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books tagged “information theory”
books tagged “information theory”
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The Bit and the Pendulum: From Quantum Computing to m Theory - The New Physics of Informationby Tom SiegfriedISBN 0471399744 (0-471-39974-4)
Softcover, John Wiley & Sons Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Bit and the Pendulum: From Quantum Computing to m Theory - The New Physics of Information'Book summary:Information, for most of us, is an airy, abstract thing--the stuff of ideas, images, and symbols. But for Tom Siegfried and the scientists he writes about in The Bit and the Pendulum: How the New Physics of Information Is Revolutionizing Science, information has become something much more fundamental to the workings of the world. "Information is real," Siegfried explains. "Information is physical." What that means depends somewhat on the discipline it's applied to (cosmology, particle physics, computer science, cognitive theory, and molecular biology are among the fields examined here), but in general it comes down to the radically simple notion that the universe, at its deepest levels, is made not of matter and energy but of bits. Information is real, yes. But more to the point: reality, in some increasingly meaningful sense, is information.
So goes the argument anyway. And Siegfried, science editor of the Dallas Morning News, does a pretty good job of presenting it. His prose, admittedly, puts the flat in flat-footed, and his explanations of the relevant scientific phenomena (which include cool stuff like teleportation and quantum-mechanical computing) are sometimes murkier than they ought to be. But his knowledge of the last 10 years of theoretical research is sweeping, and he's especially deft with the tricky philosophy-of-science issues that pervade his topic. Have scientists really discovered, in information, the world's true foundation? Or have they simply found a handy new metaphor with which to think about the world? Siegfried wisely comes down on neither side of the question. For him, the power of metaphor is inseparable from the quest for scientific truth. And his book convincingly suggests that information, as a concept, will be generating deep scientific truths for years to come. --Julian Dibbell [via]
More editions of The Bit and the Pendulum: From Quantum Computing to m Theory - The New Physics of Information:
- The Bit and the Pendulum: From Quantum Computing to m Theory - The New Physics of Information: ISBN 0471321745 (0-471-32174-5)
Hardcover, John Wiley & Sons Inc - The Bit and the Pendulum: From Quantum Computing to m Theory - The New Physics of Information: ISBN 0471399744 (0-471-39974-4)
Softcover, John Wiley & Sons Inc
- The Bit and the Pendulum: From Quantum Computing to m Theory - The New Physics of Information: ISBN 0471321745 (0-471-32174-5)
Coding and Information Theoryby Richard W. HammingISBN 0131390724 (0-13-139072-4)
Hardcover, Prentice Hall
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Coding and Information Theoryby Steven RomanISBN 0387978127 (0-387-97812-7)
Hardcover, Springer Verlag
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Coding and Information Theory'Book summary:This book is an introduction to information and coding theory at the graduate or advanced undergraduate level. It assumes a basic knowledge of probability and modern algebra, but is otherwise self- contained. The intent is to describe as clearly as possible the fundamental issues involved in these subjects, rather than covering all aspects in an encyclopedic fashion. The first quarter of the book is devoted to information theory, including a proof of Shannon's famous Noisy Coding Theorem. The remainder of the book is devoted to coding theory and is independent of the information theory portion of the book. After a brief discussion of general families of codes, the author discusses linear codes (including the Hamming, Golary, the Reed-Muller codes), finite fields, and cyclic codes (including the BCH, Reed-Solomon, Justesen, Goppa, and Quadratic Residue codes). An appendix reviews relevant topics from modern algebra. [via]
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Combinatorial Physicsby C.W. Kilmister, Ted BastinISBN 9810222122 (981-02-2212-2)
Hardcover, World Scientific Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Combinatorial Physics'Book summary:The authors aim to reinstate a spirit of philosophical enquiry in physics. They abandon the intuitive continuum concepts and build up constructively a combinatorial mathematics of process. This radical change alone makes it possible to calculate the coupling constants of the fundamental fields which - via high energy scattering - are the bridge from the combinatorial world into dynamics. The untenable distinction between what is "observed", or measure, and what is not, upon which current quantum theory is based, is not needed. If we are to speak of mind, this has to be present - albeit in primitive form - at the most basic level, and not to enter suddenly with observation. There is a growing literature on information-theoretic models for physics, but hitherto the two disciplines have gone in parallel. In this book they interact vitally. [via]
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Complexity, Entropy and the Physics of Informationby Zurek WojciechISBN 0201515091 (0-201-51509-1)
Hardcover, Perseus Books
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Complexity, Entropy and the Physics of Information: The Proceedings of the 1988 Workshop on Complexity, Entropy, and the Physics of Information Heldby Workshop on Complexity, Entropy, and Physics of Information (1989, Wojciech Hubert ZurekISBN 0201515067 (0-201-51506-7)
Softcover, Perseus Books
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The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinkingby Theodore RoszakISBN 0520085841 (0-520-08584-1)
Softcover, Univ of California Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Cult of Information: A Neo-Luddite Treatise on High Tech, Artificial Intelligence, and the True Art of Thinking'Book summary:The title notwithstanding, Theodore Roszak is no computer hater. But in an age that idolizes intelligent machines, he stands out as a rare cautionary voice. His book makes an eloquent case for a simple thesis: digital computing, far from being a panacea, has created as many problems as it solves. For Roszak, a fair measure of the fault lies with corporate hucksterism, a credulous educational establishment, and government's desire to control information. But the deeper worry is our own utopian techno-idealism--the belief that a scientific broom can sweep away our messy problems. The author challenges such computer messianism with a detailed, common-sense look at the history of what computing has actually brought us. The trends he sees--the conflation of data with knowledge, the erosion of human-centered values, and the rise of a digital oligarchy at just about everyone else's expense--are tough to deny. If you love computers, The Cult of Information is a provocative read, but one you shouldn't dodge. [via]
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The Cult of Information: The Folklore of Computers and the True Art of Thinkingby Theodore RoszakISBN 0394751752 (0-394-75175-2)
Softcover, Knopf Publishing Group
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Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Knowby E.D. HirschISBN 1569562199 (1-56956-219-9)
Softcover, William a Thomas Braille
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Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animalby Norbert WienerISBN 026273009X (0-262-73009-X)
Softcover, Mit Pr
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Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, from Our Brains to Black Holesby Charles SeifeISBN 0143038397 (0-14-303839-7)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, from Our Brains to Black Holes'Book summary:As Charles Seife reveals in this energetic new book, information theory, once the province of philosophers and linguists, has emerged as the crucial science of our time, shedding new light on the mysteries of physics, the nature of space and time and the creation and destruction of the universe itself.
