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Paperback
Publisher: Harvest Books
Simply put, an algorithm is a set of instructions-it's the code that makes computers run. A basic idea that proved elusive for hundreds of years and bent the minds of the greatest thinkers in the world, the algorithm is what made the modern world possible. Without the algorithm, there would have been no computer, no Internet, no virtual reality, no e-mail, or any other technological advance that we rely on every day.
In The Advent of the Algorithm, David Berlinski combines science, history, and math to explain and explore the intriguing story of how the algorithm was finally discovered by a succession of mathematicians and logicians, and how this paved the way for the digital age. Beginning with Leibniz and culminating in the middle of the twentieth century with the groundbreaking work of Gödel and Turing, The Advent of the Algorithm is an epic tale told with clarity and imaginative brilliance.
Francis Sullivan of the Institute for Defense Analysis said "Great algorithms are the poetry of computation"; David Berlinski calls the algorithm "the idea that rules the world." The Advent of the Algorithm is not so much a history of algorithms as a historical fantasia. Berlinski spins freely between semifictional accounts of historical figures, personal reminiscence, and mathematical proofs--without ever really defining an algorithm in so many words. This is not the book for those who were maddened by Berlinski's A Tour of the Calculus; his style remains quirky, digressive, self-referential, and dense: And then, by some inscrutable incandescent insight, Leibniz came to see that what is crucial in what he had written is the alternation between God and Nothingness. And for this, the numbers 0 and 1 suffice. Twinkies and Diet Coke in hand, computer programmers can now be observed pausing thoughtfully at their consoles. Berlinski's argument seems to be that algorithms--step-by-step procedures for getting answers--superceded logic, and will be superceded in turn by more biological, empirical, fuzzy methods. The structure of the book reflects this argument--sketches of people like Leibniz, Hilbert, Gödel, and Turing are interwoven with proofs and with characters of Berlinski's own invention. Berlinski's voice, closer to Hofstadter than to Knuth, remains unique. --Mary Ellen Curtin
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| Virtually unreadable |
| Customer Rating: 1 out of 5 |
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"The Advent of the Algorithm" tries much too hard to be "Gödel, Escher, Bach", without any understanding whatsoever of the whimsical appeal of the latter, and wastes all its energy in painfully tedious narcissistic ramblings without wit or charm. Many times I tried very hard to finish it even if I couldn't like it, but ended up putting it down in disgust every time.
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| I adore Berlinski |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Not for the faint-hearted, this is my most favorite math read of all times. It should be, since it's been a difficult companion for more than five years. Nevertheless, the whipsmart Berlinski has an uncanny knack at making math make sexy sense for the nonsensical fraction-challenged. He invites passage into the deeper language that only a few really understand. I adore Berlinski and his book; await the simplicity that's certain to be hiding in the challenge.
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| More like Gödel's Proof, Context and Aftermath -- a different tack (than Nagel's "Gödel's Proof"), than much about algorithms |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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Other reviewers have said many useful things. The main point you must know is that this book is a rather flowery text that goes in many different directions, but parts -- large parts! -- are very informative and make clear to you some very important ideas. Let me quote the best, on-target, portions of other reviewers:
Reviewer, Michael Wischmeyer in his 'Fascinating Look at a Difficult Topic - But Eclectic' writes as follows:
" Notwithstanding the occasional flights of fancy, 'The Advent of the Algorithm' is indeed 'a work of scholarship'. Clarity characterizes most technical sections, but careful reading is still necessary. The technical sections include... If you do undertake this venture, my suggestion is to accept Berlinski as a capable and experienced tour guide. His interests may not always coincide with yours, but the tour will be memorable. Berlinski has created a unique book about a difficult subject. Substantial sections clearly deserve five stars. I give it four stars overall."
