of artworks and to probe data for new ideas. The book is designed to be read alongside the computer, allowing readers to program while making their way through the chapters. It offers practical exercises in writing and modifying code and outlines "free projects" that allow learners to pursue their own interests.

Code as Creative Medium

Download Code as Creative Medium PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262542048
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Code as Creative Medium by : Golan Levin

Download or read book Code as Creative Medium written by Golan Levin and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2021-02-02 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An essential guide for teaching and learning computational art and design: exercises, assignments, interviews, and more than 170 illustrations of creative work. This book is an essential resource for art educators and practitioners who want to explore code as a creative medium, and serves as a guide for computer scientists transitioning from STEM to STEAM in their syllabi or practice. It provides a collection of classic creative coding prompts and assignments, accompanied by annotated examples of both classic and contemporary projects, and more than 170 illustrations of creative work, and features a set of interviews with leading educators. Picking up where standard programming guides leave off, the authors highlight alternative programming pedagogies suitable for the art- and design-oriented classroom, including teaching approaches, resources, and community support structures.

10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10

Download 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262304570
Total Pages : 323 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10 by : Nick Montfort

Download or read book 10 PRINT CHR$(205.5+RND(1)); : GOTO 10 written by Nick Montfort and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2012-11-23 with total page 323 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A single line of code offers a way to understand the cultural context of computing. This book takes a single line of code—the extremely concise BASIC program for the Commodore 64 inscribed in the title—and uses it as a lens through which to consider the phenomenon of creative computing and the way computer programs exist in culture. The authors of this collaboratively written book treat code not as merely functional but as a text—in the case of 10 PRINT, a text that appeared in many different printed sources—that yields a story about its making, its purpose, its assumptions, and more. They consider randomness and regularity in computing and art, the maze in culture, the popular BASIC programming language, and the highly influential Commodore 64 computer.

Racing the Beam

Download Racing the Beam PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262539764
Total Pages : 193 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (625 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Racing the Beam by : Nick Montfort

Download or read book Racing the Beam written by Nick Montfort and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2020-02-25 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A study of the relationship between platform and creative expression in the Atari VCS, the gaming system for popular games like Pac-Man and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. The Atari Video Computer System dominated the home video game market so completely that “Atari” became the generic term for a video game console. The Atari VCS was affordable and offered the flexibility of changeable cartridges. Nearly a thousand of these were created, the most significant of which established new techniques, mechanics, and even entire genres. This book offers a detailed and accessible study of this influential video game console from both computational and cultural perspectives. Studies of digital media have rarely investigated platforms—the systems underlying computing. This book, the first in a series of Platform Studies, does so, developing a critical approach that examines the relationship between platforms and creative expression. Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost discuss the Atari VCS itself and examine in detail six game cartridges: Combat, Adventure, Pac-Man, Yars' Revenge, Pitfall!, and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. They describe the technical constraints and affordances of the system and track developments in programming, gameplay, interface, and aesthetics. Adventure, for example, was the first game to represent a virtual space larger than the screen (anticipating the boundless virtual spaces of such later games as World of Warcraft and Grand Theft Auto), by allowing the player to walk off one side into another space; and Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back was an early instance of interaction between media properties and video games. Montfort and Bogost show that the Atari VCS—often considered merely a retro fetish object—is an essential part of the history of video games.

Critical Code Studies

Download Critical Code Studies PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262357437
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Critical Code Studies by : Mark C. Marino

Download or read book Critical Code Studies written by Mark C. Marino and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2020-03-10 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An argument that we must read code for more than what it does—we must consider what it means. Computer source code has become part of popular discourse. Code is read not only by programmers but by lawyers, artists, pundits, reporters, political activists, and literary scholars; it is used in political debate, works of art, popular entertainment, and historical accounts. In this book, Mark Marino argues that code means more than merely what it does; we must also consider what it means. We need to learn to read code critically. Marino presents a series of case studies—ranging from the Climategate scandal to a hactivist art project on the US-Mexico border—as lessons in critical code reading. Marino shows how, in the process of its circulation, the meaning of code changes beyond its functional role to include connotations and implications, opening it up to interpretation and inference—and misinterpretation and reappropriation. The Climategate controversy, for example, stemmed from a misreading of a bit of placeholder code as a “smoking gun” that supposedly proved fabrication of climate data. A poetry generator created by Nick Montfort was remixed and reimagined by other poets, and subject to literary interpretation. Each case study begins by presenting a small and self-contained passage of code—by coders as disparate as programming pioneer Grace Hopper and philosopher Friedrich Kittler—and an accessible explanation of its context and functioning. Marino then explores its extra-functional significance, demonstrating a variety of interpretive approaches.

