Miscellaneous Technical books

Neural Networks and Pattern Recognition; Christopher M. Bishop; Paperback.

Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C; Bruce Schneier; Paperback.

"Lots of densely-packed information on implementing various cryptographic algorithms, and a large bibliography. It's the perfect starting point if you're interested in learning more about cryptography."

The Codebreakers: The Story of Secret Writing; David Kahn; Hardcover.

"An interesting history of cryptography. This 1996 edition includes a not-very-complete chapter on recent developments like public-key cryptography, but the book is best when covering earlier periods of history."

Adaptive Data Compression; Ross N. Williams; Hardcover.

OpenGL Programming Guide: The Official Guide to Learning OpenGL, Version 1.1, 2nd edition; Mason Woo et al.; Paperback.

OpenGL Reference Manual : The Official Reference Document to OpenGL, Version 1.1, 2nd edition; OpenGL Architecture Review Board; Paperback.

Big Blues: The Unmaking of IBM; Paul Carroll; Paperback.

"Important reading for anyone who thinks that large corporations know what they are doing, or that market dominance in the computer industry is permanent."

The Soul of a New Machine; Tracy Kidder; Paperback.

"Captures the life of a computer-engineering organization nicely. Better than the best mystery, and no one has to die."

Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid; Douglas Hofstadter; Paperback.

"...a wonderful masterpiece intertwining computers (particularly AI), music, art, logic, mathematics, molecular biology and whatnot. Fascinating reading (and rereading), sure to appeal to people who program computers because they LIKE it (which I suspect describes a majority of the Python addicts)."

The Computer Contradictionary; Stan Kelly-Bootle; Paperback.

The New Hacker's Dictionary; Eric S. Raymond; Paperback.