[TUHS] The most surprising Unix programs

[Noel Chiappa]

    > From: Dagobert Michelsen

    > the excellent book "G=C3=B6del, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid"
    > from Douglas R. Hofstadter which also gives a nice introduction into
    > logic and philosopy.

IIRC, the focus of the book is how systems made out of simple components can
exhibit complex behaviours; in particular, how information-processing systems
can come to develop self-awareness.

    > From: Chet Ramey

    > One of the best books I read in high school. 
    
A book on a very similar topic to GEB, which was _extremely_ important in
developing my understanding of how the universe came to be, is "Recursive
Universe", by William Poundstone, which I recommend very highly to everyone
here. It's still in print, which is really good, because it's not as well
known as it should (IMO) be. It uses an analogy with Conway's Life to explain
how the large-scale structure of the universe can develop from a random
initial state. Buy it now!

	Noel