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THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROGRAMMER

Name: THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROGRAMMER
Author: Daniel Kohanski
ISBN: 0-312-18650-9

REFLECTIONS ON THE MOTH IN THE MACHINE

by Daniel Kohanski ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 1, 1998

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A lucid primer on the philosophy of computer programming from a systems engineer in San Francisco. With the phrase “moth in the machine” Kohanski refers to an engineering anomaly experienced on a pioneering wartime computer, the Mark I. Circuitry began behaving erratically; after running exhaustive tests, the engineers discovered why: a moth had crawled into a relay, preventing contact. Thus was born the bug in the computer and the necessity to debug, which, Kohanski points out, programmers spend more time doing than they spend programming. Juxtaposing the human capacity for ambivalence with the machine’s complete incapacity for it, Kohanski argues for ever more intuitive programs: ones that will announce “radiation overdose,” for instance, rather than “Malfunction 54.” (Kohanski describes an actual case in which several patients were killed because the computer operator didn—t know what “Malfunction 54” meant.) Kohanski explains clearly the differences between analog and digital computers by using cuckoo clocks (primitive analog computers) as a metaphor; explains the binary code and demonstrates how memory accretes in machines; and is at pains to explain the necessity for precise, elegant, and even esthetically pleasing programming. He then discusses the moths in the machine that challenge programmers: ever more complex programs, demanding an almost inhuman precision; the failure of programmers to translate their own mathematical shorthand into real-world terms (“Malfunction 54”); and, perhaps most important, the failure to design programs that really do the job, that won—t create more problems than they solve. The greatest challenge to programmers, he says, lies in unlocking their imaginations. Good reading for anyone interested in how programs come into existence, and particularly good reading for those thinking of entering the programming profession.

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-312-18650-9

Page Count: 256

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1998

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.