Making Meaning - Pattern on the Stone

   Pattern on the Stone, I found personally, to be a very interesting book. It provided me with new insight on how computers and everything works. The most interesting part of the book was the chapter over algorithms. When I graduate from K-State I want to go into a field that uses algorithms such as data analytics. With this being said, I had prior knowledge on the subject, but the book gave me a new way of thinking about it. I liked all of the chapters in the book, but if I had to select one for the least interesting it would be chapter one. I knew most of the concepts found in that chapter and I just did not find it very interesting. 

   I did not have to look up any terms, but I need do further research on the Big “O” notation that follows algorithms. I found how to calculate it, what it meant, and how to implement it with my current projects. The book helped me understand lecture six in class, which was the algorithm lecture. The book did an amazing job clarifying everything in a very unique, precise manner. On the idea of recommending this book to a friend, I am wary, because if you give it to someone that has no interest in computers they will not retain all of the information and will not find it interesting. If I were to meet someone else in the Computer Science field who has not read this book, I would tell them to read it in a heart beat. 

   Overall, Pattern on the Stone was a very good book. It provide great detail over what computers are, how they work, and things you can do with them. I wish the book was longer and contained more detail, but nonetheless, it was a great book. My favorite feature of the book was how the author described everything and taught the reader how it worked. He took a very friendly, knowledgeable tone with the book that made it very easy to follow. If this book was written with the same information, but with a different author I do not think I would have liked it as much as I did. The simplicity of the book that taught information over a very complex subject is what made the book as good as it is. This book is the perfect example of taking something very complex, and condensing it into something that someone can understand. If I had to rate this book it would get a 10/10.