Lecture 02 - Recommended Resources
Core Books mentioned by Zucco
Giacomo recommends different books depending on the student’s path:
For Everyone (History & Context)
- “The Genesis Book” by Aaron van Wirdum: Focuses on the pre-history of Bitcoin (DigiCash, e-Gold, Hashcash). Highly recommended for understanding the “why” before the “how.”
For the Developer Track (Technical)
- “Grokking Bitcoin” by Kalle Rosenbaum: Giacomo considers this the best overall technical explainer. It builds Bitcoin from the ground up in a linear, logical way.
- “Programming Bitcoin” by Jimmy Song: For those who want to code. It covers the math (Finite Fields, Elliptic Curves) and has students write Bitcoin in Python.
- “Mastering Bitcoin” by Andreas Antonopoulos: The classic technical manual (though Giacomo notes there are now “superior” options like Rosenbaum’s).
For the Business Track (Conceptual)
- “Bitcoin Clarity” by Kiara Bickers: A great conceptual explainer for those who don’t need to see the code but want to understand the system’s mechanics deeply.
- “Inventing Bitcoin” by Yan Pritzker: A short, punchy guide to the technology.
Digital Resources
- Learning Bitcoin (Web): A visual explorer to look inside blocks and transactions.
- Mempool.space: The best tool to visualize the current state of the network and the “chain” of blocks.
- Plan B Academy: Specific courses on SHA-256 and Wallet Architecture.