Programming the Universe. A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos.

According to the author, all interactions between particles in the universe convey not only energy but also information (in other words, not only do particles collide,but they also compute). What is the entire universe computing then? "Its own dynamical evolution", Lloyd answers. "As the computation proceeds, reality unfolds". Thus, the universe could be understood as a massive quantum computer, which would allow us to use certain mathematical rules to its own development. In reality, Lloyd's approach is not so far from the hypothesis we viewed in The Matrix series, for example. Yet, in spite of the serious implications of this approach to reality, Lloyd manages to explain it all in simple terms for the lay people.

Technical description:
Title: Programming the Universe. A Quantum Computer Scientist Takes on the Cosmos.
Author: Seth Lloyd.
Publisher: Vintage.
Edition: first edition, New York (USA), March 2007.
Pages: 239 pages.
ISBN: 978-1-4000-3386-7

The Computer and the Brain.

A very short book, written for Yale's Silliman Lectures and published after the author's death, that can definitely be considered a part of the very foundations of Computer Science. In it, John von Neumann (yes, the father of the renowned von Neumann architecture upon which we built the whole edifice of modern computing) muses about the differences between machine and biological intelligence. Prominent neuroscientific thinkers Paul M. Churchland and Patricia S. Churchland provide a brief introduction to the book, which represents the final accomplishment of one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century. John von Neumann concludes that the human brain operates, at least in part, in a digital manner, although instead of doing so in a sequential manner, it acts in what can only be considered a massively parallel form, thus predating our contemporary approach to these issues.

Technical description:
Title: The Computer and the Brain.
Author: John von Neumann.
Publisher: Yale Nota Bene/Yale University Press
Edition: Second edition, New York (USA), 2000 (1958).
Pages: 82 pages.
ISBN: 0-300-08473-0

Find it on Amazon (USA, UK).

From electricity to fiber optics.

Petzold's parting thoughts in Code are well worth noting here:

While much of this book has focused on using electricity to send signals and information through a wire, a more efficient medium is light transmitted through optical fiber —thin tubes made of glass or polymer that guide the light around corners. Light passing through such optical fibers can achieve data transmission rates in the gigahertz region —some billion of its per second.

So it seems that photons, not electrons, will be responsible for delivering much of the information of the future into our homes and offices; they'll be like faster dots and dashes of Morse code and those careful pulses of blinking light we once used to communicate late-night wisdom to our best friend across the way.

(Petzold: p. 382)

Yet, in spite of all these technological developments, the core of his book remains relevant. He tells us about the main concepts in electrical engineering in order to introduce us the key concepts of computer science without which we would miss the foundations of this particular discipline of knowledge. However, the concepts we learn along the way (rudimentary concepts of information, binary and hexadecimal languages, circuits, addressing memory, etc.) are still as valuable today as they were 20 years ago.

This is an excellent book. It's highly recommended to anyone who cares to know about how things work in the world of computing.

Boolean algebra as the language of the brain.

Petzold's book is a true gem. Its aim is to introduce us to all the main theories underlying the discipline of Computer Science, at least in a very basic manner. However, along the way it also displays some magnificent examples of philosophical musings about technology and the world of computing, such as the following comments about Boolean algebra:

The title of Boole's 1854 book [An Investigation on the Laws of Thought, on Which are Founded the Mathematical Theories of Logic and Probabilities] suggests an ambitious motivation: Because the rational human brain uses logic to think, if we were to find a way in which logic can be represented by mathematics, we would also have a mathematical description of how the brain works. Of course, nowadays this view of the mind seems to us quite naive. (Either that or it's way ahead of its time.)

(Petzold: p. 87)

Sure, it sounds like just one more far-fetched attempt to uncover the deep secrets of the human brain —one of many more designed by ambitious thinkers throughout the centuries— but, let's be fair, without people like Boole our world wouldn't be what it is today. The development of our civilization as a whole depends on crazy projects like this.

Dreaming in Code.

The author tells us the story of a group of programmers who are trying to write a killer PIM app, something much better than MS Outlook and Exchange, which is overkill for most small businesses (not to talk about personal use). They are looking to build an open source peer-to-peer application that aspires to be far more flexible than anything else seen yet. But more important, the brains behind the whole operation happens to be none other than Mitch Kapor, the mythical programmer behind Lotus 1-2-3 and the name of the new application is Chandler. In any case, perhaps far more important than the particular story Rosenberg tells us about the experience of programming this particular application it's all the wonderful reflections about the history (and the job) of programming software that he shares with us.

Technical description:
Title: Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software.
Author: Scott Rosenberg.
Publisher: Crown Publishers
Edition: New York (USA), 2007.
Pages: 400 pages, including index.
ISBN: 978-1-4000-8246-9

Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software.

Petzold introduces us to the inner workings of computers (both in regards to hardware and software) without a need to resort to overly complex concepts for the initiated. As a matter of fact, he starts with a brief explanation of what is code and uses both Morse code and Braille to illustrate it.

The author also maintains an errata on his own website.

Technical description:
Title: Code. The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software.
Author: Charles Petzold.
Publisher: Microsoft Press.
Edition: Redmond (USA), 1999.
Pages: 392 pages, including indexes.
ISBN: 0-7356-0505-X