Computer and Science Books

This book provides an excellent framework for understanding chaotic systems, whether for the novice or the experienced fractal scientist. The diagrams in particular helped elucidate the concepts presented. Science made simple without being dummed down - well done!

This is a nice little book whose target audience is high school students, beginning undergraduates, and science teachers. Using many examples , Devaney leads the reader through ideas of iteration and dynamical system. The latter half of the book deals with the connection between chaos and the science of fractals. The readers are encouraged to explore the various facets of chaos and fractals using simple computer programs (many sample source codes are peppered throughout the book). In addition to the book, there is a couple of companion video tapes that are also highly instructive and serve as good introduction to chaos and fractals. The first video, Chaos, Fractals and Dynamics, bears the same name as the book and brings to life many of the examples mentioned in the book in a manner that is not possible via the static book format. The visual highlight occurs when Devaney shows beautiful animations of the Julia set. If this doesn't get the students excited, I don't know what will! The second video, Transition to Chaos, describes the period-doubling approach to chaos using the now standard quadratic map. There is a nice discussion about the relationship between the period-doubling bifurcation and the Mandelbrot and Julia sets.

This book reconstructs the time period between 1965 and 1991 and recaptures what it was like to be a part of the collection of researchers, programmers, secretaries, students, and artists, who played a part in creating what is now called Geographic Information Systems (GIS). It is really the story of architect Howard Fisher who, while at Northwestern University, conceived of the idea of using digital computers for mapping in the graphics domain of software programming. It presumes to be about the Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis, but more importantly it is about the people who populated the Laboratory. The author not only identified and connected the dots...he identified thousands of additional dots representing people and events and connected all of these to each other and to the major dots!! This obviously was a system project to synthesize all of the known elements during 1965-1991....

This is an authentic, highly accurate, and exquisitely analytical historical account of the evolution of the Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis which was located organizationally in the Graduate School of Design and incorporated architecture and community planning. The author has devoted considerable time and effort to rummage through numerous boxes and files of documents, videos and records, and to conduct many interviews with the individuals to verify the elements of his story. One can conclude that the volume is based on fact and has not relied simply on human memory and anecdotal evidence....

Chapter 1 follows Howard Fisher as he assembled the coalition of alliances that brought the Laboratory into being in 1965. It provides some context for other university centers of innovation where computer mapping and geographic information systems were under construction in the same period....

Chapter 2 describes the development of SYMAP (SYnagraphic MAPping), the software that served as the primary focus for Fisher's efforts. By 1970 Jack Dangermond, a graduate student of landscaping architecture, had utilized SYMAP to produce a number of regional air pollution studies. This work was to lead later to his creation of the Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) which was eventually destined to become a leader in GIS.....

Chapter 3 examines the efforts of Laboratory staff to use computer tools for environmental planning, leading away from SYMAP toward a set of grid-based analytical software. These efforts included examining environmental planning concepts developed at other universities including the University of Wisconsin (Phillip Lewis) and Pennsylvania State University (Ian McHarg). McHarg's text, "Design With Nature" was considered as one of the foundations of subsequent GIS practice; (Note: The reviewer met Professor McHarg later in 1983 when he was invited to Sedona, Arizona, for discussions on community planning for the proposed City, and was aware at that time of his contributions at the Harvard Laboratory.). An outgrowth of the Delmarva Project (Carl Steinitz) was GRID (David Sinton) made available by 1969; this software also used FORTRAN subroutines and eventually led to IMGRID to be followed by MAP (Map Analysis Package). One must keep in mind that computer systems were being modified and expanded affording the researchers at Harvard opportunities to redesign these experimental software programs to fit into the new operating system configurations....

Chapter 4 covers the theoretical realms of spatial analysis developed under the leadership of William Warntz. Considerable attention is given to theoretical geography as it evolved at the Laboratory, including the fact that the University had years earlier abolished the Department of Geography! Geography had returned to Harvard with a mathematical 'division of sets' underpinning called The Sandwich Theorem. In 1968 GRASP (Generation of Random Access Site Plans) was created by Eric Teicholz depicting architectural floor plans using vector graphics displayed on hardcopy plotter output and graphics screens. This led to OTOTROL, COMPROGRAPH, and ARK-2 There was a great interest in creating software packages which could generate architectural applications softwre with a strong mathematical emphasis....

