The Serendipity Machine: A Voyage of Discovery Through the Unexpected World of Computers

by David G. Green

The modern computer's role as a serendipity machine—a catalyst for new and surprising discoveries—and its awesome social ramifications are identified and discussed along with the relationship between personal privacy and computer technology since the advent of the Internet. This examination of cutting-edge information technologies attempts to ward off the dangers inherent in the increasingly public nature of modern digitized life, enumerating such technologies as data mining, evolutionary computing, personal agent technologies, and the virtual community, and exploring ways to use these techniques to counter the menace of computer technology being exploited by individuals with bad intentions. In addition, the consequences and benefits of applied computing in fields such as biotechnology, environmental management, and electronic commerce are explored.

216 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

David Green is Professor of Information Technology at Monash University. His main research interest is complexity and all its implications.

* Complex systems
* Network theory
* Complexity in landscape ecology
* Artificial life
* Evolutionary computation
* Social networks

Reviews

[NJ Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

The essays seemed dated, even though the book was only published in 2004. This just goes to show how fast the IT is transforming even as IT is impacting our daily lives in more and more ways. Essays appear disjointed, and do not appear related to each other, which is a shame. There are better written history books which tells a more compelling story of IT.

[Ralph Zoontjens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contains some good insights, but there are plenty of other books that explain these better.