The Computing Universe: A Journey Through A Revolution

Author: Tony Hey

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $51.95 AUD
  • : 9780521150187
  • : Cambridge University Press
  • : Cambridge University Press
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  • : October 2014
  • : 297mm X 210mm
  • : United Kingdom
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  • : books

Special Fields

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  • : Tony Hey
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  • : Paperback
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  • : 004
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  • : 424
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  • : 596 colour illus. 20 tables
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Barcode 9780521150187
9780521150187

Description

Computers now impact almost every aspect of our lives, from our social interactions to the safety and performance of our cars. How did this happen in such a short time? And this is just the beginning ...In this book, Tony Hey and Gyuri Papay lead us on a journey from the early days of computers in the 1930s to the cutting-edge research of the present day that will shape computing in the coming decades. Along the way, they explain the ideas behind hardware, software, algorithms, Moore's Law, the birth of the personal computer, the Internet and the Web, the Turing Test, Jeopardy's Watson, World of Warcraft, spyware, Google, Facebook and quantum computing. This book also introduces the fascinating cast of dreamers and inventors who brought these great technological developments into every corner of the modern world. This exciting and accessible introduction will open up the universe of computing to anyone who has ever wondered where his or her smartphone came from.

Author description

Tony Hey is Vice President of Microsoft Research and has published over 150 research papers on particle physics, computer science and multi-disciplinary eScience. He is the co-author, with Ian Aitchison, of the graduate textbook Gauge Theories in Particle Physics (4th edition) and co-editor of Richard Feynman's Lectures on Computation. He is also co-author of popular science books on quantum mechanics and relativity, The New Quantum Universe and Einstein's Mirror. Most recently, he co-edited The Fourth Paradigm, a book about eScience and the new era of data-intensive science. Gyuri Papay is a senior research fellow at the IT Innovations Centre at Southampton University, UK. His main research interests are high-performance computing, event simulation and numerical algorithms.

Table of contents

1. Beginnings of a revolution; 2. The hardware; 3. The software is in the holes; 4. Programming languages and software engineering; 5. Algorithmics; 6. Mr. Turing's amazing machines; 7. Moore's Law and the silicon revolution; 8. Computing gets personal; 9. Computer games; 10. Licklider's intergalactic computer network; 11. Weaving the World Wide Web; 12. The dark side of the Web; 13. Artificial intelligence and neural networks; 14. Machine learning and natural-language processing; 15. The end of Moore's Law; 16. The third age of computing; 17. Computers and science fiction - an essay.