Amazon.com
In 1984, Ron and Dan Lafferty murdered the wife and infant daughter of their younger brother Allen. The crimes were noteworthy not merely for their brutality but for the brothers' claim that they were acting on direct orders from God. In Under the Banner of Heaven, Jon Krakauer tells the story of the killers and their crime but also explores the shadowy world of Mormon fundamentalism from which the two emerged. The Mormon Church was founded, in part, on the idea that true believers could speak directly with God. But while the mainstream church attempted to be more palatable to the general public by rejecting the controversial tenet of polygamy, fundamentalist splinter groups saw this as apostasy and took to the hills to live what they believed to be a righteous life. When their beliefs are challenged or their patriarchal, cult-like order defied, these still-active groups, according to Krakauer, are capable of fighting back with tremendous violence. While Krakauer's research into the history of the church is admirably extensive, the real power of the book comes from present-day information, notably jailhouse interviews with Dan Lafferty. Far from being the brooding maniac one might expect, Lafferty is chillingly coherent, still insisting that his motive was merely to obey God's command. Krakauer's accounts of the actual murders are graphic and disturbing, but such detail makes the brothers' claim of divine instruction all the more horrifying. In an age where Westerners have trouble comprehending what drives Islamic fundamentalists to kill, Jon Krakauer advises us to look within America's own borders. --John Moe
Book Description
Jon Krakauer’s literary reputation rests on insightful chronicles of lives conducted at the outer limits. He now shifts his focus from extremes of physical adventure to extremes of religious belief within our own borders, taking readers inside isolated American communities where some 40,000 Mormon Fundamentalists still practice polygamy. Defying both civil authorities and the Mormon establishment in Salt Lake City, the renegade leaders of these Taliban-like theocracies are zealots who answer only to God.
At the core of Krakauer’s book are brothers Ron and Dan Lafferty, who insist they received a commandment from God to kill a blameless woman and her baby girl. Beginning with a meticulously researched account of this appalling double murder, Krakauer constructs a multi-layered, bone-chilling narrative of messianic delusion, polygamy, savage violence, and unyielding faith. Along the way he uncovers a shadowy offshoot of America’s fastest growing religion, and raises provocative questions about the nature of religious belief.
Download Description
JON KRAKAUER is the author of Eiger Dreams, Into the Wild, and Into Thin Air, and is editor of the Modern Library Exploration series.
Customer Reviews:
Great Read!.......2007-10-24
Under the Banner of Heaven is compelling story about the Mormon history with a crime drama imbedded. It reads like a novel and is a fascinating delve into the evolution of the Mormon religion.
A chilling story of religious fundamentalism.......2007-10-24
This book is entirely absorbing, which is no surprise coming from this fine author.
There are two strands woven together throughout the book -- the shocking 1984 murders attributed to fundamentalist Mormons, and a historical perspective on the origins of the Latter Day Saints. The skillful way in which Krakauer weaves the strands together holds the reader's interest and is very effective.
The book includes extensive interviews with fundamentalist Dan Lafferty, incarcerated in the Utah State Prison for the murders of his brother's wife and daughter. The interviews, along with the recounting of the murders, are chilling in their details. Just as chilling is the the historical perspective on how the polygamous fundamentalists splintered from mainstream Mormonism, claiming their religious direction to be directly received from God. The facts of this frightening phenomenon were probably not widely known before this book was published.
Knowing very little about the Church of the Latter Day Saints, I came away from this book with much more knowledge about the religion. The distinction is clearly drawn between the mainstream LDS and the fundamentalist sect, giving the book a balanced feel when it could have been pure sensationalism. Krakauer seems to stand aside and let the story tell itself without interpretation or judgment; only the best writers can give that impression.
A riveting book about fundamentalist Mormon sects.......2007-10-20
We accidentally drove into Colorado City recently while on a two week RV trip. I have never been anywhere creepier in my life. This book is a well-written and thorough history of Mormonism, Mormon-derivative cults, and several murders that have been committed by cult members, including lots of info on the Jeffs family and Colorado City in Arizona, home to one of the largest(if not the largest) polygamous community in the US. Amazing and creepy all at once.