Chapter 5 explores the developments made possible by expanding computer display beyond the line printer. The early Laboratory rose to about 40 staff around 1970 and declined to six by 1972. One of the better known participants was Ivan Sutherland hired as Associate Professor in Electrical Engineering. His Sketchpad concept for graphics using a lightpen, based on his earlier lightgun effort in SAGE at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, allowed the user interface with mapping programs to be improved. During this period OTOTROL was developed. Subsequently, SYMVU which dealt with 3-dimensional surfaces, evolved largely due to the influence of Frank Rens. Another graphics approach named CALFORM was introduced as well. There was a significant impact from the U.S. Census Bureau's DIME files resulting in a reexamination of topology theory. A little later, ARPANET was utilized and interactivity began to emerge as a significant technique in the time-sharing toolkit. Much of this experimentation relied on newer hardware invented by Tektronix and other engineering firms. The man-machine interface was becoming more prominent despite esentially monocolor screen displays....

Chapter 6 covers the period of transition, decline, and rebuilding. It is essentially a reporting of how technical proposals were written, grants were obtained, experimentation was conducted, results were reported and evaluations occurred, and how this spiral path either went positive or negative. One of the major reasons for Lab decline by 1972 was simply that funding dried up. Many researchers decided that their career paths should take them to other universities to continue their work in spatial analysis and to teach; some entered the world of GIS as illustrated by ESRI (Jack Dangermond) and Caliper (Howard Slavin). A few hung on as budgets shrank working with Allan Schmidt. An expansion of ideas occurred when The Defense Intelligence Agency contracted with the Lab using Kindler Associates as an intermediary since Harvard wouldn't permit any classified (secret) contracts. The Central Intelligence Agency's public domain World Data Banks also were involved in some of these projects. The departures of Fisher and Warntz were also accompanied by a diffusion of staff personnel into other parts of the University and outside. A University Committee published an Evaluation Study in 1974 which eventually would result in a major change in Laboratory direction: the Harvard faculty wanted a Laboratory serving internal requirements and not one oriented to the outside....

Chapter 7 deals with the emergence of a topological approach to cartographic data structures, a development that began the next period for the Laboratory. About this time, the author joined the Laboratory and developed POLYVRT which could easily convert geographic base files. This led to the design for GEOGRAF which was essentially a database manager. This fit nicely into the CODASYL (COnference on DAta SYstems Languages) network database technology. Topological data structures for cartographic products was emphasized. A pilot project, Urban Atlas, based on this for the U.S. Census Bureau's Geography Division was undertaken in 1975. Then the EATDIME processor renamed CYCLONE based on dynamic memory allocation was created which opened the door to much larger projects. A new direction for the Harvard Laboratory had been achieved....

Chapter 8 explores the ODYSSEY system of software produced in the late 1970s. Initial thinking began in 1976 when the author and colleagues used CYCLONE as a starting point to design ODYSSEY. This development continued through 1981 and is described in fairly great detail including flowcharts used to illustrate the strategy. ODYSSEY served as the prototype for the modern geographic information system and is easily understood by readers with an elementary comprehension of topographic mapping and GIS....

Chapter 9 covers the diverse collection of projects and products that occurred alongside the ODYSSEY project. By 1980, the Laboratory was again at a point of great accomplishment and unknown potential, at a peak higher than in 1970. Many products ancillary to ODYSSEY were created including BUILDER for 3D architectural rendering, SEURAT for terrain display, and ARTIST for sketching. Monocolor screens gradually were replaced with color displays which used Tektronix and AED terminals....

Chapter 10 examines the conflicts over the direction of the Laboratory's work and the decline that followed. The commercialization of ODYSSEY is described including a report recommending the entire intellectual property of the Lab be transferred to a for-profit company. The use of the Harvard name became an issue. By 1981 it became clear the Lab was changing and departures were prominent....

Chapter11 describes the final period of the Laboratory and its disappearance in 1991. The Lab was to continue for 10 years operating at a modest level of performance mainly in research. Very quietly in June 1991 the Laboratory ceased operaton....

Chapter 12 reflects on the lasting aspects of the Laboratory and why it still matters to the science and practice of GIS. The most enduring traces are of the more than 130 people who created the concepts, wrote the programs, debugged the software, and made it all work for more than 25 years. A few have passed away but most continued their careers. They had dedicated their lives and intellectual energy --- they had fallen in love with the Laboratory!! As the Lab faded from view.... the world of GIS began to open.

Each chapter ends with notes on the materials cited in that chapter. A complete bibliography appears at the end of the volume. An accompanying CD contains movies produced by Laboratory staff and recent interviews with some who were associated with the Laboratory....