Processing, second edition

Download Processing, second edition PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 026202828X
Total Pages : 663 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Processing, second edition by : Casey Reas

Download or read book Processing, second edition written by Casey Reas and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2014-12-19 with total page 663 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The new edition of an introduction to computer programming within the context of the visual arts, using the open-source programming language Processing; thoroughly updated throughout. The visual arts are rapidly changing as media moves into the web, mobile devices, and architecture. When designers and artists learn the basics of writing software, they develop a new form of literacy that enables them to create new media for the present, and to imagine future media that are beyond the capacities of current software tools. This book introduces this new literacy by teaching computer programming within the context of the visual arts. It offers a comprehensive reference and text for Processing (www.processing.org), an open-source programming language that can be used by students, artists, designers, architects, researchers, and anyone who wants to program images, animation, and interactivity. Written by Processing's cofounders, the book offers a definitive reference for students and professionals. Tutorial chapters make up the bulk of the book; advanced professional projects from such domains as animation, performance, and installation are discussed in interviews with their creators. This second edition has been thoroughly updated. It is the first book to offer in-depth coverage of Processing 2.0 and 3.0, and all examples have been updated for the new syntax. Every chapter has been revised, and new chapters introduce new ways to work with data and geometry. New “synthesis” chapters offer discussion and worked examples of such topics as sketching with code, modularity, and algorithms. New interviews have been added that cover a wider range of projects. “Extension” chapters are now offered online so they can be updated to keep pace with technological developments in such fields as computer vision and electronics. Interviews SUE.C, Larry Cuba, Mark Hansen, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Jürg Lehni, LettError, Golan Levin and Zachary Lieberman, Benjamin Maus, Manfred Mohr, Ash Nehru, Josh On, Bob Sabiston, Jennifer Steinkamp, Jared Tarbell, Steph Thirion, Robert Winter

Twisty Little Passages

Download Twisty Little Passages PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 9780262633185
Total Pages : 306 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (331 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Twisty Little Passages by : Nick Montfort

Download or read book Twisty Little Passages written by Nick Montfort and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2005-02-11 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A critical approach to interactive fiction, as literature and game. Interactive fiction—the best-known form of which is the text game or text adventure—has not received as much critical attention as have such other forms of electronic literature as hypertext fiction and the conversational programs known as chatterbots. Twisty Little Passages (the title refers to a maze in Adventure, the first interactive fiction) is the first book-length consideration of this form, examining it from gaming and literary perspectives. Nick Montfort, an interactive fiction author himself, offers both aficionados and first-time users a way to approach interactive fiction that will lead to a more pleasurable and meaningful experience of it. Twisty Little Passages looks at interactive fiction beginning with its most important literary ancestor, the riddle. Montfort then discusses Adventure and its precursors (including the I Ching and Dungeons and Dragons), and follows this with an examination of mainframe text games developed in response, focusing on the most influential work of that era, Zork. He then considers the introduction of commercial interactive fiction for home computers, particularly that produced by Infocom. Commercial works inspired an independent reaction, and Montfort describes the emergence of independent creators and the development of an online interactive fiction community in the 1990s. Finally, he considers the influence of interactive fiction on other literary and gaming forms. With Twisty Little Passages, Nick Montfort places interactive fiction in its computational and literary contexts, opening up this still-developing form to new consideration.

How to Design Programs, second edition

Download How to Design Programs, second edition PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262344122
Total Pages : 793 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis How to Design Programs, second edition by : Matthias Felleisen

Download or read book How to Design Programs, second edition written by Matthias Felleisen and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2018-05-25 with total page 793 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A completely revised edition, offering new design recipes for interactive programs and support for images as plain values, testing, event-driven programming, and even distributed programming. This introduction to programming places computer science at the core of a liberal arts education. Unlike other introductory books, it focuses on the program design process, presenting program design guidelines that show the reader how to analyze a problem statement, how to formulate concise goals, how to make up examples, how to develop an outline of the solution, how to finish the program, and how to test it. Because learning to design programs is about the study of principles and the acquisition of transferable skills, the text does not use an off-the-shelf industrial language but presents a tailor-made teaching language. For the same reason, it offers DrRacket, a programming environment for novices that supports playful, feedback-oriented learning. The environment grows with readers as they master the material in the book until it supports a full-fledged language for the whole spectrum of programming tasks. This second edition has been completely revised. While the book continues to teach a systematic approach to program design, the second edition introduces different design recipes for interactive programs with graphical interfaces and batch programs. It also enriches its design recipes for functions with numerous new hints. Finally, the teaching languages and their IDE now come with support for images as plain values, testing, event-driven programming, and even distributed programming.