Mormons and "Gentiles" should read this..........2007-10-16
Living in Utah most of my life and knowing only a little about the corruption of just the mainsteam LDS church made this book VERY interesting to me. I was shocked! What an interesting book- this should be a mandatory read for anyone truly considering joining the church. So the "Plural marriage" doctrine is still in the Doctrine and Covenants, yet the "Real Mormons" say they do not condone Polygamy? Wow. This is a fundamental and pivotal belief upon which the "One true church" was founded. Just goes to show, sadly that whether modern day or fundamentalist, hypocrisy rules all. Thank you Krakauer for accurately and deservingly portraying this "cult"ure in the abusive and sexist light it deserves. Those who are offended by it should take a closer look at the founding "prophet" Krakauer introduces us to in the book, and maybe they will be able to decipher the fact that this man was an absolute con, a Polygamist who LIED TO HIS FOLLOWERS about being one, CHANGED the "holy word of god" as he saw fit, and even made up passages STILL FOUND IN MORMON DOCTRINE to guilt trip his WIFE into supporting the lifestyle he ENCOURAGED. The lifestyle he first berated AS he denied it, then changed, then said that it was the only true way to get to heaven. (?) What a fraud! I feel very bad for the followers of polygamy, and the abuse the book portrays which occurs in the name of God. Great read.
Under the Banner of Heaven Underperforms.......2007-10-15
The jacket of Under the Banner of Heaven describes Jon Krakauer's book about Mormon Fundamentalism as, "vintage Krakauer, an utterly compelling work of nonfiction." And I agree that it's vintage Krakauer, which is why can't rave about it. Krakauer has never delivered the gripping story I expect from him, despite the fascinating topics he chooses.
Under the Banner of Heaven is a fluid, well-researched narrative that isn't captivating. The polygamous family tree of Mormon Fundamentalism is as confusing as the first 100 pages of a science fiction novel. I couldn't keep straight who was who or how they were connected, and I felt dragged through a history book in a jump-around "let me show you this, then let me show you this" fashion.
I didn't enjoy the book because I'm not sure what it was supposed to be. Krakauer confessed that the book as it turned out wasn't the book he set out to write (pg. 334). He intended "to explore the inner trials of spiritual thinkers," to analyze how intelligent people reconcile the contradictions between scientific and historical truth with faith in God. That book was to be called History and Belief, which is a rather academic title, and suggests why Under the Banner of Heaven read as stiff as a tradition-bound history department, belying the book's evocative title.
I applaud Krakauer's talent and his honesty. In his remarks, he admits, "I don't know what God is . . . In fact, I don't know if God even exists, although I confess that I sometimes find myself praying in times of great fear, or despair, or astonishment at a display of unexpected beauty . . . And if I remain in the dark about our purpose here, and the meaning of eternity, I have nevertheless arrived at an understanding of a few more modest truths: Most of us fear death. Most of us yearn to comprehend how we got here, and why - which is to say, most of us ache to know the love of our creator. And we will no doubt feel that ache, most of us, for as long as we happen to be alive." I connect with the ache he mentions and with the questions that underpin his books, which is why I expect I'll read more of his books despite my disappointment with Under the Banner of Heaven.
Product Description
2 JOHN KRAKAUER Books - 1) - Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster / 2) - Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith - (Unboxed Set), in either Hard or Softcover, (See Seller Condition Comments), Shipped in one package to save on shipping costs.
Book Description
Over the past two decades, Americans have seen their workplaces downsized and streamlined, their jobs out-sourced, sped up, and, all too often, eliminated. Unions have seemed powerless to defend their members, with big defeats in the strikes at PATCO, Eastern Airlines, International Paper, and Hormel. Ravenswood recounts how the United Steelworkers of America, in a battle waged over an aluminum plant in West Virginia, proved that organized labor can still win--even against a company controlled by one of the world's richest and most powerful men. Fast paced and compellingly written, the book provides an insider's look at the new tactics that many hope will revitalize the struggle for workers' rights in America. On November 1, 1990, just as its contract with the United Steelworkers of America was about to expire, Ravenswood Aluminum Corporation locked out its seventeen hundred employees and hired permanent replacements. Despite deteriorating conditions that had led to five deaths in the previous year, the company had refused to discuss safety and health issues. The locked-out workers faced an industry in turmoil, a plant manager with a grudge against the union, and a business controlled by a billionaire fugitive from justice. Tom Juravich and Kate Bronfenbrenner describe how victory was achieved through the commitment of the workers and their families coupled with one of the most innovative contract campaigns ever waged by an American union.
Customer Reviews:
top notch.......2005-02-22
The writers provide excellent research and history on RAVENSWOOD, detailing convincingly how workers' battled back against rapacious employers. This is a timeless book, relevant for all times. Bronfenbrenner and Juravich, as usual, provide excellent research and analysis of one of the many struggles to save the steel industry in the U.S. Bravo.
