0
    • Elementary Secondary Higher Ed Common Reads
    0 0
    Download high-resolution image

    What the Dormouse Said

    How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry

    Author John Markoff
    Ebook
    Penguin Adult HC/TR | Penguin Books
    On sale Apr 21, 2005 | 352 Pages | 9781101201084
    Add to cart Add to list Exam Copies

    See Additional Formats
    “This makes entertaining reading. Many accounts of the birth of personal computing have been written, but this is the first close look at the drug habits of the earliest pioneers.” —New York Times

    Most histories of the personal computer industry focus on technology or business. John Markoff’s landmark book is about the culture and consciousness behind the first PCs—the culture being counter– and the consciousness expanded, sometimes chemically. It’s a brilliant evocation of Stanford, California, in the 1960s and ’70s, where a group of visionaries set out to turn computers into a means for freeing minds and information. In these pages one encounters Ken Kesey and the phone hacker Cap’n Crunch, est and LSD, The Whole Earth Catalog and the Homebrew Computer Lab. What the Dormouse Said is a poignant, funny, and inspiring book by one of the smartest technology writers around.

    John Markoff was one of a team of New York Times reporters who won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. He has covered Silicon Valley since 1977, wrote the first account of the World Wide Web in 1993, and broke the story of Google’s self-driving car in 2010. He is the author of five books, including What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry and Machines of Loving Grace: The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans and Robots.

    View titles by John Markoff
    “This makes entertaining reading. Many accounts of the birth of personal computing have been written, but this is the first close look at the drug habits of the earliest pioneers.” —New York Times

    “A lively prehistory of Silicon Valley and its brilliant denizens of yore . . . Technogeeks will know much of this history already, but Markoff does a fine job of distilling it here while pointing out how much bleaker the world might be if the pioneers had just said no.” —Kirkus

    “Wonderful . . . [It] makes a mind-blowing case that our current silicon marvels were inspired by the psychedelic-tinged, revolution-minded spirit of the sixties. It's a total turn-on.” —Steven Levy, author of Hackers

    About

    “This makes entertaining reading. Many accounts of the birth of personal computing have been written, but this is the first close look at the drug habits of the earliest pioneers.” —New York Times

    Most histories of the personal computer industry focus on technology or business. John Markoff’s landmark book is about the culture and consciousness behind the first PCs—the culture being counter– and the consciousness expanded, sometimes chemically. It’s a brilliant evocation of Stanford, California, in the 1960s and ’70s, where a group of visionaries set out to turn computers into a means for freeing minds and information. In these pages one encounters Ken Kesey and the phone hacker Cap’n Crunch, est and LSD, The Whole Earth Catalog and the Homebrew Computer Lab. What the Dormouse Said is a poignant, funny, and inspiring book by one of the smartest technology writers around.

    Author

    John Markoff was one of a team of New York Times reporters who won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting. He has covered Silicon Valley since 1977, wrote the first account of the World Wide Web in 1993, and broke the story of Google’s self-driving car in 2010. He is the author of five books, including What the Dormouse Said: How the Sixties Counterculture Shaped the Personal Computer Industry and Machines of Loving Grace: The Quest for Common Ground Between Humans and Robots.

    View titles by John Markoff

    Praise

    “This makes entertaining reading. Many accounts of the birth of personal computing have been written, but this is the first close look at the drug habits of the earliest pioneers.” —New York Times

    “A lively prehistory of Silicon Valley and its brilliant denizens of yore . . . Technogeeks will know much of this history already, but Markoff does a fine job of distilling it here while pointing out how much bleaker the world might be if the pioneers had just said no.” —Kirkus

    “Wonderful . . . [It] makes a mind-blowing case that our current silicon marvels were inspired by the psychedelic-tinged, revolution-minded spirit of the sixties. It's a total turn-on.” —Steven Levy, author of Hackers

    Additional formats

    Other Books by this Author

    • Whole Earth
      Whole Earth
      The Many Lives of Stewart Brand
      John Markoff
      9780735223943
      $32.00 US
      Hardcover
      Penguin Press
      Mar 22, 2022
    • Whole Earth
      Whole Earth
      The Many Lives of Stewart Brand
      John Markoff
      9780735223943
      $32.00 US
      Hardcover
      Penguin Press
      Mar 22, 2022

    Related Articles

    Books for Women's History Month Book Covers: We the Women 9780593727027 NIGHT FLYER 9780593491188 Undaunted 9780525659143 DEAR MISS PERKINS 9780806543178
    General

    Books for Women’s History Month

    In honor of Women’s History Month in March, we are sharing books by women who have shaped history and have fought for their communities. Our list includes books about women who fought for racial justice, abortion rights, equality in the workplace, and ranges in topics from women in politics and prominent women in history to

    Read more

    Books for Women’s History Month

    General
    Subscribe

    Penguin Random House Higher Education

    © 2026 Penguin Random House

    Back to Top
    0
    Wish List (0)