With his gift for making cutting-edge science accessible and entertaining, Seife explains how theorists came to understand that information is not a construct of the mind but a fundamental element of the physical world, something that sits inside every living cell and surrounds every black hole in the cosmos. It exists, like energy, even if there is no life to observe it. Starting with the breaking of the Enigma code during World War II and building momentum with the computer revolution, information theory has taken its place at the forefront of theoretical physics as scientists begin to use it to reconcile the paradoxes of relativity and quantum mechanics that have puzzled theorists since Einstein. Lucid and exhilarating, Decoding the Universe probes the mind-boggling advances that are taking us to the brink of a new understanding of the universe. [via]
More editions of Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, from Our Brains to Black Holes:
- Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, from Our Brains to Black Holes: ISBN 067003441X (0-670-03441-X)
Hardcover, Viking Pr - Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, from Our Brains to Black Holes: ISBN 0143038397 (0-14-303839-7)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA
- Decoding the Universe: How the New Science of Information Is Explaining Everything in the Cosmos, from Our Brains to Black Holes: ISBN 067003441X (0-670-03441-X)
The Economics of (Attention): Style And Substance in the Age of Informationby Richard A. LanhamISBN 0226468828 (0-226-46882-8)
Hardcover, Univ of Chicago Pr
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Elements of Information Theoryby Thomas M. Cover, Joy A. ThomasISBN 0471200611 (0-471-20061-1)
Hardcover, John Wiley & Sons
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Elements of Information Theory'Book summary:The latest edition of this classic is updated with new problem sets and material
The Second Edition of this fundamental textbook maintains the book's tradition of clear, thought-provoking instruction. Readers are provided once again with an instructive mix of mathematics, physics, statistics, and information theory.
All the essential topics in information theory are covered in detail, including entropy, data compression, channel capacity, rate distortion, network information theory, and hypothesis testing. The authors provide readers with a solid understanding of the underlying theory and applications. Problem sets and a telegraphic summary at the end of each chapter further assist readers. The historical notes that follow each chapter recap the main points.
The Second Edition features:
* Chapters reorganized to improve teaching
* 200 new problems
* New material on source coding, portfolio theory, and feedback capacity
* Updated references
Now current and enhanced, the Second Edition of Elements of Information Theory remains the ideal textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in electrical engineering, statistics, and telecommunications.An Instructor's Manual presenting detailed solutions to all the problems in the book is available from the Wiley editorial department. [via]
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Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos And Wall Streetby William PoundstoneISBN 0809045990 (0-8090-4599-0)
Softcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos And Wall Street'Book summary:Fortune's Formula is a fascinating study of the connections between such seemingly unrelated topics as gambling, information theory, stock investing, and applied mathematics. The story involves the stunning brainpower of men such as MIT professor Claude Shannon, who single-handedly invented information theory, the science behind the Internet and all digital media; Ed Thorpe; and John Kelly of Bell Laboratories, who developed the "Kelly criterion," a now-legendary investment strategy for maximizing growth while controlling risk. Initially, Shannon and Thorpe took Kelly's theory to Las Vegas and applied it to roulette and blackjack. Later, they took it to Wall Street and cleaned up--Shannon made a personal fortune while Thorpe created the highly successful hedge firm Princeton-Newport Partners. They both discovered that Kelly's system was particularly effective when applied to arbitrage (minute price differences that result from market inefficiencies). As Poundstone ably demonstrates, the merits of Kelly's criterion are still hotly debated today.
