SICP is one of the most awesome books ever. I took Structure and Interpretation from Sussman and Abelson my freshman year at MIT. It was the most influential, mind-blowing class for me that I’ve ever taken.

Interestingly, I’ve heard that Sussman has changed his attitude about what should actually be taught in college. While he theoretically still supports abstraction, modularity, and all that good stuff, I’ve heard that he doesn’t believe the industry has developed in a direction that makes those valuable, marketable skills. So now he’s in favor of more practical, albeit less theoretically pure instruction in programming.

Personally, I always considered programming half wizardry, half art. SICP does the best job of any text I know at capturing both of those. I’ve written large software systems (compilers and window systems) using the SICP principles and found them powerful, elegant, and engaging.

Enjoy the journey!