# CS Reading Room Book Club **Location**: ICICS/CS Reading Room (262, 2nd Floor, CS Main Building) **Date/Time**: Once a month **Audience**: Grad students (CS, MATH, ECE, STATS, etc) who are book enthusiasts, staff, and community members on a case by case basis. **Registration**: Required (Sign up on the [Google Sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tyL6HbfBnw1QRtlavMUkpmpGethagu4x_-cnkRIl8pY/edit?usp=sharing), cf. schedule + attendance tab) **Facilitator**: Students take turns **Organizers**: Geoffrey Woollard Nobu Kawaguchi --- ### UPCOMING EVENT | **DATE** | **TIME** | **TITLE** | |------------------------|----------|------------------------| | Thursday, Dec 5, 2024 | 3-4 PM | The Question Concerning Technology in China by Yuk Hui | --- ### What happens at the book club? We read one book per month. Everyone reads in advance as much as they can (you can skip the boring parts). We discuss the book informally, sharing our thoughts, insights, and questions. The facilitator will guide the discussion, The facilitator will guide the discussion, and everyone is encouraged to participate in a warm friendly atmosphere. --- ### What type of books? There should be some connection to computer science, although it can be somewhat tangential. Books can focus on culturally enriching areas that educate students to be well-rounded computer scientists, such as literature, poetry, popular science, history, biography, philosophy, ethics, spirituality, and professional development. Avoid extremely technical books (e.g., dense textbooks, papers) that would fit better in courses or journal club-style reading groups. *Bring your own books, or choose from the [Reading Room collection](https://bibrrs.library.ubc.ca/vwebv/search?searchCode=GKEY^*&limitTo=LOCA=ICICS/CS+Reading+Room).* See the running [list of books](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tyL6HbfBnw1QRtlavMUkpmpGethagu4x_-cnkRIl8pY/edit?usp=sharing): and add your own titles. We will decide what books to read via a consensus process. --- ### Notes - The reading room will prepare refreshments and snacks. - Communication will be done through the #reading-room channel on the CSGSA Slack (please contact the organizers to be added). - The reading room will purchase new books when requested. - The reading room coordinator will monitor the Slack channel and [sign-up sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tyL6HbfBnw1QRtlavMUkpmpGethagu4x_-cnkRIl8pY/edit?usp=sharing). - For any questions, contact the CSGSA Slack #reading-room channel or email or . --- ### PAST EVENTS | **DATE** | **TIME** | **TITLE** | |------------------------|----------|------------------------| | Thursday, Nov 7, 2024 | 3-4 PM | *The Code: Silicon Valley and the Remaking of America* by Margaret O'Mara (Arrivals [from Act One]; Chapter 1: Endless Frontier; Departure: Into the Driverless Car) | | Friday, Oct 18, 2024 | 3-4 PM | The Art of Doing Science and Engineering: Learning to Learn by Richard Hamming (Chapters 1 Orientation, 26 Experts, 30 You and your research) | | Friday, September 20, 2024 | 3-4 PM | *The Great Gatsby. Chapters 1 and 7.* | | Friday, April 19, 2024 | 3-4 PM | *Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance* by Angela Duckworth (Chapter 3: Effort Counts Twice) | | Friday, March 15, 2024 | 3-4 PM | *Relationship-rich Education: how human connections drive success in college* [Link](https://go.exlibris.link/mGLf5xx4) | | Friday, February 16, 2024 | 3-4 PM | *The worlds I see: curiosity, exploration, and discovery at the dawn of AI* by Fei-Fei Li (Chapter 6: The north star) | | Friday, January 19, 2024 | 3-4 PM | *Weapons of Math Destruction* by Cathy O'Neil (Chapter 5: 'Civilian Casualties: Justice in the Age of Big Data) [Link](https://go.exlibris.link/rC7ryKL2) | | Friday, November 24, 2023 | 3-4 PM | *The Coming Wave* by Mustafa Suleyman with Michael Bhaskar | | Friday, October 20, 2023 | 3-4 PM | *Gödel, Escher, Bach: an eternal golden braid* by Douglas R. Hofstadter | | Friday, September 15, 2023 | 3-4 PM | *Kazuo Ishiguro, Klara and the Sun* (2021) [Link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klara_and_the_Sun) | | Friday, April 28, 2023 | 3-4 PM | *Unlocking the Clubhouse: Women in Computing* [Link](https://www.amazon.ca/Unlocking-Clubhouse-Computing-Jane-Margolis/dp/0262632691) (Chapter 3: Computing with a Purpose pp. 49-60) | | Friday, March 17, 2023 | 3-4 PM | *An Applied Mathematician's Apology* [Link](https://my.siam.org/Store/Product/viewproduct/?ProductId=42813032) | | Friday, February 17, 2023 | 3-4 PM | *Work Pray Code: When Work Becomes Religion in Silicon Valley* (2022) [Link](https://go.exlibris.link/q1TM7MsV) | | Friday, January 13, 2023 | 3-4 PM | *How to Be Creative: A Practical Guide for the Mathematical Sciences* [Link](https://epubs.siam.org/doi/10.1137/1.9781611977035) (Free online book through UBC library: [Link](https://go.exlibris.link/FjkDjM7g)) | | Tuesday, December 13, 2022 | 4-5 PM | *Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe* by George Dyson [Link](https://www.amazon.com/Turings-Cathedral-Origins-Digital-Universe/dp/1400075998) |