Poundstone has a tendency to meander in his writing, but his asides are so revealing and interesting that they add, rather than detract, from the narrative. The book also includes a cast of fascinating and colorful characters as varied as Ivan Boesky, Warren Buffet, Rudolph Giuliani, and notorious mobsters such as Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky. In explaining the lasting impact of the work done by Shannon, Thorpe, and Kelly, Poundstone even explains Kelly's system for those wishing to follow his formula, offering readers both theoretical and practical lessons. Whether viewed as a how-to guide or straight scientific and financial history, Fortune's Formula proves an entertaining and illuminating analysis of "the most successful gambling system of all time." --Shawn Carkonen [via]
More editions of Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos And Wall Street:
- Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street: ISBN 0809046377 (0-8090-4637-7)
Hardcover, Farrar, Straus & Giroux - Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos And Wall Street: ISBN 0809045990 (0-8090-4599-0)
Softcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
- Fortune's Formula: The Untold Story of the Scientific Betting System That Beat the Casinos and Wall Street: ISBN 0809046377 (0-8090-4637-7)
Fuzzy Thinking: The New Science of Fuzzy Logicby Bart KoskoISBN 1562828398 (1-56282-839-8)
Hardcover, Hyperion Books
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Grammatical Man: Information, Entropy, Language and Lifeby Jeremy CampbellISBN 0671440624 (0-671-44062-4)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Grammatical Man: Information, Entropy, Language and Life'Book summary:This book succeeds in its stated intention of giving an overview of the development of information theory. Human beings are "decoders" who interpret information. Scientific theories are human creations seeking to enlighten. The author explains a basic explanation from information theory, i.e., that "in an ordinary conversation, information is conveyed when the speaker says something that changes the listener's knowledge." Campbell attacks Darwin's theory, writing, "One major difficulty is that the central argument of Darwinian theory circles back on itself, explaining nothing." He goes into detail on why evolution is unscientific. The brain makes decisions along the way as to what information it will process and how it will interpret what it takes in. [via]
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In Code: A Mathematical Journeyby Sarah Flannery, David FlanneryISBN 1565123778 (1-56512-377-8)
Softcover, Algonquin Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'In Code: A Mathematical Journey'Book summary:In January 1999, Sarah Flannery, a sports-loving teenager from Blarney in County Cork, Ireland, was awarded Ireland's Young Scientist of the Year for her extraordinary research and discoveries in Internet cryptography. The following day, her story began appearing in Irish papers and soon after was splashed across the front page of the London Times, complete with a photo of Sarah and a caption calling her "brilliant." Just sixteen, she was a mathematician with an international reputation.
IN CODE is a heartwarming story that will have readers cheering Sarah on. Originally published in England and cowritten with her mathematician father, David Flannery, IN CODE is "a wonderfully moving story about the thrill of the mathematical chase" (Nature) and "a paean to intellectual adventure" (Times Educational Supplement). A memoir in mathematics, it is all about how a girl next door, nurtured by her family, moved from the simple math puzzles that were the staple of dinnertime conversation to prime numbers, the Sieve of Eratosthenes, Fermat's Little Theorem, googols-and finally into her breathtaking algorithm. Parallel with each step is a modest girl's own self-discovery-her values, her burning curiosity, the joy of persistence, and, above all, her love for her family. [via]
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In the Beginning Was Informationby Werner GittISBN 0890514615 (0-89051-461-5)
Softcover, New Leaf Pr
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Infinity and the Mindby Rudy RuckerISBN 3764330341 (3-7643-3034-1)
Hardcover, Springer Verlag
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Infinity and the Mind'Book summary:A study of infinity in all its forms and its implications for the human mind. Within the realm of "Mindscape", part of a universe, the book shows that mathematics, science, and logic merge with the fantastic, and so much is revealed about the powers of the mind and its limitations. [via]
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Information: The New Language of Scienceby Hans Christian Von BaeyerISBN 0674018575 (0-674-01857-5)
Softcover, Harvard Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Information: The New Language of Science'Book summary:Confronting us at every turn, flowing from every imaginable source, information defines our era--and yet what we don't know about it could--and does--fill a book. In this indispensable volume, a primer for the information age, Hans Christian von Baeyer presents a clear description of what information is, how concepts of its measurement, meaning, and transmission evolved, and what its ever-expanding presence portends for the future.
Information is poised to replace matter as the primary stuff of the universe, von Baeyer suggests; it will provide a new basic framework for describing and predicting reality in the twenty-first century. Despite its revolutionary premise, von Baeyer's book is written simply in a straightforward fashion, offering a wonderfully accessible introduction to classical and quantum information. Enlivened with anecdotes from the lives of philosophers, mathematicians, and scientists who have contributed significantly to the field, Information conducts readers from questions of subjectivity inherent in classical information to the blurring of distinctions between computers and what they measure or store in our quantum age. A great advance in our efforts to define and describe the nature of information, the book also marks an important step forward in our ability to exploit information--and, ultimately, to transform the nature of our relationship with the physical universe.
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Information Ages: Literacy, Numeracy, and the Computer Revolutionby Michael E. Hobart, Zachary Sayre SchiffmanISBN 0801864127 (0-8018-6412-7)
Softcover, Johns Hopkins Univ Pr
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Information and Meaning : An Evolutionary Perspectiveby Tom StonierISBN 354076139X (3-540-76139-X)
Softcover, Springer
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The Information Bombby Paul VirilioISBN 1844670597 (1-84467-059-7)
Softcover, Verso Books
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Information Policy : A Framework for Evaluation and Policy Researchby Robert H. BurgerISBN 0893918903 (0-89391-890-3)
Hardcover, J A I Press Limited
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Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economyby Hal R. Varian, Carl ShapiroISBN 087584863X (0-87584-863-X)
Hardcover, Perseus Distribution Services
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy'Book summary:Chapter 1 of Information Rules begins with a description of the change brought on by technology at the close of the century--but the century described is not this one, it's the late 1800s. One hundred years ago, it was an emerging telephone and electrical network that was transforming business. Today it's the Internet. The point? While the circumstances of a particular era may be unique, the underlying principles that describe the exchange of goods in a free-market economy are the same. And the authors, Carl Shapiro and Hal Varian, should know. Shapiro is Professor of Business Strategy at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and has also served as chief economist at the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department. Varian is the Dean of the School of Information Management and Systems at UC Berkeley. Together they offer a deep knowledge of how economic systems work coupled with first-hand experience of today's network economy. They write:
Sure, today's business world is different in a myriad of ways from that of a century ago. But many of today's managers are so focused on the trees of technological change that they fail to see the forest: the underlying economic forces that determine success and failure.
