Hermes and the Golden Thinking Machine

by Tzonis, Alexander

• ISBN13: 9780262700474
• ISBN10: 0262700476
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-09-08
• Publisher: Bradford Books

Summary

Hermes and the Golden Thinking Machineis a witty, fast-paced mystery that combines suspense with crucial concepts from the emerging field of artificial intelligence. Harvard professor Hermes Steganos finds himself implicated in the theft of the "Golden Thinking Machine," a priceless ancient Greek computational device. Trapped in a pattern of events whose logic he cannot decipher, he must activate his new AI expert system to solve the mystery before it is too late. Alexander Tzonis taught at Harvard from 1967 to 1981 and is the author of several books on architecture and design.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
The Cast	xiii
Chapter Zero	1	(1)
A Memorial Day in Cambridge	2	(7)
Over the Atlantic: Robert	9	(5)
The House with Green Shutters	14	(8)
The Apartment	22	(3)
The Telephone Call	25	(2)
The First Interview	27	(8)
Summer Flu	35	(2)
The Cousin's Deal	37	(11)
The Professor Problem-Solver	48	(9)
Registering at the Institute	57	(2)
Lobby to the Telexroom	59	(11)
Hill Climbing on Flat Ground, with a Lesson in Pruning	70	(11)
The Lawyer	81	(3)
The Philosopher of Photography: Donald	84	(4)
Reducing Differences	88	(6)
The Cinnamon Man: Gerald	94	(8)
The Cable	102	(2)
A Second Interview	104	(4)
Return to Psychiko: Euridice Deserted	108	(2)
The Medium	110	(4)
Accident on the Highway	114	(2)
An Interesting Party	116	(7)
A Late Dinner at the Zephyros	123	(3)
Preparations for Departure	126	(2)
A Third Interview	128	(4)
At the Rio	132	(4)
Zephyros Revisited	136	(6)
The Medium Once More	142	(1)
Santorini	143	(5)
Polar Star	148	(7)
The Cook Vanishes	155	(6)
Nets, Frames, Stardust	161	(7)
Moneybags Wind	168	(12)
Athenian Heat	180	(5)
Circumscription	185	(8)
Old Friends	193	(6)
A Fourth Interview	199	(4)
A Conscientious Driver	203	(7)
Sherlock 2000 II Uses Ariadne's Thread	210	(8)
A Medium's Memory Palace	218	(8)
Against the Rules	226	(3)
The Trench Coat	229	(4)
Blades, Handles, and Fur Cups	233	(5)
An Emergency Meeting	238	(6)
Breaking the Code	244	(7)
All Wrapped Up	251	(7)
Meltdown	258	(4)
At the Airport	262	(6)
Final Interview	268	(13)
Epilogue	281	(2)
Bibliographical Postscript	283