CXO

Tech icons: 10 biographies worth reading

By // June 10, 2014, 4:30 AM PST // ErinCarson

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  • 1. Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson (2011)

    Weeks after Steve Jobs' death, Issacson's book hit shelves, becoming the definitive Jobs biography. Other earlier Jobs biographies include iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business and The Second Coming of Steve Jobs.

  • 2. Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erikson (1993)

    Wallace and Erikson trace the rise of Bill Gates and Microsoft, and it's not always pretty.

  • 3. Idea Man: A Memoir of the Cofounder of Microsoft by Paul Allen (2011)

    After being diagnosed with lymphoma in 2009, Allen shares his story as cofounder of Microsoft, and his other pursuits since leaving the company.

  • 4. iWoz: Computer Geek to Cult Icon: How I Invented the Personal Computer, Co-Founded Apple, and Had Fun Doing It by Steve Wozniack (2006)

    The title basically covers it. This autobiography comes from the guy responsible for the Apple I and Apple II computers.

  • 5. Just for Fun: The Story of an Accidental Revolutionary by Linus Torvalds and David Diamond (2001)

    Fans of the open source movement will be especially interested in the back story of how Torvalds created Linux, told by Torvalds himself.

  • 6. Alan Turing: The Enigma by Andrew Hodges (1983)

    As a computer has passed the Turing Test for the first time, now might be a good time to read up on the man who helped break the German Enigma during World War II, and lent his name to the challenge that gauges a computer's ability to imitate human behavior.

  • 7. Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by Leander Kahney (2013)

    If Jobs and Woz aren't enough for you, here's the story of Jony Ive, the Apple designer behind the iPod, iMac, and iPhone.

  • 8. Perfect Enough: Carly Fiorina and the Reinvention of Hewlett-Packard by George Anders (2003)

    Carly Fiorina's tenure as CEO of Hewlett-Packard was no breeze. George Anders' book recounts the controversial figure's battles, including HP's merger with Compaq.

  • 9. Things A Little Bird Told Me: Confessions of the Creative Mind by Biz Stone (2014)

    Stone's memoir covers territory including dropping out of school, working at Google, and founding Twitter with Evan Williams.

  • 10. I'm Feeling Lucky: Confessions of Google Employee Number 59 by Douglas Edwards (2011)

    Douglas Edwards, employee number 59, writes about some of the early days of Google and the company culture that's been so influential on Silicon Valley ever since.

1. Steve Jobs by Walter Issacson (2011)

Weeks after Steve Jobs' death, Issacson's book hit shelves, becoming the definitive Jobs biography. Other earlier Jobs biographies include iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act in the History of Business and The Second Coming of Steve Jobs.

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By Erin Carson

Erin Carson is a Staff Reporter for CNET and a former Multimedia Editor for TechRepublic.