A good book on Squeak?

[Jim Ford]

On Fri, Mar 21, 2003 at 02:39:02PM -0800, Kim Rose wrote:
> Hi, Jim -

> If you have a background in computer science or engineering, etc. and 
> want a kind of "text book" -- based on an earlier version of Squeak 
> which would be downloaded from "squeak.org" you might try Mark 
> Guzdial's book on Squeak published by Prentice Hall in 2000.

I've a mechanical engineering background, currently working as a Science
Technician in a secondary school. As an amateur, I've dabbled with many
computer languages, including a brush with Smalltalk some years ago using
the Atari implementation of Gnu Smalltalk, which I learned enough of to be
impressed.
I like the graphical interface with Smalltalk that Squeak provides and
believe that Squeak could be an ideal introduction to programing for young
people - better even than Logo (which I've also tried). Once I feel I'm
sufficiently up to speed with Squeak to demonstrate it, I'll try to gain
some interest in the school where I work. ( I don't hold out much hope
though, as the "What could _you_ - a mere technician - say to _me_ - a
Teacher, that could possibly be of interest?" syndrome is rife in  the
trade!)

For my own interest, I'd like to try it for modelling secondary school
science experiments.

> Squeak:  Object Oriented Design with Multimedia Applications
> see this amazon url:
> http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0130280283/qid=1048285977/sr=2-2/ref=sr_2_2/103-7626248-0503005
> Mark used this book at a text and intro to Squeak for his 
> first/second year C.S. students at Georgia Tech.

This looks good.

> If you are looking for a book which is based in the "etoy" component 
> of Squeak and geared toward a younger /less technical user group and 
> discusses the use of Squeak in a learning enviornment, then, I regret 
> to  say, "not yet".   There are a few groups/people working on such 
> books, but none (as far as I know) have been published yet...If all 
> goes well, there will be one such "project book for 
> teachers/curriculum guide" available late spring or early summer, 
> authored by 4th/5th grade teacher BJ Conn, and myself.

This looks ideal for the introduction to my School I'm considering. I look
forward to it being published - perhaps you could let me know when it is.

Thanks for the helpful reply

Regards: Jim Ford