Scientific Programming and Computer Architecture

Download Scientific Programming and Computer Architecture PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262036290
Total Pages : 625 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (62 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Scientific Programming and Computer Architecture by : Divakar Viswanath

Download or read book Scientific Programming and Computer Architecture written by Divakar Viswanath and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2017-07-28 with total page 625 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A variety of programming models relevant to scientists explained, with an emphasis on how programming constructs map to parts of the computer. What makes computer programs fast or slow? To answer this question, we have to get behind the abstractions of programming languages and look at how a computer really works. This book examines and explains a variety of scientific programming models (programming models relevant to scientists) with an emphasis on how programming constructs map to different parts of the computer's architecture. Two themes emerge: program speed and program modularity. Throughout this book, the premise is to "get under the hood," and the discussion is tied to specific programs. The book digs into linkers, compilers, operating systems, and computer architecture to understand how the different parts of the computer interact with programs. It begins with a review of C/C++ and explanations of how libraries, linkers, and Makefiles work. Programming models covered include Pthreads, OpenMP, MPI, TCP/IP, and CUDA.The emphasis on how computers work leads the reader into computer architecture and occasionally into the operating system kernel. The operating system studied is Linux, the preferred platform for scientific computing. Linux is also open source, which allows users to peer into its inner workings. A brief appendix provides a useful table of machines used to time programs. The book's website (https://github.com/divakarvi/bk-spca) has all the programs described in the book as well as a link to the html text.

A New Companion to Digital Humanities

Download A New Companion to Digital Humanities PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
ISBN 13 : 1118680642
Total Pages : 594 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (186 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A New Companion to Digital Humanities by : Susan Schreibman

Download or read book A New Companion to Digital Humanities written by Susan Schreibman and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2016-01-26 with total page 594 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This highly-anticipated volume has been extensively revised to reflect changes in technology, digital humanities methods and practices, and institutional culture surrounding the valuation and publication of digital scholarship. A fully revised edition of a celebrated reference work, offering the most comprehensive and up-to-date collection of research currently available in this rapidly evolving discipline Includes new articles addressing topical and provocative issues and ideas such as retro computing, desktop fabrication, gender dynamics, and globalization Brings together a global team of authors who are pioneers of innovative research in the digital humanities Accessibly structured into five sections exploring infrastructures, creation, analysis, dissemination, and the future of digital humanities Surveys the past, present, and future of the field, offering essential research for anyone interested in better understanding the theory, methods, and application of the digital humanities

Elements of Programming

Download Elements of Programming PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Lulu.com
ISBN 13 : 0578222140
Total Pages : 282 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (782 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Elements of Programming by : Alexander Stepanov

Download or read book Elements of Programming written by Alexander Stepanov and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2019-06-27 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Elements of Programming provides a different understanding of programming than is presented elsewhere. Its major premise is that practical programming, like other areas of science and engineering, must be based on a solid mathematical foundation. The book shows that algorithms implemented in a real programming language, such as C++, can operate in the most general mathematical setting. For example, the fast exponentiation algorithm is defined to work with any associative operation. Using abstract algorithms leads to efficient, reliable, secure, and economical software.

The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education

Download The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : National Academies Press
ISBN 13 : 0309470641
Total Pages : 283 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (94 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education by : National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Download or read book The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-06-21 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the United States, broad study in an array of different disciplines â€"arts, humanities, science, mathematics, engineeringâ€" as well as an in-depth study within a special area of interest, have been defining characteristics of a higher education. But over time, in-depth study in a major discipline has come to dominate the curricula at many institutions. This evolution of the curriculum has been driven, in part, by increasing specialization in the academic disciplines. There is little doubt that disciplinary specialization has helped produce many of the achievement of the past century. Researchers in all academic disciplines have been able to delve more deeply into their areas of expertise, grappling with ever more specialized and fundamental problems. Yet today, many leaders, scholars, parents, and students are asking whether higher education has moved too far from its integrative tradition towards an approach heavily rooted in disciplinary "silos". These "silos" represent what many see as an artificial separation of academic disciplines. This study reflects a growing concern that the approach to higher education that favors disciplinary specialization is poorly calibrated to the challenges and opportunities of our time. The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education examines the evidence behind the assertion that educational programs that mutually integrate learning experiences in the humanities and arts with science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) lead to improved educational and career outcomes for undergraduate and graduate students. It explores evidence regarding the value of integrating more STEMM curricula and labs into the academic programs of students majoring in the humanities and arts and evidence regarding the value of integrating curricula and experiences in the arts and humanities into college and university STEMM education programs.

