Thoughtful reading for anyone interested in human and machine cognition and a must for chess fans.
Former world chess champion and human rights activist Kasparov (Winter Is Coming: Why Vladimir Putin and the Enemies of the Free World Must Be Stopped, 2015, etc.) offers an optimistic view of humankind’s relationship with machines.
“With every new encroachment of machines, the voices of panic and doubt are heard, and they are only getting louder today,” writes the author, who famously lost a chess match against IBM supercomputer Deep Blue in 1997. Since his retirement from professional chess, Kasparov has used his experience as a window on human-machine decision-making, in talks to business groups and in work as a visiting fellow at the Oxford Martin School. In this intelligent, absorbing book, he manages to both tell the story of his encounter with IBM’s machine (with the “speed and depth of brute force search” to exploit human mistakes) and celebrate the untold coming benefits of smart machines. His detailed inside account of Deep Blue reflects on his own poor play and the likelihood that IBM gave its machine unfair advantages. As he said at the time, “I do not blame IBM, I blame myself.” Kasparov also notes how chess-playing computers get stronger, change their openings, and pay no attention to “the competitive and psychological aspects of chess.” Observing that most of us will be as disconcerted by driverless cars as he was by chess-playing machines, he urges that we take advantage of the proliferation of computers as they assume many roles of lawyers, bankers, doctors, and other professionals. “It’s remarkable how quickly we go from being skeptics to taking a new technology for granted,” he writes. Overreliance on machines may be dangerous if you want to innovate rather than imitate, but listening to them allows you to overcome your emotional biases. Given honest data, machines can “make us into better decision makers.”
Thoughtful reading for anyone interested in human and machine cognition and a must for chess fans.Pub Date: May 2, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-61039-786-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both...
Italian theoretical physicist Rovelli (General Relativity: The Most Beautiful of Theories, 2015, etc.) shares his thoughts on the broader scientific and philosophical implications of the great revolution that has taken place over the past century.
These seven lessons, which first appeared as articles in the Sunday supplement of the Italian newspaper Sole 24 Ore, are addressed to readers with little knowledge of physics. In less than 100 pages, the author, who teaches physics in both France and the United States, cogently covers the great accomplishments of the past and the open questions still baffling physicists today. In the first lesson, he focuses on Einstein's theory of general relativity. He describes Einstein's recognition that gravity "is not diffused through space [but] is that space itself" as "a stroke of pure genius." In the second lesson, Rovelli deals with the puzzling features of quantum physics that challenge our picture of reality. In the remaining sections, the author introduces the constant fluctuations of atoms, the granular nature of space, and more. "It is hardly surprising that there are more things in heaven and earth, dear reader, than have been dreamed of in our philosophy—or in our physics,” he writes. Rovelli also discusses the issues raised in loop quantum gravity, a theory that he co-developed. These issues lead to his extraordinary claim that the passage of time is not fundamental but rather derived from the granular nature of space. The author suggests that there have been two separate pathways throughout human history: mythology and the accumulation of knowledge through observation. He believes that scientists today share the same curiosity about nature exhibited by early man.
An intriguing meditation on the nature of the universe and our attempts to understand it that should appeal to both scientists and general readers.Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-399-18441-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Riverhead
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A magnificent account of a central reality of our times, incorporating deep scientific expertise, broad political and social knowledge, and ethical insight, and Idled with beautifully written biographical sketches of the men and women who created nuclear physics. Rhodes describes in detail the great scientific achievements that led up to the invention of the atomic bomb. Everything of importance is examined, from the discovery of the atomic nucleus and of nuclear fission to the emergence of quantum physics, the invention of the mass-spectroscope and of the cyclotron, the creation of such man-made elements as plutonium and tritium, and implementation of the nuclear chain reaction in uranium. Even more important, Rhodes shows how these achievements were thrust into the arms of the state, which culminated in the unfolding of the nuclear arms race. Often brilliantly, he records the rise of fascism and of anti-Semitism, and the intensification of nationalist ambitions. He traces the outbreak of WW II, which provoked a hysterical rivalry among nations to devise the bomb. This book contains a grim description of Japanese resistance, and of the horrible psychological numbing that caused an unparalleled tolerance for human suffering and destruction. Rhodes depicts the Faustian scale of the Manhattan Project. His account of the dropping of the bomb itself, and of the awful firebombing that prepared its way, is unforgettable. Although Rhodes' gallery of names and events is sometimes dizzying, his scientific discussions often daunting, he has written a book of great drama and sweep. A superb accomplishment.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1986
ISBN: 0684813785
Page Count: 932
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986
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