Shapiro and Varian go to great lengths to purge this book of the technobabble and forecasting of an electronic woo-woo land that's typical in books of this genre. Instead, with their feet on the ground, they consider how to market and distribute goods in the network economy, citing examples from industries as diverse as airlines, software, entertainment, and communications. The authors cover issues such as pricing, intellectual property, versioning, lock-in, compatibility, and standards. Clearly written and presented, Information Rules belongs on the bookshelf of anyone who has an interest in today's network economy--entrepreneurs, managers, investors, students. If there was ever a textbook written on how to do business in the information age, this book is it. Highly recommended. --Harry C. Edwards [via]More editions of Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy:
Information Theoryby Robert AshISBN 0486665216 (0-486-66521-6)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
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Information Theory and Reliable Communicationby Robert GallagerISBN 0471290483 (0-471-29048-3)
Hardcover, John Wiley & Sons Inc
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Information Theory and the Living Systemby Lila L. GatlinISBN 0231036345 (0-231-03634-5)
Hardcover, Columbia University Press
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Information Theory, Inference and Learning Algorithmsby David MacKayISBN 0521642981 (0-521-64298-1)
Hardcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
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An Introduction To Black Holes, Information And The String Theory Revolution: The Holographic Universeby James Lindesay, Leonard SusskindISBN 9812561315 (981-256-131-5)
Softcover, World Scientific Pub Co Inc
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- An Introduction To Black Holes, Information And The String Theory Revolution: The Holographic Universe: ISBN 9812560831 (981-256-083-1)
Hardcover, World Scientific Pub Co Inc - An Introduction To Black Holes, Information And The String Theory Revolution: The Holographic Universe: ISBN 9812561315 (981-256-131-5)
Softcover, World Scientific Pub Co Inc
- An Introduction To Black Holes, Information And The String Theory Revolution: The Holographic Universe: ISBN 9812560831 (981-256-083-1)
An Introduction to Information Theoryby Fazlollah M. RazaISBN 0486682102 (0-486-68210-2)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
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An Introduction to Information Theory: Symbols, Signals and Noiseby John Robinson PierceISBN 0486240614 (0-486-24061-4)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
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An Introduction to Kolmogorov Complexity and Its Applicationsby Ming Li, Paul M. VitanyiISBN 0387948686 (0-387-94868-6)
Hardcover, Springer
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An Introduction to Kolmogorov Complexity and Its Applicationsby Paul Vitanyi, Ming LiISBN 0387940537 (0-387-94053-7)
Hardcover, Springer Verlag
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It Must Be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Scienceby Graham FarmeloISBN 1862075557 (1-86207-555-7)
Softcover, Granta Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'It Must Be Beautiful: Great Equations of Modern Science'Book summary:Through a study of celebrated examples, the collection of essays in It Must Be Beautiful sets out to reveal the true nature of an equation. What is an equation, after all? Why does it look the way it looks? Those lacking a scientific education can have only the vaguest idea. For a start, an equation is not one fixed thing. The same scribbles can be reinterpreted over time. (Frank Wilczek's chapter on the Dirac Equation offers fascinating insights into this process.) An equation's value can be contested, at one moment a mere "convenience", at the next, a profound expression of things. (Arthur I Miller, writing on Schrodinger's wave equation, beautifully captures the knives-drawn business of scientific interpretation.) An equation can even be a kind of political agenda. Take the Drake Equation--more properly, a formula, describing the likelihood of extra-terrestrial civilisations. Oliver Morton's acute account identifies in this equation "the classic technocratic lapse of mistaking the ability to state a question in the language of science with the ability to solve it using the practices of science". This problem haunts (as it should) the whole collection. As Farmelo writes in his introduction (paraphrasing Feynman) "... it may eventually turn out that fundamental laws of nature do not need to be stated mathematically and that they are better expressed in other ways".
