false 393171 3 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." <I>The Advent of the Algorithm</I> 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.<p> This is not the book for those who were maddened by Berlinski's <I>A Tour of the Calculus</I>; his style remains quirky, digressive, self-referential, and dense:<p> <blockquote>And then, by some inscrutable incandescent insight, Leibniz came to see that what is crucial in what he had written is the <I>alternation</I> between God and Nothingness. And for this, the numbers 0 and 1 suffice.<p> Twinkies and Diet Coke in hand, computer programmers can now be observed pausing thoughtfully at their consoles.</blockquote><p> Berlinski's argument seems to be that algorithms--step-by-step procedures for getting answers--superceded logic, and will be superceded in turn by more biological, empirical, fuzzy methods.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. <I>--Mary Ellen Curtin</I> 382733 2000 The Advent of the Algorithm: The 300-Year Journey from an Idea to the Computer total:41|5:6|4:10|3:19|2:5|1:1| 41 138 91 5 5 0 false false Mon Feb 16 09:27:02 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 09:31:12 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 14 19:59:16 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 20:03:34 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 1 0 false false Fri Dec 19 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Oct 04 14:35:14 -0700 2008 Fri Dec 19 21:16:37 -0800 2008 Much worse, however, is that the author says that NP stands for non-polynomial! Even if I had liked the rest of the book (which I didn't), that huge a mistake would automatically give this 1 star. ]]> 5 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Sun Apr 20 01:23:09 -0700 2008 Sun Apr 20 16:05:22 -0700 2008 5 0 false false Wed Feb 13 07:46:01 -0800 2008 Mon May 19 06:51:59 -0700 2008 0 0 false false Mon Nov 02 10:02:06 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 02 10:02:06 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 14 09:03:26 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 14 09:03:26 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Oct 04 23:12:29 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 23:12:33 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Oct 04 16:59:42 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 04 16:59:42 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Oct 03 12:06:32 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 03 12:06:40 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Thu Sep 10 11:00:26 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 10 11:00:26 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Aug 22 21:27:26 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 22 22:06:19 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Aug 19 08:55:54 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 19 08:55:54 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Aug 16 12:29:21 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 16 12:29:21 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Aug 04 11:20:04 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 04 11:20:04 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sun Jul 19 10:51:49 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 10:51:49 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jul 08 23:45:07 -0700 2009 Wed Jul 08 23:45:09 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Jul 06 14:28:16 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 06 14:28:16 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Mon Jun 15 13:52:47 -0700 2009 Mon Jun 15 13:52:47 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Mon Jun 27 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sun Jun 14 16:27:26 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 14 16:27:50 -0700 2009