A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines

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Story brings these men and their struggles to life

'lA Madman Dreams of Turing Machines'

Just when you thought faux-fiction was an oxymoron

ambitious, but falls short

A Strange Beautiful World

A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines
Janna Levin
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1400040302
Release Date: 2006-08-22

Book Description

In this remarkable work of fiction, astrophysicist Janna Levin reimagines the lives of two of the most important and influential minds of our time.

The narrator is a scientist herself, a physicist obsessed with Kurt Gödel, the greatest logician of many centuries, and with Alan Turing, the extraordinary mathematician, breaker of the Enigma Code during World War II. “They are both brilliantly original and outsiders,” the narrator tells us. “They are both besotted with mathematics. But for all their devotion, mathematics is indifferent, unaltered by any of their dramas . . . Against indifference, I want to tell their stories.” Which she does in a haunting, incantatory voice, the two lives unfolding in parallel narratives that overlap in the magnitude of each man’s achievement and demise: Gödel, delusional and paranoid, would starve himself to death; Turing, arrested for homosexual activities, would be driven to suicide. And they meet as well in the narrator’s mind, where facts are interwoven with her desire and determination to find meaning in the maze of their stories: two men devoted to truth of the highest abstract nature, yet unable to grasp the mundane truths of their own lives.

A unique amalgam of luminous imagination and richly evoked historic character and event—A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines is a story about the pursuit of truth and its effect on the lives of two men. A story of genius and madness, incredible yet true.

Customer Reviews:

Story brings these men and their struggles to life.......2007-09-25

Most people think of science and art as distinct, incompatible things. Janna Levin, in her first novel, brings those assumptions into question. A Madman Dreams of Turing Machines follows the lives of two prominent scientists, Kurt Godel and Alan Turing. The two were great geniuses of their times, and made scientific discoveries that changed the world: Godel proved mathematically that mathematics is limited in what we can know; Turing imagined and developed a machine to break the Nazi Enigma Code and subsequently paved the way for the invention of the computer.

But while you follow these mathematic achievements, you never get bogged down in their details. Levin does an excellent job referring to the science without derailing the narrative by attempting to explain it. The story is really about the personal struggles of these men of genius, their social ineptness, their anguish, their battles with faith and desire. The two men never met. The story alternates chapters between their two lives - Godel in Vienna in the 1930s and Turing in England from the 1930-1950s. But Turing knows of Godel's work, is affected by it, and their stories feel right being told together like they are.

Reading this book, you can imagine the pain of being socially outcast, of being misunderstood because your genius in one area renders your mind incomprehensible to other people, and your life an oddity that people pity or fear. By doing thorough research into the lives of Godel and Turing, Levin was able to base her fictionalized account on solid ground. What she imagines, with compassion and keen insight, is the anguish of their inner lives. Because of her own background in science (Levin is a professor of physics and astronomy), she understands the mathematics behind Godel's and Turing's achievements. She also, however, bridges the gap between that science and the art of storytelling, to depict their personal struggles, their day-to-day lives, loves, and the pain of being a human being trapped within a genius that separates you, in a specific but real way, from the rest of the world.

Armchair Interviews says: Such geniuses.

Interesting interview with Levin can be found on the website of the science magazine Seed, March 2007.

'lA Madman Dreams of Turing Machines'.......2007-08-29

A gripping account of the parallel lives of Turing and Godel, leaving the reader wishing they had.

Also I love anything; that Janna Levin writes! :-D

Just when you thought faux-fiction was an oxymoron.......2007-07-04

If you're looking for depth here, move along, there's none to be had. The last 50 pages or so was an exercise in self-control-all I wanted to do was to throw it in the garbage. I managed to read the entire book, and then I threw it in the garbage, not wanting anyone else to waste their time or money.

Some of the reviewers here would say I missed Levin's point, as there's plenty of non-fiction coverage of Godel, Turing, et al. if that's what I want.

To them I say, if Levin's wants to write fiction, she needs to have a story to tell, not a hope that one will materialize from faux-historical characterization.

There is no story here, the writing is pedestrian, unexceptional. That it was even published, and by a renowned publishing house no less, is beyond my comprehension.

ambitious, but falls short.......2007-05-24

I was very excited to read this book, as I loved the whole concept of it... A kind thought experiment, bringing together two great minds through fiction. I can't say it's unreadable, or that I didn't enjoy the ideas presented - but I was greatly dissapointed, and am alarmed by the high praise this book is recieving. Sometimes it felt like the author was injecting some poetry to feel she was adding some "writing" to this otherwise thin re-telling of two biographies. It's undoubtedly ambitious, but very clumsy in execution. What connections she does find between the two men, however poetical, seem arbitrary. And to put yourself (the author) into a book in lieu of an actual beginning, middle and end is cheesy and cheap to me.

A Strange Beautiful World.......2007-03-10

Janna Levin has created a strange and beautiful world in this relatively short, very readable, compelling book. She pushes the line between fiction and nonfiction. The book sticks close to the biographical facts of two historical figures, towering intellects of the last century. Their stories are told by someone you might at first assume is the author. Only, this narrator is unreliable, distorting their stories not with untruths exactly but with hyper-real prose. The imagery is too vivid and eventually slightly surreal to be true. Eventually the narrator, a self-professed liar, becomes unreal too and you realize you don't even know who the narrator is. Maybe the narrator is you. Maybe it is all in your mind. At first I didn't get what she was doing with the narrator but then it hit me. She's saying it's all in our minds! This book makes you think about truth, the pursuit of truth, beauty and weakness.

I also found particularly compelling the descriptions of thought itself and the loneliness that can result from getting lost in your own world. I do have a science background but I shouldn't think you need a background in mathematics to appreciate the power thinking has over every aspect of our perceptions.

