The Advent of the Algorithm: The Idea that Rules the World [Hardcover]

David Berlinski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2000

The algorithm is just code, but it makes things happen. It's the set of abstract, detailed instructions that makes computers run. Any programmer can invent a new algorithm-and many have become millionaires doing just that. Computers, the Internet, virtual reality-our world is being transformed before our eyes, all because some quirky logicians and mathematicians followed the dream of ultimate abstraction and invented the algorithm. Beginning with Leibniz and culminating in the middle of this century with the work of little-known geniuses and eccentrics like Gödel and Turing, David Berlinski tells this epic tale with clarity and imaginative brilliance. You don't have to be a programmer or a math buff to enjoy his book. All you have to do is be fascinated by the greatest innovation of the twentieth century.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Francis Sullivan of the Institute for Defense Analysis said "Great algorithms are the poetry of computation"; David Berlinski calls the algorithm "the idea that rules the world." The Advent of the Algorithm is not so much a history of algorithms as a historical fantasia. Berlinski spins freely between semifictional accounts of historical figures, personal reminiscence, and mathematical proofs--without ever really defining an algorithm in so many words.

This is not the book for those who were maddened by Berlinski's A Tour of the Calculus; his style remains quirky, digressive, self-referential, and dense:

And then, by some inscrutable incandescent insight, Leibniz came to see that what is crucial in what he had written is the alternation between God and Nothingness. And for this, the numbers 0 and 1 suffice.

Twinkies and Diet Coke in hand, computer programmers can now be observed pausing thoughtfully at their consoles.

Berlinski's argument seems to be that algorithms--step-by-step procedures for getting answers--superceded logic, and will be superceded in turn by more biological, empirical, fuzzy methods. The structure of the book reflects this argument--sketches of people like Leibniz, Hilbert, Gödel, and Turing are interwoven with proofs and with characters of Berlinski's own invention. Berlinski's voice, closer to Hofstadter than to Knuth, remains unique. --Mary Ellen Curtin

From Publishers Weekly

Berlinski's successful A Tour of the Calculus displayed his spectacular talent for explaining math and its various real-world consequences. This hefty follow-up explores what Berlinski considers "the second great scientific idea of the West. There is no third." Calculus gave us modern physics, but the algorithm gave us--is still giving us--the computer (or, more precisely, the computer program). In short, densely intertwined, lyrically constructed chapters, Berlinski describes the discoveries of major algorithmic thinkers. We hear of Gottfried von Leibniz, one of the founders of formal logic; of Gottlob Frege, David Hilbert and Bertrand Russell, who set out to draw up formal, mathematical criteria for truth; of Kurt G?del, who proved that it couldn't be done; of computer pioneer, code breaker and gay martyr Alan Turing; of programs, undecidability, DNA and entropy. We see equations and graphs, but we also hear tales from Isaac Bashevis Singer and bizarre anecdotes of Berlinski's own travels. A novelist (The Body Shop) as well as a mathematician, Berlinski has composed energetic, intertwined tales that make it nearly impossible for readers, once drawn in, to lose interest or to get lost among flying abstractions. (He may well attract the same readers who gravitated, 20 years ago, to Douglas Hofstadter's G?del, Escher, Bach, though the books' personalities and prose styles have little in common.) Although not perfect--the book can be hyperbolic or too aphoristic and digressive for those who just want to learn about math (or the philosophy of computing)--this captivating volume is nevertheless an uncommon achievement of both style and substance. Agent, Susan Ginsburg; author tour. (Mar.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 1st edition (March 31, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151003386
• ISBN-13: 978-0151003389
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (50 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,622,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

118 of 127 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A highly original guide to a foundational concept, March 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Advent of the Algorithm: The Idea that Rules the World (Hardcover)

David Berlinski has delivered another fascinating tale of an underappreciated topic. What he did for the calculus he now does for the algorithm. The text preserves all of Berlinski's extravagant, quirky and sometimes difficult style, shifting between careful analysis, historical drama, insightful explanation, and obscure fictional aside. Readers will either love it or hate it. (I love it.)

Unfortunately, some readers misunderstand Berlinski's subtlety and insight. For instance, the official trade review of the book complains that Berlinski never really defines "algorithm." This is incorrect. The introduction concludes with an offset definition: "In the logician's voice: an algorithm is a finite procedure, written in a fixed symbolic vocabulary, governed by precise instructions, moving in discrete steps, 1, 2, 3,..., whose execution requires no insight, cleverness, intuition, intelligence, or perspicuity, and that sooner or later comes to an end." It doesn't get much clearer than that. But Berlinski doesn't ponder long over what he takes to be obvious, and he doesn't always speak in the logician's voice.