Some essays here never really get to grips with the hieroglyphics, choosing instead to trace the evolution of their subject's thoughts. Others go to the other extreme. Roger Penrose's essay on General Relativity delivers the mathematical punches other science books normally pull. But by one route or another, according to your preference, you will come away from this book with a more-than-trivial insight into the power and beauty of equations. Indeed, the notion that the world could be "better expressed in other ways" is likely to be furthest from your mind. --Simon Ings [via]
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Key Papers in the Development of Information Theoryby D. SlepianISBN 0879420278 (0-87942-027-8)
Hardcover, IEEE
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Knowledge and the Flow of Informationby Fred I. DretskeISBN 157586195X (1-57586-195-X)
Softcover, Univ of Chicago Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Knowledge and the Flow of Information'Book summary:An attempt to develop a theory of knowledge and philosophy of mind using ideas derived from the mathematical theory of communication developed by Claude Shannon. Information is seen as an objective commodity defined by the dependency relations between distinct events. Knowledge is then analyzed as information caused belief. Perception is the delivery of information caused belief. Perception is the delivery of information in analog form (experience) for conceptual utilization by cognitive mechanisms. The final chapters attempt to develop a theory of meaning (or belief content) by viewing meaning as a certain kind of information-carrying role.[via]More editions of Knowledge and the Flow of Information:
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The Lifebox, the Seashell, And the Soul: What Gnarly Computation Taught Me About Ultimate Reality, the Meaning of Life, And How to Be Happyby Rudy RuckerISBN 1560258985 (1-56025-898-5)
Softcover, Thunder's Mouth Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Lifebox, the Seashell, And the Soul: What Gnarly Computation Taught Me About Ultimate Reality, the Meaning of Life, And How to Be Happy'Book summary:A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, goes the ancient saying. This concept is at the root of the computational worldview, which basically says that very complex systems the world we live in have their beginnings in simple mathematical equations. We've lately come to understand that such an algorithm is only the start of a never-ending story the real action occurs in the unfolding consequences of the rules. The chip-in-a-box computers so popular in our time have acted as a kind of microscope, letting us see into the secret machinery of the world. In Lifebox, Rucker uses whimsical drawings, fables, and humor to demonstrate that everything is a computation that thoughts, computations, and physical processes are all the same. Rucker discusses the linguistic and computational advances that make this kind of "digital philosophy" possible, and explains how, like every great new principle, the computational world view contains the seeds of a next step.[via]More editions of The Lifebox, the Seashell, And the Soul: What Gnarly Computation Taught Me About Ultimate Reality, the Meaning of Life, And How to Be Happy:
- The Lifebox, the Seashell, And the Soul: What Gnarly Computation Taught Me About Ultimate Reality, the Meaning of Life, And How to Be Happy: ISBN 1560257229 (1-56025-722-9)
Hardcover, Thunder's Mouth Pr - The Lifebox, the Seashell, And the Soul: What Gnarly Computation Taught Me About Ultimate Reality, the Meaning of Life, And How to Be Happy: ISBN 1560258985 (1-56025-898-5)
Softcover, Thunder's Mouth Pr
- The Lifebox, the Seashell, And the Soul: What Gnarly Computation Taught Me About Ultimate Reality, the Meaning of Life, And How to Be Happy: ISBN 1560257229 (1-56025-722-9)
The Limits of Mathematics: A Course on Information Theory and the Limits of Formal Reasoningby Gregory J. ChaitinISBN 1852336684 (1-85233-668-4)
Hardcover, Springer Verlag
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- The Limits of Mathematics: A Course on Information Theory and the Limits of Formal Reasoning: ISBN 981308359X (981-3083-59-X)
Hardcover, Springer Verlag - The Limits of Mathematics: A Course on Information Theory and the Limits of Formal Reasoning: ISBN 1852336684 (1-85233-668-4)
Hardcover, Springer Verlag
- The Limits of Mathematics: A Course on Information Theory and the Limits of Formal Reasoning: ISBN 981308359X (981-3083-59-X)
Logic and Informationby Keith DevlinISBN 0521499712 (0-521-49971-2)
Softcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
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Mathematical Foundations of Information Theoryby Alexander KhinchinISBN 0486604349 (0-486-60434-9)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
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Mathematical Theory of Communicationby Warren Weaver, Claude ShannonISBN 0252725484 (0-252-72548-4)
Softcover, Univ of Illinois Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mathematical Theory of Communication'Book summary:Scientific knowledge grows at a phenomenal pace-but few books have had as lasting an impact or played as important a role in our modern world as "The Mathematical Theory of Communication", published originally as a paper on communication theory in the "Bell System Technical Journal" more than fifty years ago. Republished in book form shortly thereafter, it has since gone through four hardcover and sixteen paperback printings. It is a revolutionary work, astounding in its foresight and contemporaneity. The University of Illinois Press is pleased and honored to issue this commemorative reprinting of a classic. [via]
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Merged Evolution: Long-Term Implications of Biotechnology and Information Technologyby Susantha GoonatilakeISBN 9057005212 (90-5700-521-2)
Hardcover, G & B Pub
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Meta Math!: The Quest For Omegaby GREGORY CHAITINISBN 1400077974 (1-4000-7797-4)
Softcover, Vintage Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Meta Math!: The Quest for Omega'Book summary:Gregory Chaitin, one of the worlds foremost mathematicians, leads us on a spellbinding journey, illuminating the process by which he arrived at his groundbreaking theory.
Chaitins revolutionary discovery, the Omega number, is an exquisitely complex representation of unknowability in mathematics. His investigations shed light on what we can ultimately know about the universe and the very nature of life. In an infectious and enthusiastic narrative, Chaitin delineates the specific intellectual and intuitive steps he took toward the discovery. He takes us to the very frontiers of scientific thinking, and helps us to appreciate the artand the sheer beautyin the science of math. [via]More editions of Meta Math!: The Quest For Omega:
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The Ontogeny of Information: Developmental Systems and Evolutionby Susan OyamaISBN 0822324660 (0-8223-2466-0)
Softcover, Duke Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Ontogeny of Information: Developmental Systems and Evolution'Book summary:The Ontogeny of Information is a critical intervention into the ongoing and perpetually troubling nature-nurture debates surrounding human development. Originally published in 1985, this was a foundational text in what is now the substantial field of developmental systems theory. In this revised edition Susan Oyama argues compellingly that nature and nurture are not alternative influences on human development but, rather, developmental products and the developmental processes that produce them.[via]
Information, says Oyama, is thought to reside in molecules, cells, tissues, and the environment. When something wondrous occurs in the world, we tend to question whether the information guiding the transformation was pre-encoded in the organism or installed through experience or instruction. Oyama looks beyond this either-or question to focus on the history of such developments. She shows that what developmental information does depends on what is already in place and what alternatives are available. She terms this process constructive interactionism, whereby each combination of genes and environmental influences simultaneously interacts to produce a unique result. Ontogeny, then, is the result of dynamic and complex interactions in multileveled developmental systems.