The subtle melding of fact and fiction is, well, subtle. Not everyone will get it. Not everyone will like it. But if you do get it, it's powerful. This book is special, a little gem.

The New Turing Omnibus: Sixty-Six Excursions in Computer Science

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Good overview of the basic ideas
From 6 to 666 hours to understand
Brain Dessert
Panoramic for Computer Science

The New Turing Omnibus: Sixty-Six Excursions in Computer Science
A. K. Dewdney
Manufacturer: Holt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0805071660

Book Description

No other volume provides as broad, as thorough, or as accessible an introduction to the realm of computers as A. K. Dewdney's The Turing Omnibus.Updated and expanded, The Turing Omnibus offers 66 concise, brilliantly written articles on the major points of interest in computer science theory, technology, and applications. New for this tour: updated information on algorithms, detecting primes, noncomputable functions, and self-replicating computers--plus completely new sections on the Mandelbrot set, genetic algorithms, the Newton-Raphson Method, neural networks that learn, DOS systems for personal computers, and computer viruses.

Customer Reviews:

Good overview of the basic ideas.......2006-11-05

The New Turing Omnibus is a gentle pass over many of the abstract concepts of computer science. It focuses on concepts, so if you want to learn to program in a given language, or if you want to master your Windows or Linux OS, look elsewhere. However, it does review all of the theoretical matters, from automata to logic maps, algorithmic analysis and beyond. It is a great read for a budding Computer Scientist, Electrical Engineer or Mathematician. Ideal readers would be younger students in Math or CompSci who want a gentle introduction to the real underlying concepts that govern all of Computer Science. Definatly a must for all CompSci book shelves.

From 6 to 666 hours to understand.......2004-04-11

What you get out of the book depends upon how much you want to put into in. A reader of this book, could decide to just understand the general ideas, follow the detailed mathematics, or perhaps program on a computer (for example sorting routines, hashing and the like). Each of the excursions is well covered, sometimes witty, but at times I got bogged-down in the symbols. The chapter on "analog computation" coming in the middle of a book was a welcome relief presenting ideas of sorting, shortest path and minimum trees using spaghetti and strings without mathematics (and would be a good chapter to give to non-computer science friends if they ever make the mistake of asking you what sort of problems you think about). The chapter on neural networks, I thought was also clear. There are also some of the classic computer science problems presented such as the Tower of Hanoi, or "A man ponders how to ferry a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage across of river".

The 66 excursions cover a lot of ground, but often return to Turing machines, finite-state machines, and NP-completeness problems. I might have enjoyed more on algorithm analysis, computer languages, and game analysis. Additionally there are new topics since this 1992 publication, such as quantum computing, Bioinformatics, Internet related topics on virus and encrypting, and a raft of social questions including privacy. I hope the "Turing omnibus" refuels for another update.

Brain Dessert.......2003-04-02

Dewdney is one of the most stimulating writers on applied thinking and computer science that I have had the pleasure to read. Where the standard CS textbooks are most stale, Dewdney is the most provocative. He illuminates the dark corners of abstract thought with practical puzzles and plain language. This book is written in small bite size chapters that grow in complexity around multiple ideas, one being the idea of the state machine (if you don't know what a state machine is, don't fret, Dewdney is here to help). For us programmers, he gives enough information to actually implement the algorithms and explore the universe he envisions. I was able to take two of his pages and use it as a coding exercise that turned out to be quite enjoyable.

The appeal to Dwedney and his book stems from the fact that everything he writes is game-like or puzzle-oriented; while reading him one gets the feeling that an enlightened child is guiding the learned to a new level of thinking. Dewdney takes Computer Science on an enjoyable walk through a park where he ends up teaching the discipline to rethink shortest paths and non-intersecting traversals. What's more amazing about this book is that it is perfectly suited for a coffee table where the uninitiated could accidentally pick it up and join the conversation. That is, a degree in computer science is not a prerequisite to this fascinating read. It is brain dessert.

Panoramic for Computer Science.......2002-03-03

This book presents a clear panoramic for most of the computer science essential topics. I believe it is a demandable for CS student to start with. As a graduate student I find it very helpful for reviewing the computing theory.

The Turing Test: The Elusive Standard of Artificial Intelligence (Studies in Cognitive Systems)

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Can machines mimic human intelligence?

The Turing Test: The Elusive Standard of Artificial Intelligence (Studies in Cognitive Systems)

Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1402012047

Book Description

The Turing Test gives the most comprehensive, in depth and contemporary assessment of this classic topic in artificial intelligence. This is the first book to elaborate in such detail the numerous conflicting points of view on many aspects of this multifaceted, controversial subject. It offers new insights into Turing's own interpretation and traces the history of the debate about the merits of the Turing test in more detail than anywhere else. Turing's famous predictions (1950) are assessed fifty years after they were made. The book also gives competing views about how the Turing test should be interpreted, and novel contemporary criticisms of the test. Justifications for the test and its future applications are suggested and alternatives to the Turing test are examined in detail. Recent results of the Loebner competition are analyzed.

This highly readable volume is essential reading for research on the Turing test and for teaching undergraduate and graduate students in philosophy, computer science, and cognitive science.

Customer Reviews:

Can machines mimic human intelligence?.......2004-12-10

Can a computer program running on a computer demonstrate aspects of human intelligence? If so, what tests could be performed to demonstrate this?

Well, it is easy to think of some tests. Here are seven simple ones. 1) Look up a word in a dictionary. 2) Add a very long column of numbers. 3) Play Chess really well. 4) Play Go really well. 5) Solve a really difficult research problem in theoretical physics. 6) Write a really good novel. 7) Compose a really good classical symphony.

Today, computers have passed tests 1), 2), and 3). But they play chess well by using a very poor program indeed, relying instead on a computer that is extremely fast and has plenty of memory. We're seeing really good computers. But the programs we're seeing are awful.

