Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution, by Steven Levy<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers:_Heroes_of_the_Computer_Revolution" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackers:_Heroes_of_the_Computer...</a><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Steven-Levy/dp/0141000511" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Steven-Lev...</a><p>Stories from early in the personal computer era.  This book inspired me greatly when I read it as a high school sophomore.  After reading it, I taught myself Pascal (that dates me -- I guess this was in 1989) and started making little drawing programs on our old Fat Mac.<p>At this point it's an old book, but it's still in print, and the profiles in it are pretty timeless.