Favorite books/movies that you think other engineer types would like?

[deephaven]

The Krone Experiment http://www.thekroneexperiment.com/

I have only watched the original dvd film so far. I think it is amazing how good the production was with a budget of just $5,000.

J. Craig Wheeler wrote, produced and acted in the film and is a  professor of astrophysics in real life.

[Alis]

WarGames (1983) [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086567/ ] - Matthew Broderick was the key success for this movie, a really good retro movie for computer geeks. The second part [the dead code] was quite lame, not worth watching if you ask me.
The 13th floor (1999) [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094591/?ref_=nv_sr_3 ] - Similar to the matrix, but more interesting, I'd say.
Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999) [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0168122/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 ] - The Apple & Microsoft story, way better than "jOBS" as Wozniak says.
"Hackers" (1995) - [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113243/?ref_=nv_sr_1 ] - Just like the title says, more fictional than documentary though.
"Enemy of the state" (1998) [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120660/?ref_=ttmd_md_nm ] - Will Smith is the essential in this film. A really nice movie for conspiracy theorists.
"Source code" (2011) [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0945513/?ref_=nv_sr_1 ] - A soldier gets connected to a system, that lets him replay an event, to find a terrorist.
"Limitless" (2011) [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1219289/?ref_=tt_rec_tt ] - A man finds a drug, that lets him access 100% of his brain power.


Also a TV series called "Silicon valley" was released not so long ago, quite entertaining.

[GK]

I thought Sneakers was great when I was a high school student, but now it is just silly.

[GK]

Amen to that. 

In that episode the guy who gave officer Barbrady the copy of Atlas Shrugged was later arrested for having sex with chickens.

[VK5RC]

"First Man" by Neil Armstrong , his only autobiography, its the real deal, he was/is a really impressive man, pilot and Engineer.
A lot to admire and respect.
http://www.space.com/1765-unlocking-enigma-review-man-neil-armstrong-authorized-biography.html

[free_electron]

Wargames :imsai and wopr
Back to the future trilogy: fluxcaps and jigowatts
Tron, especially 2: because of the cellar scene it shows various old vax and hp equipment
Real genius: lasers and weirdo's

[bookaboo]

"Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries" by Neil De Grasse Tyson
Or basically anything he writes or narrates is worth looking at. Similarly I think Richard Dawkins stuff on evolution is fascinating, likewise for his anti-religion books, fill your boots with Christopher Hitchens too if you're into that.

I also liked the following on how to understand how we learn :
The Talent Code
Bounce: The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice
Talent is Overrated
Outliers: The Story of Success

(note it's a while since I read those, one of them was a bit of a rehash of the others but I can't recall which. Maybe best stick to the bottom two)

[BillyD]

Strata by Terry Pratchet is a strange but entertaining science fiction read.

[Yago]

Really? REALLY?!!!

Not one mention yet of the "The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy" yet? Anything from this series is a must read!!!!!!!

REALLY?

That remake besmirched the memory of the BBC versions, something akin to what the "Beautiful South" did to Nilsson!

Ghost in the Shell was pretty good for those that can get past the Jap thing with female attire(or lack thereof).

First Man in the Moon, old Ealing SciFi with Lionel Jeffries! Brilliant!

[Richard Crowley]

"Colossus: The Forbin Project": http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064177  Technology turns on us.
"Futureworld"  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074559  (They are re-making it. But Yul Brynner as the robot gunslinger is incredible in the original.)
"Brainstorm" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085271  (Natalie Wood's last film)
"Sneakers"  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105435  Social implications of hacking. Great film IMHO
"Silent Running"  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067756  The robots are not to be missed.
"EXTANT" the current sci-fi series on US TV has the most advanced and realistic tech props and CGI I have ever seen in an episodic TV show
http://www.cbs.com/shows/extant/video/

[Vgkid]

Ghost in the Shell was rather good to watch, and a really good read.
I was always a fan of Martin Scorsese movies / anything with Deniro in it. Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter was his last movie I watched.
I have found the latst sci-fi movies set in this time period to have several pieces of T&M gear in them.
Ex Planet of the Apes had a Heathkit frequency counter, and a GR either portable bridge/ meggohmeter.

