Delight in the wonders and weirdness of computation!
I'm Samuel Arbesman and the author of the new book The Magic of Code, which will be published in June 2025. My writing has been called "delightfully nerdy" by the Wall Street Journal.
This book is what I wish I had been able to read about computing when I was younger. Instead, I had to cobble together a lot of these ideas and insights from many sources on my own. But this needn’t be the case any longer. The Magic of Code can hopefully be an introduction to the wonders and weirdness of computation, and how these ideas connect to all manner of topics, from language and biology to philosophy and thought. It’s also—I dare say—a lot of fun. If you’re an expert programmer, hopefully there will still be something in here that entertains. But if you’re new to this world, let it be a kind and friendly introduction, a view of computing and code that is humanistic and capacious. And if you have a loved one for whom you wish to demonstrate why the world of computing and code is fascinating, please press this book into their skeptical hands.
For more on the philosophy behind the book, here are some things I have written about it: one two.
And here are some nice things that people have said about the book:
“In his thoughtful and immensely creative new book, Samuel Arbesman injects a much-needed sense of wonder back into the ever-more powerful world of computers and algorithms. You’ll never think about computation the same way again—and this is a good thing!”―Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of Slow Productivity and Deep Work
“What an incredible joy it is to be on a journey of intellectual curiosity with such an enchanting polymath. Arbesman has convinced me that the most wondrous and awe-inspiring feature of our modern world might very well be the complex, invisible universe of digital code that keeps it all running.”―Joshua Foer, author of Moonwalking with Einstein
“A delight. About so much more than ‘just’ code, this book should be required reading for how to be human—and make decisions wisely—in a future suffused with computation.”―Annie Duke, author of Thinking in Bets
“This book is a lot of fun! It explores all the ways the idea of computation can be fruitfully wrapped around nearly everything. It will stretch your mind.”―Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick, Wired
“Expansive and absorbing, The Magic of Code reveals code as a universal force—swirling through disciplines, absorbing ideas, and connecting worlds. Arbesman helps us see that computation is far bigger and more unifying than we ever imagined.”―Linda Liukas, author of Hello Ruby
For speaking requests about this book, please send an email here: speaking@arbesman.net