Maybe better tests would be to see if a team of a human plus a computer could do much better than two humans with no computer at each of those seven tasks. And here, I'm sure the answer is yes to many of these seven tasks, and could easily be yes to all of them.

Still, those who work in the field of artificial intelligence have wanted to come up with programs that exhibit some intelligent features. And one test they have tried is one proposed by Turing in 1950: if a human or computer may be in the next room and you exchange messages with her, him, or it, (maybe at a rate of one message every 15 seconds), can you tell with better than 70% accuracy after 5 minutes if the entity in the other room is human or computer?

The book discusses whether or not such a test has much to do with intelligence or artificial intelligence. And it describes the failure of programs to pass that test so far.

In 2000, several programs were entered into a contest to try to mimic a human in this manner. No judge thought a program was in fact a human. And worse than that, the book tells us that all nine of the following questions were answered correctly by all the humans, while no computer got any of the nine questions right:

1) What is the color of a blue truck?
2) Where is Sue's nose when Sue is in her house?
3) What happens to an ice cube in a hot drink?
4) Altogether how many feet do four cats have?
5) How is the father of Andy's mother related to Andy?
6) What does the letter 'M' look like when turned upside down?
7) What comes next after A1, B2, C3?
8) Reverse the digits in 41.
9) PLEASE IMITATE MY TYPING STYLE.

That shows how utterly the programs failed Turing's test.

In short, programs today are horrible at understanding, reasoning, learning, judgment, and creativity.

I liked this book. It showed that no matter what one thinks of machine intelligence, AI people have made shockingly little progress in the past fifty years.

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A Comprehensive Graduate Text
Introduction to Mathematical Logic

Fundamentals of Mathematical Logic
Peter G. Hinman
Manufacturer: A K Peters Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Product Description

This introductory graduate text covers modern mathematical logic from propositional, first-order, higher-order and infinitary logic and Gödels Incompleteness Theorems to extensive introductions to set theory, model theory and recursion (computability) theory.

Based on the authors more than 35 years of teaching experience, the book develops students intuition by presenting complex ideas in the simplest context for which they make sense. He also provides extensive introductions to set theory, model theory and recursion (computability) theory, which allows this book to be used as a classroom text, for self-study, and as a reference on the state of modern logic.

Customer Reviews:

A Comprehensive Graduate Text.......2007-07-25

If I were a young graduate student in mathematics looking for that one "perfect" graduate text on mathematical logic to purchase with my (very) limited income, I would buy a copy of Professor Hinman's book. In just under 900 pages, Hinman provides an extremely well written and informed introduction to propositional logic, first order mathematical logic, axiomatic set theory, model theory, and recursion theory. Indeed, the book is written so well that a motivated student with the requisite background can easily profit from independent study---a statement that simply cannot be made about many of the other "classic" references in this difficult field. One great virtue of having a single reference that introduces these diverse but interconnected areas is the uniformity of notation and definitions; the reader need not pull his hair out cross-referencing between texts that use wildly different notation and, occasionally, different definitions.

I studied mathematical logic at the University of Colorado--Boulder in the late 1970s. In those days, the logic students all depended on a standard list of references to prepare for the PhD qualifying examinations, and it is significant that all or nearly all of those works are still in print. At the introductory level we read the magnificent books on mathematical logic and set theory by Herbert Enderton. At the graduate level, we read Shoenfield, Monk, Mendelson, and Manin for mathematical logic, Chang and Keisler for Model Theory, Jech (and to a lesser extent, Kunen) for set theory, and Hartley Rogers for recursive function theory. In the course of plodding through these references, I discovered a wonderful comprehensive text by John Bell and Moshe Machover and quickly elevated it to primary status on my reading list. Bell and Machover remains my favorite among the older references today, nearly thirty years later, both in terms of comprehensive coverage and clarity of prose; when I reach for a reference to clarify an issue on foundations, Bell and Machover is the first book I turn to.

The new book by Hinman achieves the same comprehensive goals of Bell and Machover, providing a rigorous and coordinated introduction to logic, set theory, recursion theory and model theory. However, Hinman incorporates some research topics that have emerged in the years since the 1977 publication of Bell and Machover, and it includes some more traditional topics that were difficult to find in the earlier texts. To give one example, Hinman provides a brief introduction to the axiom of determinacy. This topic was made available to non-specialists in two papers published in the AMS Notices of June and July, 2001, where Hugh Woodin of Berkeley discussed the axiom of projective determinacy and other hypotheses within the context of possible enlargements of ZFC that would resolve Cantor's famous continuum hypothesis. A second example is Hinman's very lucid treatment of forcing; this writer has always had difficulty understanding the very few presentations of Paul Cohen's forcing technique that have been available in the older texts, but I found Hinman's treatment exceptionally clear and easy to follow.

Professor Hinman states that this book resulted from his nearly 40 years of experience teaching mathematical logic to graduates and undergraduates. The truth of this claim is reflected in the exceptional clarity of the prose and the coherence as one skims across different chapters. It is apparent that serious thought, consideration for the reader, and years of experience in the classroom shaped the final form of this text. Given the paucity of new texts in mathematical logic and foundations, the publication of this book is truly a cause for celebration. If you can only afford one text on the subject, purchase this one; if you are burdened with an abundance of spare change, I recommend buying Bell and Machover as a second reference to supplement Hinman.

Introduction to Mathematical Logic.......2006-12-27

This is possibly the best book on general mathematical logic at the graduate level.