[RobertoLG]

Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_Shrugged

southpark is the crap...but others may like the book hehe

[RobertoLG]

here short movies, some are very decent stuff
http://www.freemoviescinema.com/science-fiction

[RobertoLG]

some anime
Voices of a Distant Star   http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0370754/
the place promised in our early days  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0381348/

[hamster_nz]

I thought Sneakers was great when I was a high school student, but now it is just silly.

A bit like TRON then, I guess...

[nctnico]

Reading some more books from Jules Verne is still on my list. In the past I also read books from PG Wodehouse, Roald Dahl (his adult books are quite dark & gritty) and another more modern English writer who wrote some hilareous books but I can't recall his name.

[mtdoc]

“There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old’s life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs."--John Rogers

 

[RobertoLG]

book
Dying of the Light - George R.R. Martin  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dying_of_the_Light

[Shock]

Book "Longditude" by Dava Sobel

Was also a TV series as well.

[EEVblog]

The Making of The Atomic Bomb
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-Rhodes-ebook/dp/B008TRU7SQ/ref=sr_1_1
It didn't will pulitzer prize for nothing!

[hamster_nz]

The Making of The Atomic Bomb
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-Rhodes-ebook/dp/B008TRU7SQ/ref=sr_1_1
It didn't will pulitzer prize for nothing!

Well played sir, well played!  A very good read - for engineering, espionage, history and political reasons.

[Psi]

Movies i really like, (alphabetical order, mixed genre)

If you have seen most of these and liked them you should watch the rest.

12 monkeys
2001 a space odyssey
2010 the year we made contact (sequel to above)
Angels and Demons
City of ember
Contact
Flight of the phoenix (both original and remake)
Back to the future series
Jurassic park series
Indiana Jones series
Underworld series
Frequently asked questions about time travel  (awesome++)
Hackers
Inception (Awesome++)
K19 the widdowmaker
Moon
My science project (old but good)
Oblivion
Outbreak
Primer  (you will need to watch this 3 times to untangle it in your head)
Red Planet (some people hated this movie, i loved it)
Sherlock holmes movies (2010 etc.)
The Andromeda strain (original is better)
The A-team
The princess bride
The worlds fastest Indian
The core (yeah, i know some people didnt like it but i did)
The day after tomorrow
The negotiator
The rock
The shawshank redemption
Twister
U571
V for vendetta (awesome++)
Van Helsing
Zombieland (awesome++)

[GK]

I thought Sneakers was great when I was a high school student, but now it is just silly.

A bit like TRON then, I guess...

I first saw TRON at an earlier age and thought it was complete crap. I had high expectations.

[N2IXK]

The Making of The Atomic Bomb
http://www.amazon.com/Making-Atomic-Bomb-Richard-Rhodes-ebook/dp/B008TRU7SQ/ref=sr_1_1
It didn't will pulitzer prize for nothing!

Well played sir, well played!  A very good read - for engineering, espionage, history and political reasons.

Yes! A great read.

If you are interested in the real nitty-gritty engineering of the Manhattan Project, I would HIGHLY recommend getting a copy of "Atom Bombs: The Top Secret Inside Story of Little Boy and Fat Man", by John Coster-Mullen.  The author embarked on a years-long quest to reverse-engineer the first 2 bomb designs from publicly available information, and came up with enough details that a determined reader could probably replicate the things in their garage if they had a source of fissionable materials!   Includes stuff I never thought would be available, such as schematics of the detonating circuitry of the Trinity and Fat Man implosion bombs (used a 4C35 hydrogen thyratron tube and triggered spark gaps, as the krytron hadn't been invented yet). 

Self-published by the author, and available from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Atom-Bombs-Secret-Inside-Little/dp/B0006S2AJ0

[nctnico]

This is one non-fiction I can highly recommend.
Colossus: The secrets of Bletchley Park's code-breaking computers by B. Jack Copeland.

There is more to that story. It where actually the Polish who cracked the initial enigma and devised the ground breaking math & methods which allowed decoding the messages. The people at  Bletchley Park perfected & automated the code breaking.
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/virtualbp/poles/poles.htm