Book

Dewdney, A. K.

The (new) Turing omnibus : 66 excursions in computer science / A.K. Dewdney.

1st Holt paperback ed.

New York : Henry Holt, 2001, ©1993.

xvi, 455 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

"No other volume provides as broad, as thorough, or as accessible an introduction to the realm of computers as A.K. Dewdney's The Turing Omnibus. Updated and expanded, The Turing Omnibus offers 66 concise, brilliantly written articles on the major points of interest in computer science theory, technology, and applications. New for this tour: updated information on algorithms, detecting primes, noncomputable functions, and self-replicating computers--plus completely new sections on the Mandelbrot set, genetic algorithms, the Newton-Raphson Method, neural networks that learn, DOS systems for personal computers, and computer viruses."--Book cover.

Electronic data processing.

Computers.

66 excursions in computer science

Sixty-six excursions in computer science

"A W.H. Freeman / Owl book."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Algorithms : cooking up programs -- Finite automata : the black box -- Systems of logic : boolean bases -- Simulation : the Monte Carlo method -- Gödel's theorem : limits on logic -- Game trees : the minimax method -- The Comsky hierarchy : four computers -- Random numbers : the Chaitin-Kolmogoroff theory -- Mathematical research : the Mandelbrot set -- Program correctness : ultimate debugging -- Search tress : traversal and maintenance -- Error-correcting : code pictures from space -- Boolean logic : expressions and circuits -- Regular language : pumping words -- Time and space complexity : the big-0 notation -- Genetic algorithms : solutions that evolve -- The random access machine : an abstract computer -- Spinal curves : smooth interpolation -- Computer vision : polyhedral scenes -- Karnaugh maps : circuit minimization -- The Newton-Raphson method : finding roots -- Minimum spanning trees : a fast algorithm.

Generative grammars : Lindenmayer systems -- Recursion : the Sierpinski curve -- Fast multiplication : divide and conquer -- Nondeterminism : automata that guess correctly -- Perceptions : a lack of vision -- Encoders and multiplexers : manipulating memory -- Cat scanning : cross-sectional x-rays -- Tie partition problem : a pseudo-fast algorithm -- Turing machines : the simplest computers -- The fast Fourier transform : redistributing images -- Analog computation : spaghetti computers -- Satisfiability : a central problem -- Sequential sorting : a lower bound on speed -- Neural networks that learn : converting coordinates -- Public key cryptography : intractable secrets -- Sequential circuits : a computer memory -- Noncomputable functions : the busy beaver problem -- Heaps and merges : the fastest sorts of sorts -- NP-completeness : wall of intractability -- Number systems for computing : Chinese arithmetic -- Storage by hashing : the key is the address -- Cellular automata : the game of life.

Cook's theorem : nuts and bolts -- Self-replicating computers : Codd's machine -- Storing images : a cat in a quad tree -- The scram : a simplified computer -- Shannon's theory : the elusive codes -- Detecting primes : an algorithm that almost always works -- Universal Turing machines : computers as programs -- Text compression : Huffman coding -- Disk operating systems : bootstrapping the computer -- NP-complete problems : the tree of intractability -- Iteration and recursion : the towers of Hanoi -- VLSI computers : circuits in silicon -- Linear programming : the simplex method -- Predicate calculus : the resolution method -- The halting problem : the uncomputable -- Computer viruses : a software invasion -- Searching strings : the Boyer-Moore algorithm -- Parallel computing : processors with connections -- The word problem : dictionaries as programs -- Logic programming : prologue to expertise -- Relational databases : do-it-yourself queries -- Church's thesis : all computers are created equal.

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