Book review: The geek atlas

August 29, 2011

I got this book as a present from last year’s PFZ workshop day (thanks again guys), and is filled with 128 (get it?) places around the world interesting for geeks. I have to admit that even though a lot of places were unfamiliar for me, so it gave some nice new items for my todo list.

Every place inside the book is a dedicated chapter with lots of (technical) background information on what makes that place so special. You get some readings into Hooke’s law  and how clocks work on the “Westminster Abbey” chapter, how gyroscopes work at the U.S. Navy submarine Force Museum and how error correction works at Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex at Fort Irwin. Even though most chapters only skimp the basic technical stuff, the variation of the chapters is enough to keep you interested through the whole book. The only sad part about the book is the fact that only one place in The Netherlands is mentioned (MC Escher museum). There are lot’s of other interesting places here as well! (but then again, it would mean they would have to fill up to 256 places probably :)).