The Ontogeny of Information challenges specialists in the fields of developmental biology, philosophy of biology, psychology, and sociology, and even nonspecialists, to reexamine the existing nature-nurture dichotomy as it relates to the history and formation of organisms.More editions of The Ontogeny of Information: Developmental Systems and Evolution:
Origin of Symmetriesby Colin D. FroggattISBN 997196631X (9971-966-31-X)
Softcover, World Scientific Pub Co Inc
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Physics from Fisher Information: A Unificationby B. Roy FriedenISBN 052163167X (0-521-63167-X)
Hardcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
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Practical Cryptographyby Bruce Schneier, Niels FergusonISBN 0471223573 (0-471-22357-3)
Softcover, John Wiley & Sons Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Practical Cryptography'Book summary:Security is the number one concern for businesses worldwide. The gold standard for attaining security is cryptography because it provides the most reliable tools for storing or transmitting digital information. Written by Niels Ferguson, lead cryptographer for Counterpane, Bruce Schneier's security company, and Bruce Schneier himself, this is the much anticipated follow-up book to Schneier's seminal encyclopedic reference, Applied Cryptography, Second Edition (0-471-11709-9), which has sold more than 150,000 copies.
Niels Ferguson (Amsterdam, Netherlands) is a cryptographic engineer and consultant at Counterpane Internet Security. He has extensive experience in the creation and design of security algorithms, protocols, and multinational security infrastructures. Previously, Ferguson was a cryptographer for DigiCash and CWI. At CWI he developed the first generation of off-line payment protocols. He has published numerous scientific papers.
Bruce Schneier (Minneapolis, MN) is Founder and Chief Technical Officer at Counterpane Internet Security, a managed-security monitoring company. He is also the author of Secrets and Lies: Digital Security in a Networked World (0-471-25311-1). [via] 
The Problem of Information: An Introduction to Information Scienceby Douglas RaberISBN 0810845687 (0-8108-4568-7)
Softcover, Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Incorporated
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- The Problem of Information: An Introduction to Information Science: ISBN 0810845679 (0-8108-4567-9)
Hardcover, Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc - The Problem of Information : An Introduction to Information Science: ISBN 0810845687 (0-8108-4568-7)
Softcover, Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Incorporated
- The Problem of Information: An Introduction to Information Science: ISBN 0810845679 (0-8108-4567-9)
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Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmosby Seth LloydISBN 1400033861 (1-4000-3386-1)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos'Book summary:Is the universe actually a giant quantum computer? According to Seth LloydProfessor of Quantum-Mechanical Engineering at MIT and originator of the first technologically feasible design for a working quantum computerthe answer is yes. This wonderfully accessible book illuminates the professional and personal paths that led him to this remarkable conclusion.
All interactions between particles in the universe, Lloyd explains, convey not only energy but also informationin other words, particles not only collide, they compute. And what is the entire universe computing, ultimately? Its own dynamical evolution, he says. As the computation proceeds, reality unfolds.
To elucidate his theory, Lloyd examines the history of the cosmos, posing questions that in other hands might seem unfathomably complex: How much information is there in the universe? What information existed at the moment of the Big Bang and what happened to it? How do quantum mechanics and chaos theory interact to create our world? Could we attempt to re-create it on a giant quantum computer?
Programming the Universe presents an original and compelling vision of reality, revealing our world in an entirely new light. [via]More editions of Programming the Universe: A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos:
Protecting Information: From Classical Error Correction to Quantum Cryptographyby Susan Loepp, William Kent WoottersISBN 0521534763 (0-521-53476-3)
Softcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
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Quantum Entropy and Its Useby Masanori Ohya, Denes PetzISBN 3540208062 (3-540-20806-2)
Softcover, Springer Verlag
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Recursive Universe: Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific Knowledgeby William PoundstoneISBN 0809252023 (0-8092-5202-3)
Softcover, McGraw-Hill
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Recursive Universe: Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge'Book summary:Recommended as a very good, basic introduction to information and communication theory. [via]
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The Social Life of Informationby Paul Duguid, John Seely BrownISBN 1578517087 (1-57851-708-7)
Softcover, Harvard Business School Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Social Life of Information'Book summary:How many times has your PC crashed today? While Gordon Moore's now famous law projecting the doubling of computer power every 18 months has more than borne itself out, it's too bad that a similar trajectory projecting the reliability and usefulness of all that power didn't come to pass, as well. Advances in information technology are most often measured in the cool numbers of megahertz, throughput, and bandwidth--but, for many us, the experience of these advances may be better measured in hours of frustration.
The gap between the hype of the Information Age and its reality is often wide and deep, and it's into this gap that John Seely Brown and Paul Duguid plunge. Not that these guys are Luddites--far from it. Brown, the chief scientist at Xerox and the director of its Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), and Duguid, a historian and social theorist who also works with PARC, measure how information technology interacts and meshes with the social fabric. They write, "Technology design often takes aim at the surface of life. There it undoubtedly scores lots of worthwhile hits. But such successes can make designers blind to the difficulty of more serious challenges--primarily the resourcefulness that helps embed certain ways of doing things deep in our lives."