It is reading recommended for community and urban planners, geographers, map-makers, GIS users, and architects and should be mandatory for students enrolled in GIS curriculums....

Leonard C. Silvern
Systems Engineering Laboratories
Clarkdale AZ

Nick Chrisman has preformed an important service for the geospatial community with this book. It is a very compelling story of early days of the development of GIS and computer cartography. This is the story of the Harvard Lab but Nick makes it abundantly clear that the events at the Harvard Lab were not the only things going on with computers and maps at the time. He gives credit where credit is due and does a good job of giving the impression of the intellectual ferment of the times, with important ideas and insights coming many people, from freshman to senior scientists. It must have been wonderful to have been a part of such an event/place/process. I hope that this book is widely read by the GIS community, but I think it also is an important addition to the literature of the history of science and technology.

The story of the decline and end of the Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis provides insight into campus politics and the debate over the role of a university in commercialization of intellectual property.

Non-technical users of computer technology are pleased and often surprised at the incredible advances that continue to be achieved in processor speed and memory capacity, and at the ever-shrinking prices of computer systems and components. What isn't well known to the general public is that this progress is made in accordance with Moore's Law, which states that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits must double every 18 months, increasing capacity and speed while reducing manufacturing costs.

Moore's Law is driving the advance of technology at a break-neck pace, and few insiders believe that it will be repealed anytime soon. Since it was enacted in 1965, Moore's Law has been a benefit to consumers but often a headache to computer chip manufacturers, who have been arguing for its repeal. Various consortiums and lobbying groups -- with members from industry lights such as Intel, AMD, and IBM -- contend that the pace of innovation demanded by the law is too intense, requires too much research and development expenditure, and commits corporate resources that could more profitably be invested in the development of consumer electronics such as high-definition televisions, phonographs, and celebrity-themed video games.

Consumer advocates insist that Moore's Law should remain in effect so that advanced information technology will be increasingly accessible to the working class. Voices on the right decry Moore's Law as a violation of free-markets principles, insisting that the pace of innovation should be set "by the innovators themselves" (Milton Friedman).

Aspray's book balances the different sides of the issue, showing on the one hand the great benefits that the use of computer systems has provided for the average consumer -- there is one touching story of a crippled Hispanic boy's first mouse-click -- and on the other hand the great strain that is put upon the corporations and individual engineers who must continue to innovate relentlessly (it's horrific when Aspray visits the psychologist at Intel's Santa Clara counseling center and reads some of the stories -- first published here -- of depression, divorce, and suicide.)

Though Aspray makes a commendable effort to be even-handed, it is clear upon reflection that his sympathies lie with the consumers rather than the producers, noting in the book's epilogue that because of the law, the benefits of the information age will reach "even the remotest Inuit tribes and poorest Hmong families".

Anyone looking for an overview of this crucial policy issue will be well served by this volume.

I'm one of those people who knows how to use the internet and computer, yet I find myself with minimum knowledge of how information technology came to be.

Its fascinating reading the stories of monopoly of AT&T or Western Union. I'm only 25 so I wasn't born duing the time of the birth of telecommunications and computer convergence. It felt like I was reading a gossip column. Maybe that sounds demeaning. Anyway, I find this book clear cut and very informative.

When the book was shipped to my office, Iflicked through the covers and frowned as I caught glimpses of legislative "acts" which made me doubtful if I'll ever enjoy this book.

I was about to resign to simply reading news article when I decided to read the preface. Then I said "so that's why it's titled "Chasing Moore's Law."

Overall, I find my reading pleasurable. I take down notes to remember sme important details.

This is the latest book published on information technology. I'm learning immensely. cool!

The service was very good. Sent me the book in good time. The book was just what I had ordered.

Anyone who is taking the Ap Chemistry course and is using the LeMay book must buy this book. This book will help you to figure out every type of question on the Ap Exam. I used this book and got a 5 on the Ap Exam.

This book is one of the pioneer works on the subject, as its publication date shows clearly. Despite its age, it remains as one of the most fascinating introductions to computer chess, and most of the ideas it presents are still valid. Its multiple authors cover all aspects of chess playing, from technical expositions of some of the best programs of that time, to physiological and psychological considerations.

In "A brief history of computer chess tournaments: 1970-1975", we are introduced to the atmosphere of the early tournaments, the diverse friendly matches between US and USSR chess computers, and several US and international championships, with many of the most interesting games fully commented and analyzed.