The Essential Turing: Seminal Writings in Computing, Logic, Philosophy, Artificial Intelligence, and Artificial Life plus The Secrets of Enigma

Average customer rating:

An excellent edition, long overdue
a long overdue book
Most Accessible Introduction to Turing
A valuable addition in paraphrasing Turing
A collection of Turing's papers

The Essential Turing: Seminal Writings in Computing, Logic, Philosophy, Artificial Intelligence, and Artificial Life plus The Secrets of Enigma
Alan M. Turing
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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ASIN: 0198250800

Book Description

Alan Turing, pioneer of computing and WWII codebreaker, is one of the most important and influential thinkers of the twentieth century. In this volume for the first time his key writings are made available to a broad, non-specialist readership. They make fascinating reading both in their own right and for their historic significance: contemporary computational theory, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and artificial life all spring from this ground-breaking work, which is also rich in philosophical and logical insight. An introduction by leading Turing expert Jack Copeland provides the background and guides the reader through the selection. About Alan Turing Alan Turing FRS OBE, (1912-1954) studied mathematics at King's College, Cambridge. He was elected a Fellow of King's in March 1935, at the age of only 22. In the same year he invented the abstract computing machines - now known simply as Turing machines - on which all subsequent stored-program digital computers are modelled. During 1936-1938 Turing continued his studies, now at Princeton University. He completed a PhD in mathematical logic, analysing the notion of 'intuition' in mathematics and introducing the idea of oracular computation, now fundamental in mathematical recursion theory. An 'oracle' is an abstract device able to solve mathematical problems too difficult for the universal Turing machine. In the summer of 1938 Turing returned to his Fellowship at King's. When WWII started in 1939 he joined the wartime headquarters of the Government Code and Cypher School (GCandCS) at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire. Building on earlier work by Polish cryptanalysts, Turing contributed crucially to the design of electro-mechanical machines ('bombes') used to decipher Enigma, the code by means of which the German armed forces sought to protect their radio communications. Turing's work on the version of Enigma used by the German navy was vital to the battle for supremacy in the North Atlantic. He also contributed to the attack on the cyphers known as 'Fish'. Based on binary teleprinter code, Fish was used during the latter part of the war in preference to morse-based Enigma for the encryption of high-level signals, for example messages from Hitler and other members of the German High Command. It is estimated that the work of GCandCS shortened the war in Europe by at least two years. Turing received the Order of the British Empire for the part he played. In 1945, the war over, Turing was recruited to the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in London, his brief to design and develop an electronic computer - a concrete form of the universal Turing machine. Turing's report setting out his design for the Automatic Computing Engine (ACE) was the first relatively complete specification of an electronic stored-program general-purpose digital computer. Delays beyond Turing's control resulted in NPL's losing the race to build the world's first working electronic stored-program digital computer - an honour that went to the Royal Society Computing Machine Laboratory at Manchester University, in June 1948. Discouraged by the delays at NPL, Turing took up the Deputy Directorship of the Royal Society Computing Machine Laboratory in that year. Turing was a founding father of modern cognitive science and a leading early exponent of the hypothesis that the human brain is in large part a digital computing machine, theorising that the cortex at birth is an 'unorganised machine' which through 'training' becomes organised 'into a universal machine or something like it'. He also pioneered Artificial Intelligence. Turing spent the rest of his short career at Manchester University, being appointed to a specially created Readership in the Theory of Computing in May 1953. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in March 1951 (a high honour). In March 1952 he was prosecuted for his homosexuality, then a crime in Britain, and sentenced to a period of twelve months hormone 'therapy'. From 1951 Turing worked on what would now be called Artificial Life, using the Ferranti Mark I computer to model aspects of biological growth, in particular a chemical mechanism by which the genes of a zygote could determine the anatomical structure of the resulting animal or plant. He died in the midst of this groundbreaking work.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent edition, long overdue.......2005-10-25

Enjoy this profound book by the father of the Digital Age. The Essential Turing is an excellent edition and long overdue. Turing's essential works are finally available in a single volume. Turing is one of the most important thinkers of the 20th century--he was rated up there with Einstein in Time magazine's 'The Century's Greatest Minds'. Copeland's lucid commentaries on Turing's work are fascinating and helpful. OUP is to be congratulated on putting Turing into the hands of the popular science book-buyer at long last.

a long overdue book.......2005-09-12

A long overdue book. Copeland collects together Turing's greatest papers. As in where Turing tackled the fundamentals of what is now called a Turing machine - ie. a universal computer. Plus other papers where Turing ruminated on artificial intelligence, and founded that field. Plus coming up with the Turing Test for AI.

Turing's papers are interleaved with chapters by Copeland that give extra context to the times in which Turing lived. Notably on Turing's crucial contribution to the Enigma project at Bletchley Park during World War 2. It is no exaggeration to say that his insight into decoding the German encryptions saved the lives of thousands of Allied soldiers.

Valuable also is a reprinting of Turing's "Treatise on the Enigma", which was only declassified in 1996. Though by then, its essence had been known for decades. Finally, the book lets you read Turing's words on Enigma.

Most Accessible Introduction to Turing.......2005-08-22

This is a terrific book. Turing is one of the most important figures of our time. Copeland's lucid and helpful introductions to Turing's key works make fascinating reading. (The hundreds of footnotes are testimony to the depth of scholarship that underlies Copeland's smooth prose.) Copeland makes Turing, and so the origins of the digital age, accessible to all.

A valuable addition in paraphrasing Turing.......2005-03-22

Copeland's "Essential Turing" reviews Turning's major writings and is a valuable source of knowledge for computer scientists and avid CS/Mathematics readers alike. Turing was a brilliant British mathematician, logician, and cryptographer and is widely considered to be the father of computer science. This book doesn't portray him merely as a code breaker but also provides commentary on his brilliant foundation work as on Artificial intelligence. Discussion on the ultimate Turing test (proposal for a test of a machine's capability to perform human-like conversation) and Entscheidungs Problem is worth reading.

I shelve this book next to Knuth's "The Art of Computer Programming" which may state what it's worth.