Thank God for the Truth.......2004-07-19
As the daughter of a 5668 lockedout employee, who was really too young to fully understand the total impact of the lockout, I looked forward to this book. It has allowed me to have a better grasp of what it was really like for my parents and all of the other Steelworkers and their families. I have come to appreciate what it is to be UNION! This book gave me some suprises that I did not anticipate (PIC!! You know who you are!!!) It also brought me to tears on a numer of occasions. I know the fear, depression, hopelessness that all of these members felt. Bless our union! You truly held "ONE DAY LONGER" than that "Boyle on your Back" and prevailed!! BTW my dad did not make it through the 1st chapter before putting it down in tears, and never picked it up again, because it hits home that hard. Truly a must for anyone involved with this dispute or anyone involved in one of their own. Congratulations 5668
Union Until I Die!.......2002-10-07
True-life tale of the Steelworkers victory in Ravenswood West Virginia. I lived through this event growing up, my father one of the proud members of Local 5668. This book is an excellent read, informative and entertaining. Excellent text for US History courses. I also recommend the film "Matewan."
Ravenswood over unionized.......2001-08-08
Ravenswood is an excellent account of the recent labor victory for the USWA in 1992. The book reads well and does a very good job of holding the reader's interest as the tale of how Local 5668 fought the infamous Marc Rich and won. The drawback of the book is that is is written by very pro labor authors and the view point and opinion portrayed throughout is very slanted in the union's favor. Unbiased opinion and view point is missing, if you're looking for an objective view of the account, this book will not offer that.
A must read for those interested in Labor's struggles..........2000-11-13
This is a book about a strike against an aluminum plant in West Virginia by the United Steelworkers labor union in the early nineties. First, this is a genuinely good read (just based on the story....) with characters (all be they real...) that you root for and others that you shy away from (Emmitt Boyle and Marc Rich are drawn as evil incarnate....) Aside from this, this book serves as a record of a number of things: 1) a model for how a small-town labor struggle could be conducted on a broad-based front; 2) the ways in which capital does not exist in a locality so much as scattered throughout the world; and 3) an illustration of how labor stoppages in small towns have evolved from the days of Pinkerton thugs and picket lines to something more conplex and... well, modern....
I'd really recommend this book to about anyone but, well, honestly, only people really into labor are ever going to read this. This is a really good book....
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations, published by Relations Industrielles on September 22, 2000. The length of the article is 1402 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Ravenswood: The Steelworkers' Victory and the Revival of American Labor.(Review)
Author: Margaret Hallock
Publication:
Relations Industrielles/Industrial Relations (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2000
Publisher: Relations Industrielles
Volume: 55
Issue: 4
Page: 790
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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Discovering Destinations: A Geography Workbook for Travel and Tourism
David W. Howell ,
Jan Van Harssel , and
Marcena Hansen-Hoyt
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
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ASIN: 0130815381 |
Amazon.com
Rhino records, repository of cultural detritus, turns away from '60s garage rock and sleazy lounge recordings for this collection of Things That Were Meant to Succeed ... but Didn't. Entertaining tidbits profile such mega-flops as nasty-tasting, difficult-to-light smokeless cigarettes from RJ Reynolds; Colgate's chewable toothpaste (no kidding); and Kraft's precooked toaster bacon. Obscure failures, such as The Belly Bongo (a toy/musical instrument that was supposed to be the next hula-hoop) and comic book superhero Paranex the Fighting Fetus, receive their fair share of ridicule as well. Not to be missed is the section on product names that didn't translate well, such as Asian beverages Pipi and Mucos, and the American sports car Pinto, which faced difficulty when sold in Brazil where "pinto" is slang for "tiny penis."
Customer Reviews:
Fabulous!.......1998-08-31
This amazing book describes some of the greatest fiascoes and acts of silliness in the Twentieth Century. These include:
The Amphicar -- which is both a bad car and a bad boat
The Flying Car -- which is both a bad car and a bad airplane
The Flying Sub -- the US Navy actually spent money to develop this turkey
Smokeless Cigarettes -- not that tobacco is bad for you, as RJR assures us
New Coke -- a marketing phoenix or roasted chicken?
Fallout Shelters -- take the fun out of survival
The Edsel -- synonymous with failure
Kudzu -- if this was the answer, what was the problem? and did we need to solve it?
and Live Goldfish Swallowing -- no comment
The only thing missing from this list of marketing mayhem is my favorite gimmick from the decade of the Silly Seventies: the pet rock!
Oh, what an inexcusable omission! Somehow I will learn to live with myself and my disappointment.
Book Description
The complete, behind-the-scenes story of the flamboyant glitter rock of the early 1970s.