The next chapter, "Human chess skill" focuses in how does a human player select a move in the game of chess, the role of perception, the search mechanism, visualization, as well as other tipically human aspects such as motivation. Several tests applied to human players ranging from novices to grandmasters are presented and discussed.

After that introspective look at we humans, and our not-so-well understood thought processes, "An introduction to computer chess" begin to shift the focus to the computer, including such basic topics as how to represent the chess board, the moves, the status, how to generate the legal moves, search strategies, position evaluation, so that by the end of the chapter, all necessary foundations are well stablished for the rest of the book.

With Chapter 4, "Chess 4.5 - The Northwestern University chess progam" we begin the most technical part of the book. Here, authors David J. Slate and Lawrence R. Atkin show us with great style the internal workings of their famous chess program, many times world champion, and the one mostly used against IM David Levy for the famous Levy's bet. The details are sufficient to help a lot anyone contemplating the possibility of writing his/her own chess program. Modestly, the authors assume the limitations of their creature, and offer good advice on how it can be incrementally improved.

Chapter 5, "PEASANT: An endgame program for kings and pawns" provides yet another close scrutiny of a chess program, though this time with the important novelty that it is an specialized chess program, one specifically designed for a certain class of very frequent endgames. Monroe Newborn, its author, fully describes the inner workings, and most importantly, produces a set of tests for his program, with commented results.

The next chapter, "Plans, goals, and search strategies for the selection of a move in chess" tries to center on how do human players select good chess moves when having just a few seconds to consider the position (i.e: blitz chess), and then introduces a chess program specifically designed to play speed chess, without recourse to tree searching. This quite intriguing approach more closely mimics the human behaviour, to the point of even producing the same kind of erroneous moves a human player would play at blitz speeds.

As an alternative to the standard alpha-beta search techniques, Larry R. Harris introduces us to "The heuristic search: An alternative to the alpha-beta minimax procedure", where it presents what it considers important pitfalls of that search strategy, fully commented with specific examples, and proposes a new paradigm that addresses each and everyone of them from the start, thus truly directing the search in an intelligent way, as opposed to brute force, so that each aspect of the position can be ascertained as soon as possible, before going to other places in the search tree.

After these mostly technical chapters, in "Man and machine: Chess achievements and chess thinking", professor Eliot Hearst, a member of the Psychology Department at Indiana University, evaluates the present status of computer chess from the perspective of someone very knowledgeable with the game, as he is a rather skilled chess player and columnist. He includes many good practical examples, to make his points even clearer.

The book closes with a number of games played by Chess 4.5 and 4.6 in competitions during 1976, 1977, and 1978, that show a remarkable improvement on the rather pessimistic forecastings most experts agreed upon at that time.

This book shows the state of the art at the end of the 1970's. Though there have been huge changes since then, and tremendous gaps in our understanding have been filled, I still can't recommend this book highly enough. This book was published at the time when the best programs changed over from selective search to brute force. Nowadays we know that brute force is the way to go, but at that time even programmers who were winning tournaments using brute force techniques had little faith in their ultimate viability. The authors's speculation about the roles of search and evaluation is very interesting from the historical perspective.

One chapter of this book is worth the entire price. Slate and Atkins describe Chess 4.5 in one chapter. That chapter remains to this day the best description of an "attack-table" chess engine ever written, though you will need some additional reading to create a modern program on that basis.

This edited book is an excellent addition to any collection of works concerning cities in the electronic age. Each chapter covers topics that provide insight and new ways of examining our ever changing urban environment. The references cited also provide a springboard for further readings on each topic.

This book is excellent reading for both the layperson and the academician.

I have not finished this book quite yet but felt it deserved a quick note to give everyone a "head-up"! If you read any one book today for an insight into where technology is taking us - THIS IS THE ONE! It ties the internet and telecom together and explains in very studied ways where we were 10 or 15 years ago, where we are today, and where we are headed. Technology changes daily, so this book may become somewhat dated quickly, but it will be easy to update.

I started off learning Quantum Computation and Quantum Information by reading Nielsen and Chuang's book in order to do research in my junior year on quantum cyptography. Despite the completeness and popularity of that book, it did not exhibit enough explanation and insights for me to be truly satisfied that quantum computation will truly take flight one day to be implementable in place of classical computation.