A collection of Turing's papers.......2005-03-01

Copeland's book is basically a collection of some of Turing's original papers, completed with a short introduction for each part of the book. I was disappointed by this book as (1) one can easily find copies of Turing's work on the web, (2) there is very little additional value in Copeland's comments, and (3) the papers are not reproduced in their original typeset and layout. Elsevier's "Collected Works of A. M. Turing" (4 volumes) does a much better job and offers Turing's complete work.

Thinking on the Web: Berners-Lee, Gödel and Turing

Average customer rating:

more about AI instead of semantic web
Good Introduction to Semantic Web Concepts
progress towards the Semantic Web
Machine Intelligence presented intelligently
Maybe the Web will be able to "think" some day. You decide.

Thinking on the Web: Berners-Lee, Gödel and Turing
H. Peter Alesso , and Craig F. Smith
Manufacturer: Wiley-Interscience
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The Semantic Web: A Guide to the Future of XML, Web Services, and Knowledge Management

ASIN: 0471768146

Book Description

Provides valuable insight into the progress and direction of development of the World Wide Web and its likely future applications in science and business.
Reviews the prospects for the Web to develop intelligent services (such as online businesses, games, purchases, new search capabilities, and accessibility to trustworthy information).
Offers a view for thinking about thinking on the Web.
The companion website offers access to supplemental text, specialized information, additional examples, demos, tools reference material, and advanced applications.

Customer Reviews:

more about AI instead of semantic web.......2007-05-12

I look for a book to learn semantic web, but this one is more about AI. First 70 pages are history ,story of logic, thinking and ...
If you want to learn something proparly don't buy this book.
The only good thing I found is that it is 260 pages and not more than 300 pages

Good Introduction to Semantic Web Concepts.......2006-12-22

The book is a good introduction to the concepts underlying the Semantic Web, and this is why I give it a good rating. But beware, if you are already familiar with taxonomies, ontologies, and inference engines, you are unlikely to learn anything new from reading this book. It is really targeted at more casual readers, IMHO.

On the annoying side, the authors constantly repeat themselves. Many paragraphs seem to be repeated word for word not just two but often three times throughout the book. I guess it is an effective way to ingrain the newly acquired information in one's brain, but it is also a waste of time. Another annoying thing is the number of typos in this text. I do not think I have seen that many typos in a book, ever. Even worse, many of these typos are of the kind that could have been detected easily by a spellchecker. Somebody at Wiley did not do his job. Hopefully, the errors in this book are all of the typo kind and not semantical...

progress towards the Semantic Web.......2006-11-30

The authors give us a lucid view of the future of the Web. The Semantic Web, as named by Berners-Lee. Interspersed in the narrative are the views of Godel and Turing. Two giants whose writings and forecasts are still relevant. Indeed, one aim of the book is to demonstrate this relevance to the modern reader.

The other objective of the book is to show what progress has been made towards the Semantic Web. The problem of how to write meaning into the next Web is indeed very hard. But the book shows intermediate steps, like RDF and how to make ontologies. Understand that the book does not conclude with the goal of inscribing meaning fully achieved. Still, you can understand how far we have come.

Machine Intelligence presented intelligently.......2006-11-02

I liked this book. It actually had three distinctive features: First, the general presentation of the pioneers Berners-Lee, Godel and Turing with the key questions they posed was well done. Second, the chapters on ontology engineering, RDF, and OWL were instructive and had good examples. I found the chapters on semantic search and semantic services particularly interesting. Third, the interludes consisted of several pages of debate in-between chapters.

I particularly enjoyed the interludes - these short debates between two fictitious characters crystallized many issues dealing with AI, thinking and intelligence as they emerged from the chapter material. They were presented with humor and high spirits, but the arguments seemed well-founded and balanced. They included amusing backdrops, such as, the characters playing a chess match while discussing the tournament between Gary Kasparov and IBM's Deep Blue computer.

Maybe the Web will be able to "think" some day. You decide........2006-10-30

Although the target audience for this book is most likely comprised of computer science students, those well versed in computer science, IT type professionals and anyone with a vested interest in remaining on the leading edge of Web capabilities, it is my opinion that even a casual reader will benefit from reading this book. Because this book makes one aware of the current Web limitations and describes how it could be significantly more than what it is today and then launch us into the real Information Revolution. Yes, according to the authors we have not yet experienced the full Information Revolution.

This book makes you think about thinking or at least the thinking process as it relates to instilling the Web with enough artificial intelligence (AI) to make it capable of thinking. I learned from this book that the Web, as it is currently structured, it not really very intelligent at all and there are many enhancements that have to be made to bring the Web to its full potential. Those who are in any way interested in the Web achieving its full potential will be well served by reading this book.

The authors take on a sizable task and do an excellent job of interweaving the philosophical with the technical aspects of AI as a driver and/or incremental part of enabling the Web to "think". The authors start from the beginning and bring us up to the current status of web thinking. The beginning here is literally from Aristotle and along the way they spend considerable time laying a foundation that includes the significant contributions of Berners-Lee, Gödel, and Turing. After the first part of the book establishes the foundation, the second part of the book becomes very technical (as you would expect) focusing on Web ontology and logic and a lot more to address the complex superstructure that will be required to establish thinking on the Web.

One aspect of this book that I found refreshing and I believe unique for a technical book are the interludes at the end of each chapter. These interludes are a running interaction/dialogue between two computer science students as they debate/discuss the feasibility of using AI applications, etc. to make the Web capable of thinking. These interludes are refreshing to read and give a real life perspective of how daunting the task is to make thinking on the Web possible. And, indeed will we all ever agree on what thinking on the Web really means and if it is ever fully achieved? My opinion after reading this book is that there will probably not ever be a unanimous agreement. Of course, you will have to judge for yourself.

I gave this book five stars because I really learned a lot, and some of what I learned was more than I bargained for, a real surprise. The authors did a thorough job, and the book stimulates a lot of thinking about something we take for granted --- and that is thinking. Enjoy the book and when you read it, expect to be challenged.

