A review by simmoril
The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder

4.0

Soul of A New Machine is another book that landed on my to-read list via Bryan Cantrill's talk at Surge 2013 (http://youtu.be/bGkVM1B5NuI). It is the story of the creation of Data General's Eclipse MV/8000 computer, codenamed Eagle, from the perspective of the author, Tracy Kidder, who sat with and interviewed many of the engineers involved. Soul is a wonderful tale of a group of talented individuals coming together and focusing all of their energy on a common goal: building something larger than themselves, something that no one of them alone could build. Though the process of building a computer can seem largely opaque from the outside, Kidder's insider look lets the reader truly see the human side; the camraderie, the frustration, the anxiety and fear, the eventual trimuph, and the aftermath of 'what next?'. Even if you're not a computer person, Soul can really serve as an inspirational tale of the incredible things that motivated people with focus and dedication can achieve.