The Advent of the Algorithm demonstrates that a seemingly dull concept can have unimaginably profound implications. Those implications illuminate everything from computing and information technology to the nature of life and the universe. And ultimately (not to spoil the ending) Berlinski argues that the advent of the algorithm foretells the end of scientific materialism, suggesting nothing so much as a world permeated by the marks of intelligence and design. To paraphrase, we are shocked to discover information--something we had assumed was found exclusively in the domain of human activity--flourishing on the alien shores of biology.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Look at a Difficult Topic - But Eclectic, February 9, 2002

By 

Michael Wischmeyer (Houston, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Advent of the Algorithm: The Idea that Rules the World (Hardcover)

First, symbolic logic is not an easy subject and requires attention to detail. Second, Berlinski's discursive style can require the reader to be accomodating and patient. Some may abandon Berlinski in frustration. But others will discover that Berlinski has created a rather unique work.

It is easy to be disoriented by Berlinski's eclectic mix of fiction, biography, essays, and mathematics. I would hunker down for some serious math, but be sidetracked to an unfamiliar Greek fable. Just as quickly I was being introduced - with surprising clarity - to propositional calculus, truth tables, and tautologies. Another sidetrack and I was privy to the delusional thoughts of some stranger.

At this point I fortuitously observed fine print on the copyright page: "This is a work of scholarship. The author has woven stories, involving imagined people and incidents into the text, the better to enable the reader to enjoy the technical discussions. Or to endure them." I relaxed and accepted that while my road might be a bit bumpy, I now had some understanding of Berlinski's itinerary.

I particularly valued the short biographies of the mathematicians and logicians that played key roles in developing symbolic logic and its protege, the algorithm. My attitude was more mixed regarding the playful stories (pure fiction) "woven"
into the text. Although some shed light on the technical discussions from unexpected perspectives,I found other stories to be more distracting than helpful.

Notwithstanding the occasional flights of fancy, "The Advent of the Algorithm" is indeed "a work of scholarship". Clarity characterizes most technical sections, but careful reading is still necessary. The technical sections include:

categorical syllogism (pg. 9-11) and Peano's axioms for arithmetic (pg. 32-35) - 4 stars.
propositional calculus plus truth tables (pg 50-59) - 5 stars,
predicate calculus (pg. 65-68, 71-80, 94-95) - 5 stars,
Frege's "Foundations of Arithmetic" plus Russell's paradox (pg. 91-93) - 5 stars,
"Principia Mathematica" plus Hilbert's program (pg. 96-100, 105-108, 112-114) - 5 stars,
formal arithmetic (pg. 109-111) - 4 stars,
Godel's Proof and recursion (pg. 116-129, 136-141, 143-145) - 5 stars,
the calculus of lambda conversion (pg. 162-179) - 3 stars,
Turing machine (pg. 181-192) - 4 stars,
thermodynaymics (pg. 226-234, 238-248) - 3.5 stars,
and the final three chapters (13-15) on neural networks, DNA coding, and complexity - 5 stars.

I bogged down on chapter 8, a discussion of Alonzo Church's calculus of lambda conversion. Even after some study, I was still not comfortable. I began with no knowledge of lambda calculus; I ended with only a partial understanding. Fortunately, a detailed understanding is not critical to the remaining chapters.

The final three chapters are especially interesting. Berlinski's examination of the question, "Why does complexity exist within a universe characterized by simple physical laws?", was fascinating and insightful.

Should you buy this book? I think not, if you are looking for a typical book on mathematics for the layman. "The Advent of the Algorithm " requires attention to detail and persistence.

However, a persistent reader, one willing to invest time and effort to gain an understanding of symbolic logic, should give Berlinski's book a try. His interests may not always coincide with yours, but the tour will be memorable. Berlinski has created a unique book about a difficult subject. Substantial sections clearly deserve five stars. I give it four stars overall.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I understand the mixed reviews..., May 9, 2000

By 

P MARTIN (Hertfordshire, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Advent of the Algorithm: The Idea that Rules the World (Hardcover)

I understand the mixed reviews this book has received on Amazon.com. The style is definitely not that of the standard popularizing text of mathematical or scientific concepts that we are so used to seeing today. And I think it's a lot better for that! Even readers who do not have the time, energy or (dare I say it?) mental capacity to understand this book in its entirety (I'm in the latter camp)should find this a pleasurable read. There's much in here of great historical and biographical interest and Berlinski's prose style is original, often unexpected, usually fun and just occasionally very moving. And the concepts are well developed, if complex in nature.

I'm going to buy his book on calculus because I enjoyed this book.