Click Here for Murder (A Turing Hopper Mystery)

Average customer rating:

Click Here for A Great Computer...
Setient computer solves another crime!
Click Here For Vapid Novels
Enjoyable computer tale with a few loose ends
Fun and intelligenct mystery

Click Here for Murder (A Turing Hopper Mystery)
Donna Andrews
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0425195295
Release Date: 2004-04-06

Book Description

Artificial intelligence meets Miss Marple in the Agatha Award-winning series.

From the award-winning author of You've Got Murder--an all-new mystery featuring Turing Hopper, an almost-sentient mainframe computer with a mind like Miss Marple and hardware that hides a suspiciously human heart.

Customer Reviews:

Click Here for A Great Computer..........2004-05-07

"Click Here for Murder" is Donna Andrews' second novel, which features Turing Hopper...who is a computer. Well, not JUST a computer, but an AIP (Artificial Intelligence Personality), who solves crimes.

When Ray Santiago is murdered and his laptop disappears, Maude, Tim, and Turing are frantic. Not only are they grieving over the death of their newest member, but apprehensively they must discover how much information has been revealed. As they delve deeper into the mystery, they begin to discover that their co-worker had a few mysteries of his own.

Although I enjoyed the first book, "You've Got Murder," a little more - I really thought that Claudia was a great addition. However, the dual personality with Turing was a little creepy. Overall, I think that most readers would like this series, however.

Setient computer solves another crime!.......2004-04-15

Turing Hopper is a great protagonist. Because she is an Artificial Intelligence Personality (AIP) who is sentient, she gets help from her friends Tim Pincoski and Maude Graham.

Their employee Ray Santiago is killed. They begin to investigate. Unfortunately they end up with more questions than answers. They soon discover that Ray wasn't exactly who he presented himself to be. Plus they can't find his laptop and are concerned that if it fell into the wrong hands, their entire computer security system could be breached. Many things begin to happen. And they discover that Ray was deeply involved in role playing games. They log in to play the computer game only to find it more sinister than they would expect him to be involved with. Then they become aware of the live-action role playing game that goes along with the computer game. It seems that Ray played that too, possibly even the night he was killed. Could this have anything to do with his murder?

Can they find the missing laptop and discover who killed Ray and why before someone else is killed or their computer system is breached?

This is a terrific series. What a unique protagonist. Ms. Andrews has written it so well that you truly believe a computer could do this. The way she uses Tim and Maude to assist her seems so natural. The many things that happen and the way the story twists and turns keeps your interest to the point of finding it hard to put down the book.

She also does a great job of telling the story without using a lot of unrecognizable technical jargon. Computer enthusiast or not, I believe you will enjoy this book.

This is the second in the series and I can't wait to read the third. I highly recommend this book and its predecessor You've Got Murder. They are a fast read with a story that will keep you guessing.

Click Here For Vapid Novels.......2004-02-17

I read the two books by Donna Andrews about the adventures of Turing Hopper, the AI detective, "You've Got Murder" and "Click Here For Murder". These two books are written as shallowly and simplistically as any Nancy Drew or Tom Swift adventure.

Adventures they are, however, so, if naive, juvenile, straightforward prose and univocal storytelling, style and plot is what you are looking for, these two books are worthy of your time. I recommended both of them to my fifteen year old daughter.

I admire that the author produced these two books and is evidently working on yet a third. She is an ardent writer, brimming with energy. Very likely, she won't stop at three or even four installments. She will continue to owe special thanks to "all the readers who, like (her own protagonists,) Maude and Tim, didn't have any problem believing that Turing was real." I daresay I will continue not to number among them.

Enjoyable computer tale with a few loose ends.......2003-07-13

When one of her staff members is killed, artificial intelligence personality Turing Hopper suspects that she may also be a target. The only clues are the role-playing game that the victim spent so much time playing, and his strange lack of a true identity. Turing assigned her two friends to find out more about the game and more about what Ray Santiago did before he became Ray Santiago and joined her company. What she doesn't expect is that she'll be sending her friends into danger--or that Santiago's killers just might be a threat for a bright artificial intelligence--like her.

Author Donna Andrews does an excellent job making computer crime approachable, using non-technical language and humanizing her computer-program protagonist (as well as providing a couple of very human sidekicks). Turing's concerns about turning into HAL (from 2001) and worries about following the law and respecting privacy add to reader safety. The role-playing game that Andrews describes is also believable, even as it spills out from the computer into the real-world of Washington D.C. Andrews is a skilled writer and provides a page-turning thrill-ride.

Although I liked Turing (despite her occasional descents into self-appraisal, I found sidekick Maude a little harder to like. Her moonlighting for Turing's company sounded unethical to me. Worse, she didn't seem to hesitate to shoot to kill, even when she wasn't fully aware of the situation. Nor did she seem to suffer any ethical consequences after she'd actually killed. The hints at the use of games for pedophilia also struck an incongruous note. Although this was an important justification for Santiago's initial involvement, Andrews should either have made this a bigger element or left it out.

CLICK HERE FOR MURDER isn't a perfect story, but it is a well written and entertaining adventure. The use of an artificial intelligence character creates an enjoyable alternate spin to the usual mystery novel and Andrews develops this story line convincingly, in a way that will be enjoyable both to computer professionals and to those who remain a bit concerned about the role of computers in our lives.

Fun and intelligenct mystery.......2003-06-30

ýClick Here for Murderý is the second book in a new series featuring Turig Hopper, an Artificial Intelligence Personality. In this installment, a talented system engineer that is working on creating a secure new ýhomeý for Turig is murdered. As Turig and coworkers / friends decide to look into Rayýs murder, they discover that Ray Santiago does not really exist. Not only is the group concerned about how well they knew Ray, his access to the passwords that could shut Turig down introduces a new urgency to solving the crime.

