The Computing Universe: A Journey through a Revolution

Computers now impact almost every aspect of our lives, from our social interactions to the safety and performance of our cars. How did this happen in such a short time? And this is just the beginning. . . . In this book, Tony Hey and Gyuri Pápay lead us on a journey from the early days of computers in the 1930s to the cutting-edge research of the present day that will shape computing in the coming decades. Along the way, they explain the ideas behind hardware, software, algorithms, Moore’s Law, the birth of the personal computer, the Internet and the Web, the Turing Test, Jeopardy’s Watson, World of Warcraft, spyware, Google, Facebook, and quantum computing. This book also introduces the fascinating cast of dreamers and inventors who brought these great technological developments into every corner of the modern world. This exciting and accessible introduction will open up the universe of computing to anyone who has ever wondered where his or her smartphone came from.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Beginnings of a revolution
Chapter 2 The hardware
Chapter 3 The software is in the holes
Chapter 4 Programming languages and software engineering
Chapter 5 Algorithmics
Chapter 6 Mr. Turing’s amazing machines
Chapter 7 Moore’s law and the silicon revolution
Chapter 8 Computing gets personal
Chapter 9 Computer games
Chapter 10 Licklider’s Intergalactic Computer Network
Chapter 11 Weaving the World Wide Web
Chapter 12 The dark side of the web
Chapter 13 Artificial intelligence and neural networks
Chapter 14 Machine learning and natural language processing
Chapter 15 The end of Moore’s law
Chapter 16 The third age of computing
Chapter 17 Computers and science fiction – an essay
Chapter Epilogue: From Turing’s padlocked mug to the present day
Chapter Appendix 1: Length scales
Chapter Appendix 2: Computer science research and the information technology industry