The book succeeds in this. It is very clear and taught me a lot about the principles of these and other fundamental algorithms. Having said that, it still takes quite a lot of concentration – as some of the examples crank up in realism and complication, one needs a certain amount of self-discipline not to say, ‘whatever’, and turn to the next section. I found that I couldn’t read it with an undemanding TV programme on in the background, for example.
However, this means that another thing the book achieves is to convey a real sense of both the brilliance and the amount of sheer hard work and attention to detail that has gone into our reliance on everyday computer magic. I have on my shelf an old (1999) book,
The next-to-last chapter is especially intriguing. It’s about what computers can’t do – the existence of undecidable problems. McCormick writes: “If you believe that the human brain could, in principle, be simulated by a computer, then the brain is subject to the same limitations as computers. In other words, there would be problems that no human brain could solve – however intelligent or well-trained that brain might be.” (p197). Or the converse, of course. But McCormick notes that the barriers in principle to a computer simulating the brain are philosophical rather than physical or chemical.
[amazon_image id=”0691147140″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future: The Ingenious Ideas That Drive Today’s Computers[/amazon_image]
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Hey Diane Coyle,
Thanks for your thoughts, This sought after adage that “Rome was not created in a day,” or the popular Chinese proverb which says that “A journey of a thousand kilometers begins with a person step” is self-apparent. All Details and Conversation Technological know-how (ICT) minded international locations like as China, Singapore, Malaysia, India and other people, that are becoming tremendous ICT countries on this world of technology did not generate their feat overnight. Singapore, for instance, embarked on her ICT innovative journey above 30 decades ago.
Kindest Regards
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