Recently, in my preparation for my qualifying exam in Quantum information at MIT, I commenced reading this book. The feeling was like drinking a long cool sip of water after a 10 mile run. In particular, I really like the mathematical rigor of the writers. I have known Kitaev as a clear and careful presentator while I was at CalTech as an undergrad, and this is clearly reflected in his book. I definitely would recommend this book to anyone interested in Quantum computing and quantum information, professionally or amateurishly to buy this book (and no, I was not bribed to give this review in order to pass my quals!).

The book covers classical and quantum algorithms;-- of the 250 or so, pages of text, roughly the first 50 pages are "classical", the rest quantum;-- and indeed the aim of the book is to teach the wonders of the qubit-algorithms. While other books, such as Nielsen-Chuang, serve as (more or less)comprehensive references, the present book (by Kitaev et al) is focussed on complexity. The mathematical prerequisits are minimal, but a reader with some understanding of basic ideas from CS, and from quantum theory (at the level of ch 1 in Nielsen-Chuang), will get more out of Kitaev et al. The book is a translation of a Russian 1999 original, but it is really well done, and nicely updated;-- for example, a handy appendix was added, covering elementary math terms that are used.
The book does a great job in explaining the fundamentals, both at the level of the *intuitive ideas*, as well as the mathematical proofs. The big question is why some qubit-algorithms (such as P Shor's factoring algorithm), are a lot better than classical counterparts(for example polynomial vs exponential), and a reader comes away with a good understanding of this in the end.

It's a great book if you need to know what's driving todays information technology w.r.t. bandwidth and how it can revolutionize the economy.

The IEEE Information Society releases (IEEE Press) releases yet another priceless book which is both historical in nature; yet every bit as current as when Shannon first started published some of his more famous works in the 1940's. This book is unquestionably a "must have" reference book for either communication engineers or mathemeticians who have either a serious, or newly found interest in the topic of "information theory." Shannon's theorems of Channel Capacity and Channel

Coding are studied by EE students worldwide. However, this book is much-much-more. The books 924 pages contain a wide assortment of articles written by this rare genius. Elementary cryptography and analysis of the Entropy of the written language; "communications secrecy" (which is quite honestly outdated by todays standards; but taken into context, the papers were valuable at the time.) Also obscure articles on "game theory" as it applies to the field of "artificial

intelligence" which at the time, he was a pioneer (along with other great minds including Turing, Minsky, etc..) Also, his articles on early computers and automata, and optimizing circuits so as to use less relays, etc.. are also quite interesting... Yes, the man was mortal, and to show that he wasn't all mathemetician, Shannon writes a fascinating article on the physics of JUGGLING.. The book comes with an introductory chapter which contains a somewhat adequate biography, and an interview with OMNI Magazine which was published in 1987.

This is definately a book which should be on the shelf of anyone serious about the subject. Yes, there are much more technical books on the subject. If you have a PhD in EE or mathematics, you might not be impressed... but Shannon's "easy writing style" which differs from some of the "dry" IEEE writings of today makes for an interesting read; if only for remembering history. -S.A. Hoffman, NY-

An extensive compendium of Halloween and otherwise Horror resources on the net.

Many subjects to choose from within this nefarious genre from artistry, to literature, poetry, music, holiday history, superstitions, character origins, psychodrama, multimedia, recipes, online goody recommendations, and costumed fun-eral.

Read by flickering screen and candle light in the gloom of your haunted room, and allow your imagination to transport you to arcane realms for amusement and fright!

Click or Treat provides a smorgasbord of Halloween & Horror, internet-style. Whether you are a budget conscious parent, a paranormal researcher, or someone just surfing for some good sites and laughs you will find something for you in this book. The Internet by its very nature is an ever changing thing but I found very few dead links in Click or Treat and highly recommend this book.

This is a very useful book to help focus on how to develop high performance designs. It is a little dated on the technologies covered but gets the job done. One thing to remember is that microprocessor development methods usually will become ASIC development methods after a number of years and related EDA tool development.

Whether trying to maximize the speed of a standard cell ASIC processor design or minimize the design time of a full custom processor this book describes, in detail, the considerations involved. The authors draw on real-world designs and extensively review several in particular. The book describes the impact on resulting processor performance of pipeline depth, clock tree design, register and latch choice, setup and clock-to-q times, slack passing, dynamic logic, logic design style, richness of standard cell library, wire and transistor sizing, floorplanning and other layout concerns, and the exploitation of process variation.

This book focuses strictly on processor circuit design and does not discuss software design, instruction set architecture, or die size and power issues.