Assisted by Maude, a coworker at Turigýs birth company, and Tim, a new private detective, Turig discovers that Ray was involved in a virtual reality game that had moved into the physical world as a live action role play. This plot line adds intensity to the story, and smoothes the introduction of a new character, Claudia, a private detective from Florida. After a chase involving a good mix of technology and old fashioned ýwho dun-it,ý the group solves Rayýs murder while setting up the reader nicely for the 3rd entrant in the series.

Donna Andrews does a great job intertwining technology and crime. Turigýs intelligence allows for a challenging story line, but her nascent personality prevents the book from becoming impersonal. This is a fun read that both mystery lovers and technologists will enjoy, with unique characters that catch the readerýs attention.

The Universal Computer: The Road from Leibniz to Turing
Average customer rating:

formidable marble-eye stare

A Fun Read.

An Excellent Overview

A history of the underlying mathematical concepts

The best popular history of the computer as logic engine

The Universal Computer: The Road from Leibniz to Turing
Martin Davis
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Computers Ltd.: What They Really Can't Do (Popular Science)

ASIN: 0393047857

Amazon.com

Computers rely on such things as semiconductors, memory chips, and electricity. But they also rely on a hard-won body of scientific knowledge that has enabled the now-ubiquitous devices to perform complex calculations, multitask, and even play a game of solitaire.

Martin Davis, a fluent interpreter of mathematics and philosophy, locates the source of this knowledge in the work of the remarkable German thinker G. W. Leibniz, who, among other accomplishments, was a distinguished jurist, mining engineer, and diplomat but found time to invent a contraption called the "Leibniz wheel," a sort of calculator that could carry out the four basic operations of arithmetic. Leibniz subsequently developed a method of calculation called the calculus raciocinator, an innovation his successor George Boole extended by, in Davis's words, "turning logic into algebra." (Boole emerges as a deeply sympathetic character in Davis's pages, rather than as the dry-as-dust figure of other histories. He explained, Davis reports, that he had turned to mathematics because he had so little money as a student to buy books, and mathematics books provided more value for the money because they took so long to work through.) Davis traces the development of this logic, essential to the advent of "thinking machines," through the workshops and studies of such thinkers as Georg Cantor, Kurt Gödel, and Alan Turing, each of whom puzzled out just a little bit more of the workings of the world--and who, in the bargain, made the present possible. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

One of the world's pioneers in the development of computer science offers a mesmerizing history of computers. Computers are everywhere today--at work, in the bank, in artist's studios, sometimes even in our pockets--yet they remain to many of us objects of irreducible mystery. How can today's computers perform such a bewildering variety of tasks if computing is just glorified arithmetic? The answer, as Martin Davis lucidly illustrates, lies in the fact that computers are essentially engines of logic. Their hardware and software embody concepts developed over centuries by logicians such as Leibniz, Boole, and Godel, culminating in the amazing insights of Alan Turing. The Universal Computer traces the development of these concepts by exploring with captivating detail the lives and work of the geniuses who first formulated them. Readers will come away with a revelatory understanding of how and why computers work and how the algorithms within them came to be.

Customer Reviews:

formidable marble-eye stare.......2006-06-07

A very fun read chalk full of and lively interesting personal and biographical information on some of the greatest logicians and mathematicians to have ever lived (e.g. Godel, Hilbert, Boole).

If you're interested in the history of computation theory (computational logic) and even mathematical logic more generally, this book is highly recommended. Davis himself was part of that history by making contributions, e.g., to the Entscheidungsproblem (decision problem).

At the same time, he does not skimp on technical details and explanations, though some of the more technical are often relegated to lengthy endnotes, and so most of these are easily skipped, if desired, without loss of continuity.

A fun read!

A Fun Read........2003-09-20

An entertaining book that will be enjoyed by anyone interested in mathematical logic or computation theory. Davis weaves history, anecdote, and mathematics into an exciting sketch of the major developments in mathematical logic and their role in the development of the computer. He does a commendable job in explaining the mathematics in an accessible fashion, without distorting it by over-simplification. A good book for people new to the field as well as those already familiar with these stories.

An Excellent Overview.......2003-07-02

I thought that this book was an excellent overview of the development of logical thought and it's relevance to the modern computer. Davis does a superior job of energizing a subject that is admittedly a little dull. I found myself rereading several of the sections to try to better understand some of the math involved, but overall, I think Davis found a nice balance between the complexity of the math and the history of logic. My one serious criticism of the book is that I found the chronology to be tough to follow, and I often found myself referring back to previous chapters to try and get a better sense of when events were happening. It is natural to assume that a book like this is presented in chronological fashion. The Universal Computer generally is presented that way, but there are some events that happen more or less simultaneously. This is important to the overview of the history of the field. I think the book could actually use a graphical timeline with the birth dates of the mathematicians and the significant events (i.e. 1902 - Russell's letter to Frege, etc.) that are involved. Other than that, the book is informative and enjoyable for those interested in the origins of the modern computer.

A history of the underlying mathematical concepts.......2003-06-12

As a recent college graduate, who earned a B.S. in computer science, I thought this book provided some good background information on the people who worked to discover the underlying principles of automated mathematics implemented in a machine. The book was, for the most part, not terribly difficult to follow and gave more insight on the actual history of the individual people and times than I thought it might. Nevertheless, the individual histories, and time context put the points being made into a better framework. Not a long book, I recommend this to the more intellectual type, rather than an occasional reader.

