The two books that changed the life of Sergey Brin Bashny.Net

In 1996, graduate students at Stanford University, Sergey Brin and Larry Page started to develop a computer program that would become known to the world as the search engine Google.

Today, Google (Alphabet) - large corporations with a market capitalization of $ 450 billion. Sergey Brin has focused on promising research division GoogleX, which is engaged in revolutionary developments such as unmanned vehicles.

In an interview with in 2000, Sergey Brin told what books inspired him to devote his career technology, which blended science and creativity.

« course you're Joking, Mr. Feynman! », Richard F. Feynman


Richard Feynman (1918-1988) won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965 for his work on quantum electrodynamics, as well as many other scientific awards. His autobiographical book, published in 1985, describes the поразительно fascinating lifestyle , who led a brilliant physicist. Richard childhood was excessively curious child, but with age has become with indulgence to look at all sorts of laws and other bureaucracy, subordination and obedience to authority. He was "a musician, an artist, a microbiologist, an expert on Maya writing, safecracker, widely employed substances for scientific purposes, lover stare at u * v * yukh in un-bar" and so on. D.

"Besides, that Feynman made a really big contribution to their field of science, he was a man with a fairly large-minded, - Sergey Brin said in an interview. - I remember a fragment, where he said that in fact much wanted to be like Leonardno da Vinci, both artist and scientist. I found this example is quite inspiring. I think, so you can enjoy a full life ».

Feynman, who created many drawings and paintings under the pseudonym «Ofey», he explained , as art and science complement each other. One fellow artist told him that sees beauty in the flower, and the scientists makes it a boring everyday thing (by * a marketing agency of plants). Feynman did not agree with this opinion. He says that in the internal structure of the flower, its cells and metabolism, in shape and color, from a scientific point of view, there are many beautiful. The fact that the colors used palette of bright colors to attract insects for pollination, - it means that insects can distinguish colors. By studying the flower, there is a lot of interesting questions, so that science only adds to the fun with the knowledge of the world, generates a bunch of exciting puzzles and mysteries that are fun to solve.

« Avalanche », Neal Stephenson


Sergey Brin said that he was a big fan of science fiction, and "Avalanche" by Neal Stephenson (1992) - one of his favorite books.

In 2010, the journal Time i> has made this novel one of the 100 the best novels in English , published since 1923.

The book describes the bleak near future, where countries are controlled by corporations and the world unites three-dimensional virtual reality, the metaverse. Hiro Protagonist in real life - pizza peddler, but he Metaverse - known hacker. Only he is capable to stop the spread Avalanche: "digital" on * cat, dangerous, in reality and in the Metaverse.

"Avalanche" was inspired not only Sergey Brin, but many other developers. In her reasons, in particular, has created a virtual universe Second Life, and the owners of Facebook after the purchase of Oculus VR directly hinted at the future establishment of the Metaverse. It will combine the separate worlds of virtual reality, which now do for Oculus Rift.

In his novel, Neal Stephenson predicted the popularity of social networks and a digital copy of the Earth, realized in the form of Google Earth service in 2004.

"The book is really ten years ahead of its time, - said Sergey Brin. - It's like waiting for that to happen ».

Let's see how well come true cyberpunk other forecasts Neal Stephenson. Over their implementation now working GoogleX and other companies.

via Business Insider i>

Source: geektimes.ru/post/260704/