Episode · The Peterman Pod · 2026-07-13
Ryan Peterman & David Patterson: books mentioned on The Peterman Pod
Turing Award Winner: TPU vs GPU vs CPU, Computer Architecture, RISC vs CISC | David Patterson
David Patterson is a Turing Award winner famous for his contributions to computer architecture. I interviewed him about his past work, thoughts on GPU/TPUs and career advice from half a century of experience.
David Patterson discussed Computer architecture : a quantitative approach by John L. Hennessy and others, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey, John Hennessy by John Hennessy, and Working by Studs Terkel.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Computer architecture : a quantitative approach
Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach by John L.
Discussed“In fact uh we did a John and I eventually did a textbook and I was just checking and that came out in 1990 and we didn't even talk about power as an issue for the first three editions.”
Where to get it
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The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R.
Discussed“I think uh on the career side is one of the uh pieces of advice is uh by a he wrote this book the habits of very effective people I think and he has a little quadrant and he divides it of urgent and not urgent and important and unimportant and kind of there's so many things in our technology”
Where to get it
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John Hennessy
Discussed“Uh I would do some other little things there. And John Hennessy, he he wrote a book too, a kind of a a career advice book based on his presidency. And one of the things he said in there, you know, you're only going to be remembered for the five or six things you've done in your life, not for”
Where to get it
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Working
Working by Studs Terkel is a classic oral history featuring interviews with dozens of everyday workers discussing what they do all day and how they truly feel about their careers.
Discussed“Um but I think it's the you know I when I was finishing my PhD I read this book by studs Turkl called working where he interviewed all these people in their careers and they look back and what they liked and what they didn't like what what they felt about their careers”
Where to get it
