Most people are baffled by how computers work and assume that they will never understand them. What they don't realize -- and what Daniel Hillis's short book brilliantly demonstrates -- is that computers' seemingly complex operations can be broken down into a few simple parts that perform the same simple procedures over and over again. Computer wizard Hillis offers an easy-to-follow explanation of how data is processed that makes the operations of a computer seem as straightforward as those of a bicycle. Avoiding technobabble or discussions of advanced hardware, the lucid explanations and colorful anecdotes in The Pattern on the Stone go straight to the heart of what computers really do. Hillis proceeds from an outline of basic logic to clear descriptions of programming languages, algorithms, and memory. He then takes readers in simple steps up to the most exciting developments in computing today -- quantum computing, parallel computing, neural networks, and self-organizing systems. Written clearly and succinctly by one of the world's leading computer scientists, The Pattern on the Stone is an indispensable guide to understanding the workings of that most ubiquitous and important of machines: the computer.

The head of Disney's Imagineering Works dissects the workings of computer logic and breaks it down into simple procedures, clarifying, for the computer illiterate, what makes a computer tick, and discusses exciting developments available today.

Most people are baffled by how computers work and assume that they will never understand them. What they don't realize—and what Daniel Hillis's short book brilliantly demonstrates—is that computers' seemingly complex operations can be broken down into a few simple parts that perform the same simple procedures over and over again. Computer wizard Hillis offers an easy-to-follow explanation of how data is processed that makes the operations of a computer seem as straightforward as those of a bicycle.Avoiding technobabble or discussions of advanced hardware, the lucid explanations and colorful anecdotes in The Pattern on the Stone go straight to the heart of what computers really do. Hillis proceeds from an outline of basic logic to clear descriptions of programming languages, algorithms, and memory. He then takes readers in simple steps up to the most exciting developments in computing today—quantum computing, parallel computing, neural networks, and self-organizing systems.Written clearly and succinctly by one of the world's leading computer scientists, The Pattern on the Stone is an indispensable guide to understanding the workings of that most ubiquitous and important of machines: the computer.

This tape is part of a unique twenty-part series, providing an enjoyable and stimulating introduction to all the main areas of science, selected under the guidance of Richard Dawkins.

Relic huntress Temperance Parris just got a hot tip. Somewhere in the Caves of Alegai, the legendary and often considered mythical, Futuri stones are buried with the body of the Atlantis seer and her channeling scepter. And Temperance aims to claim them all. It’s the miracle she needs to save her mother’s life and finally be free of the family’s blood curse. And maybe prove to the coven that shunned them both that the Parris witches are worthy still, curses aside. But time has been running out for ages, and now the hands are practically spinning toward a destiny she must avoid at all costs. Getting to the Alegai Caves isn’t the worst problem she has to overcome. There are spells and curses as bad as her own lying in wait for those who dare enter in. To avoid them, she’ll have to be prepared. The only person she knows who has more knowledge and skill than she does is the one person she swore she’d never speak to again: her ex, Jalen Baker. And though he’s never said, she senses that he knows more about the legend than he shared with her. Maybe something that can finally change her luck for good.

The preeminent Western authority on Japanese literature a presents a collection of personal essays and literary vignettes that offers a fresh and personal insight into his prolific career as a writer and translator, traveler and social observer.