The Invocation Model of Process Expression argues that mathematics does not provide the most appropriate conceptual foundations for computer science, but, rather, that these foundations are a primary source of unnecessary complexity and confusion. It supports that there is a more appropriate conceptual model that unifies forms of expression considered quite disparate and simplifies issues considered complex and intractable. This book presents that this model of process expression is alternative theory of computer science that is both valid and practical.
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"I strongly recommend the book for computer systems and scientific applications in specialist teaching disciplines, as well as practical and industrial-based or research-driven enhancement and management-science sectors." (Computing Reviews, January 30, 2009)
"…Fant's work is certainly thought-provoking and should be of great interest to those concerned with theoretical computer science." (British Computer Society Book Reviews)
"Karl Fant has written a very compelling book that should be read by academicians and practitioners alike." (Ubiquity, August 28, 2007)
From the Back Cover
A groundbreaking, seminal work that challenges the theoretical foundations of computer science
This seminal work will challenge and change your understanding of computers and computing. Since the invention of the computer, it has been accepted with little question that the theoretical foundations of computer science are found in mathematics. The difficulties of computer science have been attributed to the inherent complexity of computation, which can only be overcome with disciplined methodology.
The author of this text presents a convincing and carefully structured argument that shows why linking computer science to mathematics results in unnecessary complexity and confusion. Instead, the author sets forth and demonstrates the viability and practicality of a new conceptual model, the invocation model of process expression. This model links the design and function of computer systems with the design and function of biological systems. Moreover, the author shows how changing your underlying assumptions sheds new light on dealing with such complex issues as concurrency, digital computers, and biological cells.
The chapters of this text are organized under three main topics:
The Problem: Why the underlying theory of contemporary computer science is not helpful
The Solution: How the invocation model of process expression solves many problems of contemporary computer science
The Invocation Language: How the invocation model is embodied in symbol string expression
For computer scientists and engineers, this publication opens up a completely new way of understanding what computers are, how they work, and what they can do. For students of computer science, it offers an alternative theory that helps them understand and overcome some of the limitations imposed by current theory.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Karl Fant's Remarkable Book,
This review is from: Computer Science Reconsidered: The Invocation Model of Process Expression (Hardcover)
I've known the author of "Computer Science Reconsidered" for almost thirty years, so while I'll try to be objective, expect some personal bias as well as some disagreements with Karl. Traditional computer science places the sequential algorithm and Boolean logic at the heart of computer science. Karl takes a much wider view. He sees computer science as the theory of "process expression" - for instance, given the process of adding a million numbers, how is this process physically accomplished(physically expressed) and symbolically represented(symbolically expressed)? In general, this will be done most efficiently concurrently, and not necessarily by specifying an algorithm, but perhaps by using some clockless physical system that is smart enough to 'resolve' the problem in some partially specified, automatic manner. Karl's book takes clockless concurrent process to be fundamental(as it is in nature). He describes very primitive processes in a new and idiosyncratic language that may be off-putting to some readers, but in truly concurrent processes, notions like 'state' and 'register' are far too narrow and completely inappropriate, so much traditional process language must be abandoned. It seems obvious to me that Karl is on the right track - his approach seems radical until one starts to be embarrased at the primitive, unnatural state of today's computer science, where timing circuits must still be designed (yet nature doesn't do this), and all process details must still be specified (nature doesn't do this). Besides, the foundation of today's c.s. is about Turing Machines and the question, "Is a given process possible," when pragmatically c.s almost always instead asks, "How is a given process best done?" Every revolution takes place in a context. I have found that Karl's ideas intersect in bits and pieces with Carver Mead's ideas on making computers more like Fruit Fly brains (low power - millions of times more efficient than those clunky silicon things), and Judea Pearl's causality flow diagrams (where, as in Boolean Logic, equations by themselves are incomplete symbolic process expressions), the Relational Quantum Mechanics of Carlo Rovelli (where there are no objective, universal system states), and my recent work on human psycology and religion, where moral rule following (like an algorithm) is treated as an immature, autistic form of ethical behavior, compared to the spontaneous ethical behavior of famous religious figures. Karl's book is a new foundation. Don't expect to read a handbook with complete hardware and software languages spelled out. Those are being worked on, or in his previous book. Read Karl's new book like you're reading a mix of Copernicus and Tesla - lots of wild new ideas, ocassionally stunning insights and many sparks!
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs):
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unnamed source place, other thengs, meta referent, null convention, projected reference frame, direct association relationships, data wavefront, lesser partition, completeness behavior, completeness boundaries, arrogant bulk, binary digit addition, adder expression, combinational expression, association differentiation, completeness boundary, invocation model, steering structures, transform rules, appreciation behavior, resolving expression, interlinked cycles, available data values, coordination boundaries, association expression Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Convention Logic, New York, Computer Science Reconsidered, Fant Copyright, John Wiley, Chain Chain, Englewood Cliffs, Chainin Chainin, Logically Determined Design, Wiley Interscience, Annals of the History of Computing, Clockless System Design, Computer Science Press, Linear Feedback Shift Register New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
unnamed source place, other thengs, meta referent, null convention, projected reference frame, direct association relationships, data wavefront, lesser partition, completeness behavior, completeness boundaries, arrogant bulk, binary digit addition, adder expression, combinational expression, association differentiation, completeness boundary, invocation model, steering structures, transform rules, appreciation behavior, resolving expression, interlinked cycles, available data values, coordination boundaries, association expression Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Convention Logic, New York, Computer Science Reconsidered, Fant Copyright, John Wiley, Chain Chain, Englewood Cliffs, Chainin Chainin, Logically Determined Design, Wiley Interscience, Annals of the History of Computing, Clockless System Design, Computer Science Press, Linear Feedback Shift Register New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
5
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- The Essential Guide to Psychiatric Drugs: Includes The Most Recent Information On: Antidepressants, Tranquilizers and Antianxiety Drugs, ... and Withdrawal Symptoms, and Much, Much More by Jack M. Gorman in Back Matter
- Dealing With Depression: Five Pastoral Interventions by William M Clements on page 69
- On the Edge of Darkness: America's Most Celebrated Actors, Journalists and Politicians Chronicle Their Most Arduous Journey by Kathy Cronkite in Back Matter
- Cognitive Therapy for Depression and Anxiety by Ivy-Marie Blackburn on page 60
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