Mind Matters - Hardcover

Hogan, James P.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0345412400 ISBN 13: 9780345412409

Publisher: Del Rey, 1998

Synopsis

When World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov lost the now-famous rematch against IBM's chess-playing computer Deep Blue last year, millions were riveted. When NASA mounted its historic mission to Mars, the world watched spellbound as a sophisticated mechanical device rolled across the surface of the red planet, taking photographs and analyzing rock samples. Consequently, these events stirred renewed speculation about one of modern science's most fascinating, and haunting, pursuits--the creation of a machine with a mind.

While the likes of HAL, the sentient, conversant computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the android "replicants" of Blade Runner have mainly kept Artificial Intelligence a purely science-fictional concept in the public eye, the quest to synthesize thought has been very much a reality for decades--and not without striking successes. From the pioneering experiments in "cybernetics" of the 1940s to the digital computers and robot prototypes developed by Carnegie Mellon University and MIT researchers to Deep Blue, and on to the most current projects involving humanoid robotics and attempts to duplicate the evolution of intelligence, Mind Matters chronicles the extraordinary journey toward a scientific breakthrough that could well overshadow man's conquest of space.

Whether such a breakthrough is even possible, and what the implications--social, economic, political--for humankind will be if it is, makes Mind Matters the scientifically and philosophically provocative read of the year. Guided by the intimate knowledge, insight, and thoughtful wit of author James P. Hogan, both the technophile and technophobe alike will find themselves enthralled by the history and mystery of man's ultimate interaction with machine.

About this title

Review:

Computers cannot feel compassion, anger, or fear, and they cannot see or hear well. But ever since machines demonstrated their ability to outclass human beings in mathematical calculations and other manipulations of rigidly defined systems (such as chess), people have been intrigued by the idea of intelligent computers. In Mind Matters: Exploring the World of Artificial Intelligence, James P. Hogan explores the history and present state of the quest to create machines in our image.

First, Hogan explores the history of logic and other means of depicting and explaining thought. Hogan addresses Aristotle, Descartes, and other pioneers who studied the brain's analytical capabilities. He then explores clocks and navigation and number systems before delving into early computers--the first machines to simulate any part of the brain's function.

But the author does not dwell on the past. The bulk of this book has to do with the problems artificial intelligence (AI) pioneers are trying to solve today, such as symbolic logic, natural language, and artificial vision. Hogan gives plenty of attention to the best-known AI engine of our day, IBM's Deep Blue chess machine.

It is unusual to find a book as readable as this one that deals with a complicated, mathematics-intensive discipline such as AI. The text is understandable even when it is explaining the engineering issues of parallel processing. Plenty of footnotes provide references to more technical material. Hogan's work in Mind Matters deserves to stand with the best works of popular science writing.

From the Back Cover:

The famous rematch between World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov and IBM's computer Deep Blue, and NASA's sophisticated mechanical device that surveyed the surface of Mars, has stirred renewed speculation about one of modern science's most fascinating, and haunting, pursuits--the creation of a machine with a mind.

While the likes of HAL, the sentient, conversant computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the android "replicants" of Blade Runner have mainly kept Artificial Intelligence a purely science fictional concept in the public eye, the quest to synthesize thought has been very much a reality for decades--and not without striking successes. From the pioneering experiments of the 1940s in "cybernetics" to the digital computers and robot prototypes developed by Carnegie Mellon University and MIT researchers to Deep Blue, and on to the most current projects involving humanoid robotics and attempts to duplicate the evolution of intelligence, Mind Matters chronicles the extraordinary journey toward a scientific breakthrough that could well overshadow man's conquest of space.

Whether such a breakdown is even possible, and what the implications--social, economic, political--for humankind will be if it is, makes Mind Matters the scientifically and philosophically provocative read of the year. Guided by the intimate knowledge, insight, and thoughtful wit of author James P. Hogan, technophiles and technophobes alike will find themselves enthralled by the history and mystery of man's ultimate interaction with machine.

About this edition

• Publisher: Del Rey
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0345412400
• ISBN 13: 9780345412409
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 381