The best popular history of the computer as logic engine.......2003-03-19

While most of us consider computers to be some special silicon in a white box, they are in fact machines that execute rules in applied logic. For this reason, the history of computing has two tracks. The first is the hardware track, which generally starts with Charles Babbage and progresses through the recent advances in integrated circuits. One chapter of the book traces the historical development of computer hardware, starting with the Jacquard loom and moving up to the modern personal computer. The second is the history of logic that can be mechanically applied, which is the primary focus of this book.
Once again, the mathematics largely predates the applications. It is amazing how mathematicians develop mathematical structures that initially have no applications and then after some time, something appears that requires that form of mathematics. To me, it is nothing sort of amazing that Alan Turing invented an abstract universal computer long before any of the physical counterparts existed. No one has ever been able to substantially improve on his Turing machines and it is widely believed that they cannot be improved. This theme permeates the book and Davis does a very good job in presenting all of the advances in a historical context.
The contributions of Leibniz, Boole, Frege, Cantor, Hilbert, Godel and Turing are all described in detail, and it is clear how one person's work was built using that done by their predecessors. Other people noted include Bertrand Russell, Leopold Kronecker, and Albert Einstein.
This is the best popular history of the development of the computer viewed as a logic engine. I strongly recommend it as a book for courses in the history of mathematics and computing.

You've Got Murder (A Turing Hopper Mystery)

Average customer rating:

Turing Forever!
Fun and fascinating
Geek-approved!
A pretty good SF-mystery. 3.3 stars
Great idea; weak execution

You've Got Murder (A Turing Hopper Mystery)
Donna Andrews
Manufacturer: Berkley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0425189457
Release Date: 2003-04-01

Book Description

Turing Hopper is an Artificial Intelligence Personality, a mainframe computer with a mind like Miss Marple. And when her creator, Zack, begins missing work, the sentient Turing senses foul play...

Customer Reviews:

Turing Forever!.......2007-04-29

Turing Hopper is similar to many people: She feels happy. She feels sad. She has a very keen mind and a quick wit. However, Turing never has to eat, or sleep and can literally accomplish a million tasks at once: Turing Hopper is a computer program or more specifically, an Artificial Intelligence Personality (AIP). Programs that seem so lifelike that you would swear you were speaking to a human being. Turing believes that she is achieving sentience except that instead of flesh and bone, her body is the computer. She lives with the other AIP's at Universal Library where patrons can access them from home to discuss politics, seek advice, play chess, etc.

When Turing's creator Zack abruptly goes missing, Turing enlists her two friends Maude and Tim (who also believe Turing is sentient) to help her find Zack. Turing also enlists King Fisher (the chess AIP) in her search. With a mind programmed with every mystery Universal Library ever owned, her closest AIP ally, and her two equally intelligent (and able-bodied) friends, Turing is determined to find Zack and bring him back alive.

I think this is a unique book and a unique series. As a person with a disability, I feel a kinship with Turing. She is learning how to function in her "body," sometimes feeling frustrated that she is not able to do everything that she would like to, but reveling in the fact that she is able to be aware of the world around her and participate in it as much as she can.

Fun and fascinating.......2007-02-21

I'm not a geek, but I've worked around computers for nearly 30 years, so, if an author doesn't know a microprocessor from a microwave, I find the rest of his/her story hard to swallow. Andrews clearly has done her homework, and she knows enough about AI to create a plausible "heroine" that doesn't strain credibility, so I enjoyed that aspect of the book thoroughly. The human characters are a mixed bag: Turing's two co-conspirators are well done (of course, we see more of their thoughts than the other characters'). But "X," as she refers to him in the preface, was forced by the plot to behave inconsistently; although the author offers a plausible explanation for that, it's just as well that she got rid of him before writing any sequels. The subtext of the book is how interconnected our computer systems are, and how much it's possible for an unscrupulous user to manipulate data -- and that's thought-provoking in this age of identity theft. It's a fun read, but not merely a romp.

Geek-approved!.......2006-08-01

As a longtime computer geek (since the 70s), I usually have to wince (sometimes a LOT - don't read Dan Brown's Digital Fortress if you're even the slightest bit geeky) at most of the fiction-with-computers-in I run across.

Finally, I can relax and enjoy a well-drawn and really damn plausible AIP. Ahhh....

Can't wait to read the rest of the series!

A pretty good SF-mystery. 3.3 stars.......2006-05-19

________________________________________________
This is a pretty good sfnal mystery. Turing Hopper is an emergently-sentient Artificial Intelligence who was designed to be a customer-service rep. It's a neat idea, but not all that well-executed. Turing spends an awful lot of time in interior monologues, which get pretty old by the middle of the book. The mystery maguffin, a financial corrupt-takeover plot, is crude and implausible, and the villains are purest, sneering cardboard.

On the plus side, Turing and her sidekicks, a senior secretary and an office-boy, are charming and pretty well-rounded. Turing's efforts to prod her fellow AI's towards sentience are clever and fun. The tone of the book wobbles uneasily from Cozy to trying for Deeper Significance. The book does come to a satisfying conclusion, with hooks for sequels.

Overall, I was mildly pleased by _You've Got Murder_, though from the comments here, I was expecting something better. Turing falls in the mid-range of SF AIs, for quality and plausibility. A "C" book, in my judgment. Perhaps the sequels are better?

Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman

Great idea; weak execution.......2004-07-22

As a mystery fan, I love the idea behind You've Got Murder - an Artificial Intelligence Personality (AIP) as detective. Turing Hopper, the AIP in question, is sentient enough to realize something is wrong when her programmer, Zack, goes missing. Enlisting the help of two human friends, she uses her considerable computing power to solve his disappearance. Like I say, this is a fresh idea, the author has a talent with words, and Turing and her friends are likeable characters. But to enjoy fiction, you must be willing to suspend disbelief. Too often in this book, I found myself thinking, "Naw, this is nonsense." Authors should not try to fake what they don't really know.

ACM Turing Award Lectures : The First Twenty Years : 1966 to 1985 (ACM Press Anthology Series)

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ACM Turing Award Lectures : The First Twenty Years : 1966 to 1985 (ACM Press Anthology Series)

Manufacturer: Assn for Computing Machinery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0201077949

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