Novels for an electrical engineer?

[dream&create]

I have been looking for a good book to read for a very long time. I am interested in something that would appeal to an electrical engineering student. Preferably a fiction of some sort with a sense of technology and adventure or action. I guess maybe a sci-fi of some sort.. Any recommendations? I have some downtime now as my summer classes are coming to a close. Thanks all.

 

[chroot]

Seems like almost anything by Neal Stephenson would apply. Snow Crash is my favorite, but Cryptonomicon is quite good, too.

- Warren

 

[russ_watters]

The Sum of All Fears

 

[dream&create]

Thanks. Any others?

 

[Blenton]

The Subtraction of All Fears.

 

[Hepth]

Seems like almost anything by Neal Stephenson would apply. Snow Crash is my favorite, but Cryptonomicon is quite good, too.

- Warren

I agree with this. Read his books.


The Mars Trilogy was good too (by Kim Stanley Robinson)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_trilogy

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.

 

[EnumaElish]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Works_of_William_Gibson#Novels

 

[junglebeast]

John D. Anderson's "Computational Fluid Dynamics: The Basics with Applications" is a fun read

 

[qntty]

John D. Anderson's "Computational Fluid Dynamics: The Basics with Applications" is a fun read

I thought that the story line of this book was kind of predicable and it lacked character development.

 

[russ_watters]

Formulaic?

 

[Danger]

As Enuma posted, William Gibson writes some great stuff. Mona Lisa Overdrive and Burning Chrome are a couple of my favourite books. If you want your science a bit harder, you can't beat James P. Hogan and Larry Niven. Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, etc. were all university science graduates as well, and tried to remain faithful to reality in their writings. (Heinlein was a right-wing racist sexist pig, though, so you might not like his stuff.)

I thought that the story line of this book was kind of predicable and it lacked character development.

I have that same problem with the dictionary.

 

[junglebeast]

As Enuma posted, William Gibson writes some great stuff. Mona Lisa Overdrive and Burning Chrome are a couple of my favourite books. If you want your science a bit harder, you can't beat James P. Hogan and Larry Niven. Poul Anderson, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, etc. were all university science graduates as well, and tried to remain faithful to reality in their writings. (Heinlein was a right-wing racist sexist pig, though, so you might not like his stuff.)
I have that same problem with the dictionary.

Incidentally, "Mona Lisa Overdrive" is also a pretty cool Juno Reactor song:


Last time I was looking for some interesting sci fi book to read, I picked up Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land." I couldn't get past the first 30 pages...I just felt it was a terribly unrealistic and unscientific view of the future :/

 

[Danger]

Last time I was looking for some interesting sci fi book to read, I picked up Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land." I couldn't get past the first 30 pages...I just felt it was a terribly unrealistic and unscientific view of the future :/

While it's probably his best-known novel, it's also one of his worst. It took me a couple of weeks to read it, at a time when I normally read 2 books per day. Farnham's Freehold was pretty unpleasant as well, and seriously demonstrated his racism. Allowing for the pedophilic sexism, though, I rather liked 'Podkayne of Mars'.

 

[turbo]

(Heinlein was a right-wing racist sexist pig, though, so you might not like his stuff.)

One of the worst examples (in this regard) of his work, and one of the best examples of his work in regard to crafstmanship (IMO) is "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". I sure wouldn't want him dictating propriety in my society, but then again, I wouldn't want Theodore Sturgeon calling the shots, either.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

If you are just looking for hard[er] science fiction I would suggest Greg Bear.
If you like books like what Clancy writes Bear's Quantico might be a good start.
Blood Music is one of his most famous novels though apparently being where the 'Grey Goo' scenario comes from.

As for things that deal with electrical engineering... I have no clue. I've been trying to think of books with more of an engineers touch but haven't thought of any. Maybe Airframe by Crichton. Its highly thrillerized which makes it a bit cheesy but its not bad in my non-engineer's opinion.

 

[Danger]

One of the worst examples (in this regard) of his work, and one of the best examples of his work in regard to crafstmanship (IMO) is "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". I sure wouldn't want him dictating propriety in my society, but then again, I wouldn't want Theodore Sturgeon calling the shots, either.

It's about 40 years since I read that book, but I still have it. Maybe I should read it again just to remind me how much it pissed me off.
To be more specific about authors that I already mentioned, I seriously recommend the 'Ringworld' series by Niven (which is part of his 'Known Space' superseries) and Hogan's 'The Proteus Operation'. The latter is just about the best ever examination of what would happen if something was changed in the past. Two of the major characters are Einstein and Churchill. My favourite of his, though, is called 'The Genesis Machine'. Heavy physics, from the standpoint of a non-physicist.
Another great one, if you have an interest in NTSB-type forensics, is 'Flameout'. I can't remember the author's name right now, and I'm at W's place because she still has my internet connection, but I'll post it tomorrow.

 

[MATLABdude]

Old Man's War by John Scalzi was great, as were the follow-ups (I thought The Last Colony was a little weak, compared to the rest, though).

Additionally, many good works are available at the Baen Free Library (along with new, for pay releases); great way to kill a (non-driving) commute, especially if you have a PDA or iPod or some such:
http://www.baen.com/