Archaeology of algorithmic artefacts / David Link.
Publisher: Minneapolis : Univocal, 2016Description: 207 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 23 cm cmContent type: text | still image | text Media type: unmediated | unmediated Carrier type: volume | volume001: 41736ISBN: 1937561046 (pbk.) :; 9781937561048 (pbk.) :Subject(s): Algorithms | PhilosophyDDC classification: 518.1 LIN| Item type | Current library | Collection | Call number | Copy number | Status | Date due | Barcode | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Book | MAIN LIBRARY Book | 518.1 LIN (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | 1 | Available | 100502 |
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| 516 HEI Geometry civilized: history | 516.1 CON Symmetries of things / | 516.57 CRE Elements of projective geometry 3rd ed | 518.1 LIN Archaeology of algorithmic artefacts / | 519 DIC Statistical mapping 2nd ed | 520 DIC Out of this world | 520 HEY The astronomy book. |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
As historical processes increasingly become steeped in technology, it becomes more necessary for a discipline to emerge that is capable of comprehending these materialities to better understand the fields they inundate such as science, art, and warfare. This effort is further compromised by the inherent complexity and complete arbitrariness of technical languages--especially when they are algorithmic--along with the rapid pace in which they become obsolete, unintelligible, or simply forgotten. The Turing Machine plays a central role in the Archaeology of Algorithmic Artefacts, wherein the gradual developments of the individual components encompassed by this complex technology are placed within the context of engineering sciences and the history of inventions. This genealogy also traces the origin of the computer in mathematics, meta-mathematics, combinatorics, cryptology, philosophy, and physics. The investigations reveal that the history of apparatuses that process signs is in no way limited to the second half of the twentieth century; rather, it is possible they existed at all times and in all cultures.
Reviews provided by Syndetics
CHOICE Review
The computer age is barely 75 years old, but its original artifacts--both hardware and software--have largely disappeared. In this work, which is really a collection of papers, Link, a researcher and artist, sets out to understand the functionality of the machines and programs that existed during the early years of the computer age. This reviewer was intrigued by several discussions related to the author's investigation. For example, the description of Christopher Strachey's 1951 checkers playing program is particularly interesting not only for the algorithm aspect, but also for the need to comprehend the hardware in order to decipher how the program could run. Another interesting topic is the discussion pertaining to the Polish Bomba, an early machine that helped solve the Enigma code. More outré is an attempt to discover how medieval adepts used a mechanical device and a procedure based on poetry to tell fortunes. Aficionados of computing history will find this book very appealing; however, these same individuals may find some of the philosophizing rather sophomoric. Summing Up: Recommended. Researchers and faculty only. --Paul Cull, Oregon State UniversityThere are no comments on this title.