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9780198604426

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Reviews

Computers Ltd is a gripping book Cern Courier a clear and friendly book The Guardian Review from previous edition This book is a veritable tour de force. Harel writes with uncommon verve, clarity, and imagination ... This is science writing at its best. Times Higher Education Supplement This is the book I would most like to have written. Prof. Darrell Ince, Open University Thank heavens ... for David Harel's book on the theoretical limitations of computers ... the insights Computers Ltd. provides are of an unusually enduring and worthwhile nature. The Economist, 30 Sept. 2000 The best short introduction to the things that computers can, can't, might, and could, eventually, do. John D. Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge University, and author of 'Impossibility' and the forthcoming 'Book of Nothing' An enlightening and entertaining explanation, written by a profound computer scientist and master expositor. A must read for inquisitive minds. Michael Rabin, Professor of Computer Science, Harvard University

This book puts the myth to rest that computers can do everything. There are certain types of problems that computers just cannot solve and probably never will be able to, not unless you have a couple of zillion years to wait for an answer! It is not just complex problems that fall into this category. Even seemingly simple problems can beat the best computers known to man. For example, assume a travelling salesman has 100 towns to visit. What town should he start at, and in what order should he visit them so as to reduce the number of miles he travels to an absolute minimum? This is a very difficult problem for a computer to solve. This book tells you why in a way that both the layman can understnad as well as being a good introduction for budding computer scientists everywhere. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

David Harel is the Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, and is incumbent of the William Sussman Professional Chair. He is a highly respected computer scientist who has carried out research in many areas of computer science. He has received a number of awards, including ACM's Karlstrom Outstanding Educator Award in 1992, and the 1997 Israeli Prime Minister's Award for Software. His book, Algorithmics: The Spirit of Computing (Addison-Wesley, 1987, 2nd. edn. 1992) was the Spring 1988 Main Selection of the Macmillan Library of Science. He is a Fellow of the AMC and of the IEEE.

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