The authors cast their gaze on the many trends and ideas proffered by infoenthusiasts over the years, such as software agents, "still a long way from the predicted insertion into the woof and warp of ordinary life"; the electronic cottage that Alvin Toffler wrote about 20 years ago and has yet to be fully realized; and the rise of knowledge management and the challenges it faces trying to manage how people actually work and learn in the workplace. Their aim is not to pass judgment but to help remedy the tunnel vision that prevents technologists from seeing larger the social context that their ideas must ultimately inhabit. The Social Life of Information is a thoughtful and challenging read that belongs on the bookshelf of anyone trying to invent or make sense of the new world of information. --Harry C. Edwards [via]
Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemologyby Gregory BatesonISBN 0810204479 (0-8102-0447-9)
Hardcover, Chandler Pub Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology'Book summary:Gregory Bateson was a philosopher, anthropologist, photographer, naturalist, and poet, as well as the husband and collaborator of Margaret Mead. With a new foreword by his daughter Mary Katherine Bateson, this classic anthology of his major work will continue to delight and inform generations of readers.[via]
"This collection amounts to a retrospective exhibition of a working life. . . . Bateson has come to this position during a career that carried him not only into anthropology, for which he was first trained, but into psychiatry, genetics, and communication theory. . . . He . . . examines the nature of the mind, seeing it not as a nebulous something, somehow lodged somewhere in the body of each man, but as a network of interactions relating the individual with his society and his species and with the universe at large."D. W. Harding, New York Review of Books
"[Bateson's] view of the world, of science, of culture, and of man is vast and challenging. His efforts at synthesis are tantalizingly and cryptically suggestive. . . .This is a book we should all read and ponder."Roger Keesing, American AnthropologistMore editions of Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology:
- Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology: ISBN 0876689500 (0-87668-950-0)
Hardcover, Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc - Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology: ISBN 0810204479 (0-8102-0447-9)
Hardcover, Chandler Pub Co
- Steps to an Ecology of Mind: Collected Essays in Anthropology, Psychiatry, Evolution, and Epistemology: ISBN 0876689500 (0-87668-950-0)
The Teachings of Don Von: A Turnkey Way of Knowledgeby Tom AbelleraISBN 0963394215 (0-9633942-1-5)
Softcover, Independent Pub Group
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Theories of Information Behaviorby Karen E. Fisher, Sanda Erdelez, Lynne McKechnieISBN 157387230X (1-57387-230-X)
Hardcover, Information Today Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Theories of Information Behavior'Book summary:This unique book presents authoritative overviews of more than 70 conceptual frameworks for understanding how people seek, manage, share, and use information in different contexts. A practical and readable reference to both well-established and newly proposed theories of information behavior, the book includes contributions from 85 scholars from 10 countries. Each theory description covers origins, propositions, methodological implications, usage, links to related conceptual frameworks, and listings of authoritative primary and secondary references. The introductory chapters explain key concepts, theorymethod connections, and the process of theory development. [via]
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The Theory of Information and Codingby Robert J. McElieceISBN 0521831857 (0-521-83185-7)
Hardcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
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Theory of Nothingby Russell StandishISBN 1921019638 (1-921019-63-8)
Softcover, Booksurge Llc
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Three Scientists and Their Gods : A Search for Meaning in an Age of Informationby Robert WrightISBN 0812913280 (0-8129-1328-0)
Hardcover, Crown Publishing Group
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Understanding Comicsby Scott McCloudISBN 1563895579 (1-56389-557-9)
Softcover, Dc Comics
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Understanding Comics'Book summary:216 page paperback written in comic book form about the world's most misunderstood artform. [via]
More editions of Understanding Comics:
- Understanding Comics: ISBN 1568620195 (1-56862-019-5)
Hardcover, Tundra Pub - Understanding Comics: ISBN 0878162445 (0-87816-244-5)
Hardcover, Kitchen Sink Pr - Understanding Comics: ISBN 0878162437 (0-87816-243-7)
Softcover, Kitchen Sink Pr - Understanding Comics: ISBN 1563895579 (1-56389-557-9)
Softcover, Dc Comics
- Understanding Comics: ISBN 1568620195 (1-56862-019-5)
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Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man Critical Editionby Marshall McLuhan, W. Terrence GordonISBN 1584230738 (1-58423-073-8)
Hardcover, Gingko Pr Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man Critical Edition'Book summary:Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man : Critical Edition [Hardcover] [via]
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The User Illusion: Cutting Consciousness Down to Sizeby Tor Nrretranders, Jonathan SydenhamISBN 0140230122 (0-14-023012-2)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA
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The Visual Display of Quantitative Informationby Edward R. TufteISBN 0961392142 (0-9613921-4-2)
Hardcover, Graphics Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Visual Display of Quantitative Information'Book summary:A timeless classic in how complex information should be presented graphically. The Strunk & White of visual design. Should occupy a place of honor--within arm's reach--of everyone attempting to understand or depict numerical data graphically. The design of the book is an exemplar of the principles it espouses: elegant typography and layout, and seamless integration of lucid text and perfectly chosen graphical examples. Very Highly Recommended. [via]
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War in the Age of Intelligent Machinesby Manuel DelandaISBN 0942299752 (0-942299-75-2)
Softcover, Zone Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'War in the Age of Intelligent Machines'Book summary:In the aftermath of the methodical destruction of Iraq during the Persian Gulf War, the power and efficiency of new computerized weapons and surveillance technology have become chillingly apparent. For Manuel DeLanda, however, this new weaponry has a significance that goes far beyond military applications; he shows how it represents a profound historical shift in the relation of human beings both to machines and to information. The recent emergence of intelligent and autonomous bombs and missiles equipped with artificial perception and decision-making capabilities is, for Delanda, part of a much larger transfer of cognitive structures from humans to machines in the late twentieth century.