Programming Pearls

Download Programming Pearls PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Addison-Wesley Professional
ISBN 13 : 0134498038
Total Pages : 262 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (344 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Programming Pearls by : Jon Bentley

Download or read book Programming Pearls written by Jon Bentley and published by Addison-Wesley Professional. This book was released on 2016-04-21 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When programmers list their favorite books, Jon Bentley’s collection of programming pearls is commonly included among the classics. Just as natural pearls grow from grains of sand that irritate oysters, programming pearls have grown from real problems that have irritated real programmers. With origins beyond solid engineering, in the realm of insight and creativity, Bentley’s pearls offer unique and clever solutions to those nagging problems. Illustrated by programs designed as much for fun as for instruction, the book is filled with lucid and witty descriptions of practical programming techniques and fundamental design principles. It is not at all surprising that Programming Pearls has been so highly valued by programmers at every level of experience. In this revision, the first in 14 years, Bentley has substantially updated his essays to reflect current programming methods and environments. In addition, there are three new essays on testing, debugging, and timing set representations string problems All the original programs have been rewritten, and an equal amount of new code has been generated. Implementations of all the programs, in C or C++, are now available on the Web. What remains the same in this new edition is Bentley’s focus on the hard core of programming problems and his delivery of workable solutions to those problems. Whether you are new to Bentley’s classic or are revisiting his work for some fresh insight, the book is sure to make your own list of favorites.

A Practical Theory of Programming

Download A Practical Theory of Programming PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN 13 : 1441985964
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (419 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Practical Theory of Programming by : Eric C.R. Hehner

Download or read book A Practical Theory of Programming written by Eric C.R. Hehner and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-09-08 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are several theories of programming. The first usable theory, often called "Hoare's Logic", is still probably the most widely known. In it, a specification is a pair of predicates: a precondition and postcondition (these and all technical terms will be defined in due course). Another popular and closely related theory by Dijkstra uses the weakest precondition predicate transformer, which is a function from programs and postconditions to preconditions. lones's Vienna Development Method has been used to advantage in some industries; in it, a specification is a pair of predicates (as in Hoare's Logic), but the second predicate is a relation. Temporal Logic is yet another formalism that introduces some special operators and quantifiers to describe some aspects of computation. The theory in this book is simpler than any of those just mentioned. In it, a specification is just a boolean expression. Refinement is just ordinary implication. This theory is also more general than those just mentioned, applying to both terminating and nonterminating computation, to both sequential and parallel computation, to both stand-alone and interactive computation. And it includes time bounds, both for algorithm classification and for tightly constrained real-time applications.

The Future

Download The Future PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : MIT Press
ISBN 13 : 0262344769
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (623 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis The Future by : Nick Montfort

Download or read book The Future written by Nick Montfort and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2017-12-08 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How the future has been imagined and made, through the work of writers, artists, inventors, and designers. The future is like an unwritten book. It is not something we see in a crystal ball, or can only hope to predict, like the weather. In this volume of the MIT Press's Essential Knowledge series, Nick Montfort argues that the future is something to be made, not predicted. Montfort offers what he considers essential knowledge about the future, as seen in the work of writers, artists, inventors, and designers (mainly in Western culture) who developed and described the core components of the futures they envisioned. Montfort's approach is not that of futurology or scenario planning; instead, he reports on the work of making the future—the thinkers who devoted themselves to writing pages in the unwritten book. Douglas Engelbart, Alan Kay, and Ted Nelson didn't predict the future of computing, for instance. They were three of the people who made it. Montfort focuses on how the development of technologies—with an emphasis on digital technologies—has been bound up with ideas about the future. Readers learn about kitchens of the future and the vision behind them; literary utopias, from Plato's Republic to Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward and Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland; the Futurama exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair; and what led up to Tim Berners-Lee's invention of the World Wide Web. Montfort describes the notebook computer as a human-centered alterative to the idea of the computer as a room-sized “giant brain”; speculative practice in design and science fiction; and, throughout, the best ways to imagine and build the future.