David Bowie, Marc Bolan, Bryan Ferry, and Iggy Pop were the icons that defined the music known as glam rock. With outrageous getups and glitz cosmetic artistry, they were the gender-bending, trendsetting performers of the music movement that was centered in London but electrified the world. Now, in the first book of its kind, a rock music journalist takes a no-holds-barred tour of a chapter in pop music history that was as transient as stardust...and which influenced countless musicians in the decades that followed, including Prince, Madonna, Annie Lennox, Guns 'N' Roses, and others.
Published in time for the release of Todd Haynes' eagerly awaited film, Velvet Goldmine, Barney Hoskyns' GLAM! captures a thrilling, thoroughly over-the-top time in pop's life, an age of visual excess as rococo as it was space-age. From Oscar Wilde to Ziggy Stardust, from Liberace to Lou Reed and T Rex to Roxy Music, here is the flamboyant decadence, the androgyny, and the sheer unadulterated fun of the early Seventies -- in an incredible rock history that tells it like it was.
Customer Reviews:
Wham bam.......2001-06-08
GLAM is not so much a book as it is an outline for a book. Still, it is a useful outline, providing a Cliff-Notes history of the Glam music in the early 1970's. GLAM does a good job of listing key Glam albums, chronicling significant events in the period, and describing the basic act of every major and most of the minor Glam acts. What's missing are deeper stories about the personalities of Glam, a serious treatment of the music (surely some of the music deserves serious treatment), or anything other than a superficial sociological explanation of what was going on. Yet this is not meant as a complaint. GLAM serves its purpose, is enjoyable to read, and functions as a really good outline. Now if only someone writes the real book. In the meantime, wham bam, thank you GLAM.
Wham bam.......2001-06-08
GLAM is not so much a book as it is an outline for a book. Still, it is a useful outline, providing a Cliff-Notes history of the Glam music in the early 1970's. GLAM does a good job of listing key Glam albums, chronicling significant events in the period, and describing the basic act of every major and most of the minor Glam acts. What's missing are deeper stories about the personalities of Glam, a serious treatment of the music (surely some of the music deserves serious treatment), or anything other than a superficial sociological explanation of what was going on. Yet this is not meant as a complaint. GLAM serves its purpose, is enjoyable to read, and functions as a really good outline. Now if only someone writes the real book. In the meantime, wham bam, thank you GLAM.
A good overview!!.......2001-02-02
This book is an excellent way to expose oneself to a period in rock history that we have had far too little exposure to here in the states. It's not terribly in-depth, but will provide a basic understanding of an extremely influential era. These artists opened a great many doors, and deserve a little more recognition than they have been thus far afforded.
Glitter Rock - Yeah!.......1999-11-04
This is a Great Book about Glitter Rock. If you just gonna buy one book this year buy this. It tells you about all the stars. New York Dolls, Marc Bolan, David Bowie.......
I was a bit disappointed........1998-11-22
Although I lived and experienced the Glam Rock era in the UK back in the early 70s, reading this book did little to rekindle my memories of that period. There is much emphasis placed on who influenced who and when and how. For me, it was written in a somewhat stale manner.
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The Cowboy Hero and Its Audience: Popular Culture As Market Derived Art
Alf H. Walle
Manufacturer: Bowling Green State Univ Popular Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0879728124 |
Book Description
Elements of popular culture (such as literature and films) are major industries. If scholars are to fully understand how popular culture evolves and functions, techniques for dealing with the impact of business need to be factored into the analysis. The business disciplines, in turn, can benefit from merging popular culture theory with marketing theories and methods.
Using the history of the cowboy story from 1820 until 1970 as an extended example, Alf H. Walle combines popular culture scholarship with marketing theory to provide a hybrid analysis of great explanatory value. After a theoretical introduction sets the stage for analysis, individual chapters examine major authors/genres of Western American literature and film. Additional chapters explore why certain respected authors were unable to significantly impact the cowboy story even though their innovations were embraced by later generations. The book culminates with a truly hybrid analysis that combines business and popular culture theory in an overarching analysis bridging 150 years of Western American literature.
Demonstrating how the methods of popular culture scholarship can be merged with those of marketing and consumer research, a robust and mutually beneficial strategy of analysis is showcased.
Customer Reviews:
So worth the money.......1999-08-17
My brother got me this book for my birthday two years ago. It is my bible and my life (kind of sad, actually!) Anyways, it's really good and like that other guy said, if you take a few months to memorize it, you'll the X-Files Genius and you can impress your friends with little tidbits of knowledge. For example, what's Scully's home phone number? I'm not telling.. get it and look it up yourself! Note: good book for diehard fans!
