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BEHIND DEEP BLUE

Name: BEHIND DEEP BLUE
Author: Feng-hsiung Hsu
ISBN: 0-691-09065-3

BUILDING THE COMPUTER THAT DEFEATED THE WORLD CHESS CHAMPION

by Feng-hsiung Hsu ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2002

A real-life Revenge of the Nerds, the tale captures some of the excitement of the day when a machine took a man to the...

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A byte-by-byte account of the successful effort of IBM computer scientists to create a machine that could defeat a genius.

Hsu, who left IBM in 1999 to write and to pursue non-chess–related interests, brings a unique perspective to this task: It was he and his colleagues (first in Carnegie Mellon’s Ph.D. Computer Science program and then at IBM) who designed the hardware and software that ultimately defeated Garry Kasparov in a highly publicized six-game match in 1997. Hsu insists that this was not a case of John Henry versus the steam engine; instead, it was man-as-toolmaker defeating man-as-performer. Hsu portrays himself, also, as a reluctant warrior who initially resisted the Call to Adventure and entered the fray only when the engineering issues began to intrigue him (at the outset, he knew little chess). In his chronicle of increasingly fierce Carnegie Mellon academic politics, a competitor, Prof. Hans Berliner, doesn’t come off well as his chess-playing computer (Hitech) falls behind the system designed by Hsu et al. Hsu gives ample credit to his colleagues and tries to be generous with Kasparov—though the latter emerges as somewhat arrogant, petulant, pampered, and petty, not to mention a sore loser. Hsu strives admirably to avoid geek-speak (he tells us what cursors and pawns are), and readers who speak neither computer-ese nor chess-ian can still enjoy the building tension. Born in Taiwan, Hsu appends some autobiographical material—as if to certify that he is no cyborg (he seems reluctant to accept much blame for computer failures, which, invariably, he attributes to “bugs” or to time’s wingéd chariot hurrying near). A strange, inaccurate index lists some people by first name, some by last.

A real-life Revenge of the Nerds, the tale captures some of the excitement of the day when a machine took a man to the woodshed. (20 halftones)

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2002

ISBN: 0-691-09065-3

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Princeton Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002

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.