Message from Dean - May 8th 2007
I am currently testing out a new version of the APF Bridge Component - If you notice any errors within this demo store please drop me a line.
List Price: $25.00Amazon.com's Price: $22.50 You Save: $2.50 (10%)Prices subject to change.
Availability: unknown
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 006
EAN: 9780198604426
ISBN: 0198604424
Label: Oxford University Press, USA
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 240
Publication Date: December 11, 2003
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Studio: Oxford University Press, USA
Alternate Versions: Click to Display
Related Items:
Browse for similar items by category:
Editorial Review:
Product Description:
The computer has been hailed as the greatest innovation of the 20th century, and there is no denying that these technological marvels have dramatically changed our everyday lives. They can fly airplanes and spaceships, route millions of phone calls simultaneously, and play chess with the world's greatest players. But how limitless is the future for the computer? Will computers one day be truly intelligent, make medical diagnoses, run companies, compose music, and fall in love? In Computers Ltd., David Harel, the best-selling author of Algorithmics, illuminates one of the most fundamental yet under-reported facets of computers--their inherent limitations. Looking only at the bad news that is proven, discussing limitations that no amounts of hardware, software, talent, or resources can overcome, the book presents a disturbing and provocative view of computing at the start of the 21st century. Harel takes us on a fascinating tour that touches on everything from tiling problems and monkey puzzles to Monte Carlo algorithms and quantum computing, showing just how far from perfect computers are, while shattering some of the many claims made for these machines. He concludes that though we may strive for bigger and better things in computing, we need to be realistic: computers are not omnipotent--far from it. Their limits are real and here to stay. Based on hard facts, mathematically proven and indisputable, Computers Ltd. offers a vividly written and often amusing look at the shape of the future.
Average Rating: 
Rating:  -
The is a good introductory book into the limits of computation. The book introduces the major concepts and vocabulary in a very easy to understand way. However that is the limit to this book on limits. If you are looking for non-technical information, then this may well be the book for you.
If you are looking for proofs, answers to your homwork problems, or rigor, you will be disappointed. The author states many conjectures few have proofs. From the conjectures he uses easily understood arguments to make his points. The conjectors are in fact true, but you will have to look elsewhere to find proofs.
The reasons I gave 4 stars instead of 5 are twofold. Although the book is pretty good, the writing seems a bit quirky at times. I would have liked to have seen a bit more rigor. Although I can understand wanting the book to be as simple as possible, but many of the proofs are not very difficult and could have been included (for example the halting problem).
Rating: -
This another nice book from David Harel, the author of the delightful
'Algorithmics : the spirit of Computer Science', which introduces the
general reader to the limits of computation (and hence the limits of
what computers can do).
Harel, who's a renowned figure in the field of Theoretical Computer Science,
has the ability to write and explain in a way that makes things seem
wonderfully clear, and indeed it is only such authors who can write good
books for the general reader.
This small (240 pages) book is quite ambitious in its coverage of topics -
starting off with the notion of an algorithm, it goes on to discuss
Efficiency and correctness, Turing machines, Finite state machines,
Decidability, Computability, Complexity, NP-completeness, Recursion,
Parallel algorithms, Probabilistic algorithms, and even touches upon
Quantum Computing and Artificial Intelligence !!
All this ... Read More
Rating:  -
This book is a masterpiece! It can be read on many levels and should be a must for anyone who knows how to read and think. The layman will get a gripping and very accessible account of the limits of computing in particular, and the boundaries of knowledge in general. The professional will be able to see, in a nutshell, and explicitly, what he or she or it already knew, but did not really FEEL. But note that this book does not put down computers, but shows the intrinsic limitation of all knowledge. It should have been subtitled: `What EVEN computers can't do'.
Availability: unknown
|
Amazon Store 