THE MAGIC OF CODE

“A massive connective engine to everything around us.”

Computing, writes scientist and author Arbesman, “should be in service of helping us become better people.” Code, which does the computer’s labor, is the “membrane between reality and words.” It is “animated logic…algebra mingled with fire.” But today the Gandalf-like wizardry of Steve Wozniak, who wrote Apple BASIC by hand, on paper, has been transmuted into the mass-production lines of corporate software engineers. Even the Mac has essentially vanished, replaced by the programmer’s mind, the code. Your screen’s output is the result of coding armies, coding libraries, and collections of bits from coders past, along with their errors. Writing code, says Arbesman, makes “you feel like a wizard of unbelievable powers.” After the author displays and analyzes a lengthy review of programming codes, he envisions newbies who eventually won’t need to learn to code and suggests programming can be made easy for everyone. If you’ve used a spreadsheet, you’ve already begun, somewhat. This “democratization of code…is the ultimate goal.” A key step involves artificial intelligence, whose unique feature is being comfortable with ambiguity, and so it can stumble into “engineered serendipity.” Next, the author turns to coding new worlds but warns coders that creating “living systems” might be their impossible challenge, so a dose of humility is essential. Technology presents an alternative to the test tube, but often burrowed into flecks of silicon are bugs. Never fear, some say, we are living in a computer simulation; the author examines and, pages later, eventually dismisses this as a myth. Like the CDs and DVDs that surround him, code, too, is destined to become obsolete. Until then, we have a tool to open the workings of the human cell and explore possibilities of the human mind. And we have books like this one that allow us to see beyond the screen, beyond the chip, and perhaps into the future.

A challenging but rewarding history of code, and a glimpse of a future beyond it.