Richard Westphal's classic on Isaac Newton, Never at Rest. (At least remember it both as technical and contextual from reading it long ago). A more recent book in the history of physics that is somewhat technical is Heige Kragh's Dirac: A Scientific Biography (Cambridge Univ. P. 2008). Thanks to Sharon Irish's contribution to the thread.  Evelyn Fox Keller's biography of Barbara McClintock is absolutely wonderful (one of my favorites in the history of science), as is her equally insightful Reflections on Gender and Science that draws in part from it. 

Best, Jeff

"Injustice wears the same harsh face wherever it shows itself."-Ralph Ellison

Jeffrey R. Yost, Ph.D.
Director, Charles Babbage Institute
Research Professor, Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
 
222  21st Avenue South
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN 55455
 
612 624 5050 Phone
612 625 8054 Fax


On Fri, Sep 4, 2020 at 8:06 AM Troy Astarte <Troy.Astarte@newcastle.ac.uk> wrote:
Dear all, 

Very many thanks to everyone who has sent suggestions, I’ve got a great reading list! I’ve already had a look at a few of them, and there’s some high quality work indeed. The only further question I would have is whether there are biographies with a higher technical content? Perhaps that just isn’t common in biographies? 

Best, 

Troy Astarte

School of Computing
Newcastle University

On 3 Sep 2020, at 12:31, Troy Astarte <Troy.Astarte@newcastle.ac.uk> wrote:

Dear SIG-CIS, 

What is your favourite biography of a scientist or mathematician? I’m particularly interested in modern subjects and those who worked in computing/computer science. Ideally the book would cover the subject’s work in a reasonable level of technical detail as well as their life and the broader context in which they lived and worked. 

I ask because I am considering applying for funding for an essentially biographical project on a computer scientist and I would like to read some (more) biographies first. 

Best, 

Troy Astarte

School of Computing
Newcastle University


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