Reviewer, David B Richman in his 'An Eccentric and Yet Fascinating Book' writes as follows:
"Many reviewers have reason to criticize his eccentric writing style and digressions, which do not clarify as much as one would like. ... Still, I found this book quite fascinating. For that reason I gave it four stars, when I might have given it three. For one thing (as noted by an earlier reviewer,) Berlinski's descriptions of Gödel, Turing, von Neumann and other logicians and mathematicians are very good. For another I have to admit that I sort of liked the digressions! ... This book is worth reading for the scattered gems, although the average reader may have a bit of a time finding them! Still with some effort they can be found."
I might add that some of those gems are an alternative context explanation of Gödel's theorems to Nagel's book "Gödel's Proof" (ISBN 0814758169). There's no discrepancy; both books agree about the context of Gödel's proof -- just different emphases and styles (though it must be admitted "Gödel's Proof" is the more thorough). Another gem of "The Advent of the Algorithm", though, is the discussions of how others took Gödels results and metaphorically "ran with them". In fact this last notion is what I think is best about the book.
Finally, the book is much less on algorithms or even the concept of an algorithm than you would guess -- although, true, it is the overarching umbrella that becomes more and more explicit as you proceed to later parts of the book. But don't get the book to learn about algorithms. That's not it's purpose at all! A better purpose would be as a different tack to approach Gödel's theorems, their context and their aftermath than provided by Nagel's "Gödel's Proof".
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| Does Mathematics Support Darwin or Intelligent Design? |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Mathematician David Berlinski explains how the "algorithm" is sure to play a major role in the future of mathematics. An algorithm, Berlinski explains, is essentially a logical, mathematical procedure by which a goal can be accomplished in a finite number of steps.
After recounting the origin of the algorithm within mathematics, Berlinski explains that it is the algorithm which has made possible the physical sciences. Turning his attention to molecular biology, and the genetic code specifically, Berlinski notes that algorithms are required to convert information from one set of symbols, the genetic code, into another set, the proteins. Berlinski believes these strings of information are far richer than analogous strings of information we find in say, a novel: "while Tolstoy's Anna Karenina can only suggest the woman, her black hair swept into a chignon, the same message, carrying the same meaning, when read by the right biochemical agencies, can bring the woman to vibrant and complaining life, reading now restored to its rightful place as a supreme act of creation" (pg. 290-291).
Berlinski concludes on a philosophical note. While materialists like Steven Weinberg believe the universe is "pointless," other thinkers in history, such as William Paley, believe that the complexity of the natural world require us to ask deeper questions. Intelligence, Berlinski believes, can be explained by algorithm. This is seen in that the intelligence which authored his book (if Berlinski would consider himself intelligent) was created via the algorithms which convert DNA-information to living, breathing assemblies of proteins.
From whence did this algorithm come? Berlinski analogizes from the reasoning of Kurt Gödel, who saw that law and chance alone would not be expected to produce an increase in complexity. Darwin's theory using blind natural selection acting upon chance mutations cannot account for the complexity of life as it has developed over time. Berlinski thinks that the rapid origin of biological complexity might require a process of "careful coordination and intelligent design" (pg. 321). Thus, science would be best to use the explanatory tools of law, chance, and the algorithm, which he calls "an intelligent artifact" (pg. 325). Applying Gödel's logic, complexity cannot be derived entirely from something simple. Complexity can be shifted, transferred, but the complexity in the universe can never provide a complete explanation for its own origin.
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| Beware Uninitiated Reader, Better used as a firestarter. |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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Upon reading the Preface and Introduction I can't believe my eyes. I have seen english comp 101 papers with more clarity than Berlinski.
I am interested in all types of science and lately Genetic Algorithms have peaked my interest; but after my brief journey with Berlinski's prose I'm feeling carsick from the yo-yo inebriated turn of phrase.
I suppose this book is redeeming in the fact that it attemts to explain the vast complexity and neccessity of the algorithm, but for one who enjoys syntax and sentence elegance this book leaves a bitter taste for the next scientific read.
If you don't know about algorithms already, I suggest you look desperately for another book before you become frustrated at Berlinski's. If already know about algorithms, this may be a brilliant read for you.
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