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Books: Computers: Genetic Algorithms
Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economicsby Eric D. Beinhocker List Price: $29.95 Available from Amazon $18.87 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly Accounting for the creation of wealth has long challenged humanity's best minds. For business readers and academics, Beinhocker is a zealous and able guide to the emerging economic paradigm shift he calls the "Complexity economics revolution." A fellow of the economic think tank McKinsey Global Institute, he rejects traditional economic theory, based on a physics model of closed systems, in which change is an external disruptive shock. Instead, he outlines an open, adaptive system with interlocking networks that change organically, reflecting the interaction of technological innovation, social development and business practice. Wealth is created to the degree that this interaction decreases entropy in favor of "fit order" that meets human needs, desires and preferences. Beinhocker is sufficiently comfortable with this evolutionary model to advocate a comprehensive redesigning of institutions and society to facilitate it. He argues for corporate policies that favor many small risks over a few big ones and recommends restructuring financial theory to favor growth and endurance rather than short-term gains. Though he asserts that complexity economics can reduce political partisanship and increase social capital, Beinhocker stops short of saying that it cures sexual dysfunction. By the end, the concept emerges as a great idea that the author tries to make a panacea. (June 1) Copyright © Reed business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. John Kay, management Today "Unquestionably the most important business book of the year." |
An Introduction to Genetic Algorithms (Complex Adaptive Systems)by Melanie Mitchell Available from Amazon $32.00 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page John Holland This is the best general book on genetic algorithms written to date. It covers background, history, and motivation; it selects important, informative examples of applications and discusses the use of genetic algorithms in scientific models; and it gives a good account of the status of the theory of genetic algorithms. Best of all, the book presents its material in clear, straightforward, felicitous prose. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition. Book Description Genetic algorithms have been used in science and engineering as adaptive algorithms for solving practical problems and as computational models of natural evolutionary systems. This brief, accessible introduction describes some of the most interesting research in the field and also enables readers to implement and experiment with genetic algorithms on their own. It focuses in depth on a small set of important and interesting topics--particularly in machine learning, scientific modeling, and artificial life--and Reviews a broad span of research, including the work of Mitchell and her colleagues. The descriptions of applications and modeling projects stretch beyond the strict boundaries of computer science to include dynamical systems theory, game theory, molecular biology, ecology, evolutionary biology, and population genetics. |
Information Retrieval: Algorithms and Heuristics (The Information Retrieval Series)(2nd Edition)by David A. Grossman and Ophir Frieder List Price: $38.00 Available from Amazon $32.79 On 7-22-2006
See Item's Page Book Description Interested in how an efficient search engine works? Want to know what algorithms are used to rank resulting documents in response to user requests? The authors answer these and other key information retrieval design and implementation questions. This book is not yet another high level text. Instead, algorithms are thoroughly described, making this book ideally suited for both computer science students and practitioners who work on search-related applications. As stated in the foreword, this book provides a current, broad, and detailed overview of the field and is the only one that does so. Examples are used throughout to illustrate the algorithms. The authors explain how a query is ranked against a document collection using either a single or a combination of retrieval strategies, and how an assortment of utilities are integrated into the query processing scheme to improve these rankings. Methods for building and compressing text indexes, querying and retrieving documents in multiple languages, and using parallel or distributed processing to expedite the search are likewise described. This edition is a major expansion of the one published in 1998. Besides updating the entire book with current techniques, it includes new sections on language models, cross-language information retrieval, peer-to-peer processing, XML search, mediators, and duplicate document detection. |
Our Molecular Future: How Nanotechnology, Robotics, Genetics and Artificial Intelligence Will Transform Our Worldby Douglas Mulhall List Price: $28.00 Available from Amazon $17.64 On 7-22-2006
See Item's Page From Publishers Weekly When Mulhall sees the future, he pictures every home having a virtually cost-free desktop fabricator, not unlike an ink jet printer, that is able to create any three-dimensional object desired; he envisions being able to change the color of a car, or clothes, simply by speaking. Mulhall, who heads an environmental software consultancy, believes that nanotechnology, the ability to rearrange individual atoms, will lead to technological advances that will change every aspect of our world, including our own species. Mulhall' s exuberance, however, does not fully compensate for his repetitiveness and lack of specificity when he postulates that nanotechnology will lead to such leaps forward in computing power that we will soon create robots capable of independent thought, emotional response and reproduction. We will, he argues, soon be faced with a new species, Robo sapiens, and be forced to deal with the issue of "robot rights." Mulhall urges readers to foster this technology because he believes that it is the only way humans will be able to combat what he claims are the most pressing threats facing our species: massive earthquakes, immense tsunamis capable of inundating the entire east coast of North America and asteroid collisions of the sort that wiped out the dinosaurs. In the end, Mulhall's musings seem more science fiction than science; they are entertaining, but not particularly thought provoking. Copyright 2002 Cahners business Information, Inc. From Booklist Consultant Mulhall takes readers on a speculative tour of how nanotechnology will impact our world over the next decades. Along with describing what MIT types are currently cooking up (electronic paper), Mulhall injects pertinent questions about his topics, for example, whether business is adroit enough to adapt to the new technology; how nanotechnology might improve the environment; and if robotic "transhumans" should have rights. Mulhall contends that humanity is on the cusp of an unpredictably disruptive and decentralizing revolution and spins decidedly weird and disconcerting scenarios of a future of self-replicating nanobots, robo-slaves, and robo-pets. He also speculates on how nanotechnology might defend the planet against disasters such as cataclysmic earthquakes, tsunamis, or asteroids. Mulhall's eclectic tract bursts with amazement at developments in the field, but its very variety and digressiveness make technosavvy enthusiasts its likely audience. Gilbert Taylor Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved |
Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, and Source Code in C, Second Editionby Bruce Schneier Available from Amazon $60.00 On 7-22-2006
See Item's Page Product Review Cryptographic techniques have applications far beyond the obvious uses of encoding and decoding information. For Internet developers who need to know about capabilities, such as digital signatures, that depend on cryptographic techniques, there's no better overview than Applied Cryptography, the definitive book on the subject. Bruce Schneier covers general classes of cryptographic protocols and then specific techniques, detailing the inner workings of real-world cryptographic algorithms including the Data Encryption Standard and RSA public-key cryptosystems. The book includes source-code listings and extensive advice on the practical aspects of cryptography implementation, such as the importance of generating truly random numbers and of keeping keys secure. Product Review "the definitive publicly available text on the theory and practice of cryptography" (Computer Shopper, January 2002) |
Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Natureby Janine M. Benyus List Price: $13.95 Available from Amazon $10.74 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page From Library Journal Innovations, whether in farming, composite science, or computing, are a product of human creativity. Science writer Benyus (Beastly Behaviors, LJ 9/1/92) uses these subjects and others to demonstrate how nature's solutions to situations have been the creative jumping-off points for individuals seeking solutions, developing, or simply revitalizing processes or products. The first seven chapters are a prelude to the final chapter, which tackles industrial ecology. Here, Benyus proposes "ten lessons" that an ecologically astute company, culture, or economy could practice to promote a healthier existence for us all. There is no grandstanding, just readable language and a simple awe at human creativity and the uses to which it can be put. For popular science collections.?Michael D. Cramer, North Carolina Dept. of Environmental Health and Natural Resources Lib., Raleigh Copyright 1997 Reed business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. The New York Times Book Review, Dorion Sagan The sophisticated, almost pro-growth angle of Benyus shows the great potential profitability of copying some of nature's time-tested, non-polluting room-temperature manufacturing and computing technologies. The colors of Benyus, a splendid Stevensville, Mont., science writer with a grasp of several sciences, contain far more shades of green than of chrome. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. |
Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Lifeby Daniel C. Dennett List Price: $16.00 Available from Amazon $10.08 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page Product Review One of the best descriptions of the nature and implications of Darwinian evolution ever written, it is firmly based in biological information and appropriately extrapolated to possible applications to engineering and cultural evolution. Dennett's analyses of the objections to evolutionary theory are unsurpassed. Extremely lucid, wonderfully written, and scientifically and philosophically impeccable. Highest Recommendation! From Publishers Weekly Dennett's philosophical argument in support of Darwinism was a National Book Award finalist. Copyright 1996 Reed business Information, Inc. |
Data Structures and Algorithms in Javaby Michael T. Goodrich and Roberto Tamassia List Price: $101.95 Available from Amazon $98.99 On 7-22-2006 
See Item's Page Book Description Fundamental data structures in a consistent object-oriented framework Now revised to reflect the innovations of Java 5.0, Goodrich and Tamassia's Fourth Edition of Data Structures and Algorithms in Java continues to offer accessible coverage of fundamental data structures, using a consistent object-oriented framework. The authors provide intuition, description, and analysis of fundamental data structures and algorithms. Numerous illustrations, web-based animations, and simplified mathematical analyses justify important analytical concepts. Key Features of the Fourth Edition: * Updates to Java 5.0 include new sections on generics and other Java 5.0 features, and revised code fragments, examples, and case studies to conform to Java 5.0. * Hundreds of exercises, including many that are new to this edition, promote creativity and help readers learn how to think like programmers and reinforce important concepts. * New case studies illustrate topics such as web browsers, board games, and encryption. * A new early chapter covers Arrays, Linked Lists, and Recursion. * A new final chapter on Memory covers memory management and external memory data structures and algorithms. * Java code examples are used extensively, with source code provided on the website. * Online animations and effective in-text art illustrate data structures and algorithms in a clear, visual manner. Access additional resources on the web www.wiley.com/college/goodrich): * Java source code for all examples in the book * Animations * Library (net.datastructures) of Java constructs used in the book * Problems database and search engine * Student hints to all exercises in the book * Instructor resources, including solutions to selected exercises * Lecture slides Book Info Text provides an introduction to data structures and algorithms, including their design, analysis, and implementation. For freshman and sophomore level computer science and computer engineering students. Includes expanded coverage of recursion, added material, and expanded and revised exercises. Previous edition: c2001. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. |
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