The Evolution of Wired Life From the Alphabet to the Soul-Catcher Chip -- How Information Technologies Change Our World

by Jonscher, Charles

• ISBN13: 9780471392989
• ISBN10: 0471392987
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-08-07
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

"Thoughtful and erudite... Intelligent and readable...Will appeal to people who enjoyed Longitude by Dava Sobel or Fermat's Enigma by Simon Singh." -The San Diego Union Tribune "Most engaging."-The Boston Globe "An optimistic and reassuring assertion that no matter what wonders we invent, human beings . . . remain infinitely more complex and interesting."-The Economist A lively, informative examination of the computer revolution-and why the top-performing information-processing device is still the human brain If we believe the forecasts of many computer enthusiasts, a wave of amazing devices will soon fundamentally change our lives, and the "thinking machine" is just around the corner. In this authoritative and entertaining book, critically acclaimed author Charles Jonscher presents the other side of the argument: while communication developments have changed society, they also have their limits. He shows us that in order to understand the true transformative powers of the new technologies, we must know about the long history of their development-and why no calculating machine can match the creative power of the human mind. Rich in insights from literature, philosophy, and history, The Evolution of Wired Life offers a fascinating look at the development of the digital era, from the invention of the first alphabetic language to the printing press to the World Wide Web.

Author Biography

CHARLES JONSCHER is a computer scientist and economist who is affiliated with Harvard University’s Program on Information Resources Policy. He has held teaching appointments at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was codirector of the Research Program on Communications and published widely cited research on the productivity impact of information technology. He is the current president of the London-based investment firm Central Europe Trust Co.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Prologue	1	(7)
The Soul-Catcher Chip	8	(27)
The Ancient Mystery of Human Knowledge	35	(28)
Wiring the Planet	63	(30)
The Chip, Master Logician	93	(30)
But Are Computers Like Us? The Rise and Fall of Artificial Intelligence	123	(31)
Creating Cyberspace: Multimedia and the Internet	154	(30)
Looking for Results: Computers and Economic Progress	184	(26)
Back to the Real World: Digital Technologies of Tomorrow	210	(35)
Who Are We in the Digital Age?	245	(30)
Epilogue	275	(5)
Further Reading	280	(5)
Index	285