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Most people are baffled by how computers
work and assume that they will never understand them. What
they don't realize -- and what Daniel Hillis's short book
brilliantly demonstrates -- is that computers' seemingly
complex operations can be broken down into a few simple
parts that perform the same simple procedures over and over
again. Computer wizard Hillis offers an easy-to-follow explanation
of how data is processed that makes the operations of a
computer seem as straightforward as those of a bicycle.
Avoiding technobabble or discussions of
advanced hardware, the lucid explanations and colorful anecdotes
in The Pattern on the Stone go straight to the heart
of what computers really do. Hillis proceeds from an outline
of basic logic to clear descriptions of programming languages,
algorithms and memory. He then takes readers in simple steps
up to the most exciting developments in computing today
-- quantum computing, parallel computing, neural networks,
and self-organizing systems.
Written clearly and succinctly by one of
the world's leading computer scientists, The Pattern
on the Stone is an indispensable guide to understanding
the workings of that most ubiquitous and important of machines:
the computer.
Daniel Hillis is one of the hottest computer
scientists today and designer of the world's fastest computer.
He was cofounder and Chief Scientist of Thinking Machines
Corporation and the principal architect of the company's
major product, the Connection Machine. He is an editor of
several scientific journals, including Artificial Life,
Complexity, Complex Systems, and Future
Generation Computer Systems. He is currently Vice President
and Disney Fellow at Walt Disney Imagineering.
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