War in the Age of Intelligent Machines provides a rich panorama of these astonishing developments; it details the mutating history of information analysis and machinic organization from the mobile siege artillery of the Renaissance, the clockwork armies of the Thirty Years War, the Napoleonic campaigns, and the Nazi blitzkrieg up to present-day cybernetic battle-management systems and satellite reconnaissance networks. Much more than a history of warfare, DeLanda's account is an unprecedented philosophical and historical reflection on the changing forms through which human bodies and materials are combined, organized, deployed, and made effective.
Manuel DeLanda has published essays on philosophy and film theory. He is a computer programmer and a film artist.
A Swerve Edition, distributed for Zone Books [via]More editions of War in the Age of Intelligent Machines:
Waveform Quantization and Codingby N. S. JayantISBN 0879420731 (0-87942-073-1)
Hardcover, IEEE
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Who Wrote the Book of Life: A History of the Genetic Codeby Lily E. KayISBN 0804734178 (0-8047-3417-8)
Softcover, Stanford Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Who Wrote the Book of Life: A History of the Genetic Code'Book summary:This is a detailed history of one of the most important and dramatic episodes in modern science, recounted from the novel vantage point of the dawn of the information age and its impact on representations of nature, heredity, and society. Drawing on archives, published sources, and interviews, the author situates work on the genetic code (1953-70) within the history of life science, the rise of communication technosciences (cybernetics, information theory, and computers), the intersection of molecular biology with cryptanalysis and linguistics, and the social history of postwar Europe and the United States.[via]
Kay draws out the historical specificity in the process by which the central biological problem of DNA-based protein synthesis came to be metaphorically represented as an information code and a writing technologyand consequently as a book of life. This molecular writing and reading is part of the cultural production of the Nuclear Age, its power amplified by the centuries-old theistic resonance of the book of life metaphor. Yet, as the author points out, these are just metaphors: analogies, not ontologies. Necessary and productive as they have been, they have their epistemological limitations. Deploying analyses of language, cryptology, and information theory, the author persuasively argues that, technically speaking, the genetic code is not a code, DNA is not a language, and the genome is not an information system (objections voiced by experts as early as the 1950s).
Thus her historical reconstruction and analyses also serve as a critique of the new genomic biopower. Genomic textuality has become a fact of life, a metaphor literalized, she claims, as human genome projects promise new levels of control over life through the meta-level of information: control of the word (the DNA sequences) and its editing and rewriting. But the author shows how the humbling limits of these scriptural metaphors also pose a challenge to the textual and material mastery of the genomic book of life.More editions of Who Wrote the Book of Life: A History of the Genetic Code:
Spanish
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Ciberneticaby Norbert WienerISBN 8472234525 (84-7223-452-5)
Softcover, Ediciones Urano
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Gdel, Escher, Bachby D.R. HofstadterISBN 8472234592 (84-7223-459-2)
Softcover, Tusquets Editor
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Gdel, Escher, Bach'Book summary:¿Puede un sistema comprenderse a sí mismo ? Si esta pregunta se refiere a la mente humana, entonces nos encontramos ante una cuestión clave del pensamiento científico. Y de la filosofía. Y del arte. Investigar este misterio es una aventura que recorre la matemática, la física, la biología, la psicología y, muy especialmente, el lenguaje. Douglas R. Hofstadter, joven y ya célebre científico, nos abre la puerta del enigma con la belleza y la alegría creadora de su estilo. Sorprendentes paralelismos ocultos entre los grabados de Escher y la música de Bach nos remiten a las paradojas clásicas de los antiguos griegos y a un teorema de la lógica matemática moderna que ha estremecido el pensamiento del siglo XX : el de Kurt Gödel. Todo lenguaje, todo sistema formal, todo programa de ordenador, todo proceso de pensamiento, llegan, tarde o temprano, a la situación límite de la autorreferencia : de querer expresarse sobre sí mismos. Surge entonces la emoción del infinito, como dos espejos enfrentados y obligados a reflejarse mutua e indefinidamente. Gödel, Escher, Bach: un Eterno y Grácil Bucle, es una obra de arte escrita por un sabio. Versa sobre los misterios del pensamiento e incluye, ella misma, sus propios misterios. / Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, this book applies Godel's seminal contribution to modern Twenty years after it topped the bestseller charts, Douglas R. Hofstadter's Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid is still something of a marvel. Besides being a profound and entertaining meditation on human thought and creativity, this book looks at the surprising points of contact between the music of Bach, the artwork of Escher, and the mathematics of Gödel.mathematics to the study of the human mind and the development of artificial intelligence. [via]
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German
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Wie Wirklich Ist Die Wirklichkeit: Wahn, Tauschung, Verstehenby Paul WatzlawickISBN 3492021824 (3-492-02182-4)
Hardcover, R. Piper
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