Fun trivia for true fans.......1998-04-26
If you think you know EVERYTHING about the best show on television, you're wrong. These guys pull up obscure info and quiz you on it, drawing not only from the episodes but from interviews, books, and magazines. This is a great book and a must for an X-Phile's library! My only complaint: after reading Phil Farrand's lighthearted Nitpicker's Guide, the authors of this book seem really critical. I mean, what's up with their review of "War of the Coprophages"? Lighten up! Other than that, of course, diehard fans will cherish this book.
Stumps the Best.......1997-10-05
I've always considered myself an X-pert. None of my online friends (or real life for that matter) has ever been able to stump me on X-Files trivia. I'm completely addicted to the show and have 15 books.
This one is definately one of the best, pointing out many of the nitpicks and netpicks we've philes have already discovered in addition to new ones that sent me back to look for them. The trivia is extremely difficult and interesting.
I recommend this book to all philes who think they know it all. Take a few months to memorize this book and then you will know it all.
Fun & Challenging.......1997-07-16
It seems everybody is doing an episode guide, but this book is different...it is all trivia, behind-the-scenes, and nitpicking. Loads of fun if THE X-FILES is your weekly fix. My son and I used it as a game to keep us occupied on a flight from NYC to San Diego as we tested each other's knowledge of our favorite TV show. I highly recommend this book...Must reading for X-Philes
An X-Phile's Treasury.......1997-02-18
Over 1,000 questions from the first three (3) seasons of my favorite TV show in a challenging format to test the gray cells of my brain. How would I describe this book: An X-Files version of JEOPARDY! More than just something to read...a book to play and damn well worth the $$$. I highly recommend it to any die-hard X-Phile
Amazon.com
Computers rely on such things as semiconductors, memory chips, and electricity. But they also rely on a hard-won body of scientific knowledge that has enabled the now-ubiquitous devices to perform complex calculations, multitask, and even play a game of solitaire.
Martin Davis, a fluent interpreter of mathematics and philosophy, locates the source of this knowledge in the work of the remarkable German thinker G. W. Leibniz, who, among other accomplishments, was a distinguished jurist, mining engineer, and diplomat but found time to invent a contraption called the "Leibniz wheel," a sort of calculator that could carry out the four basic operations of arithmetic. Leibniz subsequently developed a method of calculation called the calculus raciocinator, an innovation his successor George Boole extended by, in Davis's words, "turning logic into algebra." (Boole emerges as a deeply sympathetic character in Davis's pages, rather than as the dry-as-dust figure of other histories. He explained, Davis reports, that he had turned to mathematics because he had so little money as a student to buy books, and mathematics books provided more value for the money because they took so long to work through.) Davis traces the development of this logic, essential to the advent of "thinking machines," through the workshops and studies of such thinkers as Georg Cantor, Kurt Gödel, and Alan Turing, each of whom puzzled out just a little bit more of the workings of the world--and who, in the bargain, made the present possible. --Gregory McNamee
Book Description
One of the world's pioneers in the development of computer science offers a mesmerizing history of computers. Computers are everywhere today--at work, in the bank, in artist's studios, sometimes even in our pockets--yet they remain to many of us objects of irreducible mystery. How can today's computers perform such a bewildering variety of tasks if computing is just glorified arithmetic? The answer, as Martin Davis lucidly illustrates, lies in the fact that computers are essentially engines of logic. Their hardware and software embody concepts developed over centuries by logicians such as Leibniz, Boole, and Godel, culminating in the amazing insights of Alan Turing. The Universal Computer traces the development of these concepts by exploring with captivating detail the lives and work of the geniuses who first formulated them. Readers will come away with a revelatory understanding of how and why computers work and how the algorithms within them came to be.
Customer Reviews:
formidable marble-eye stare.......2006-06-07
A very fun read chalk full of and lively interesting personal and biographical information on some of the greatest logicians and mathematicians to have ever lived (e.g. Godel, Hilbert, Boole).
If you're interested in the history of computation theory (computational logic) and even mathematical logic more generally, this book is highly recommended. Davis himself was part of that history by making contributions, e.g., to the Entscheidungsproblem (decision problem).
At the same time, he does not skimp on technical details and explanations, though some of the more technical are often relegated to lengthy endnotes, and so most of these are easily skipped, if desired, without loss of continuity.
A fun read!
A Fun Read........2003-09-20
An entertaining book that will be enjoyed by anyone interested in mathematical logic or computation theory. Davis weaves history, anecdote, and mathematics into an exciting sketch of the major developments in mathematical logic and their role in the development of the computer. He does a commendable job in explaining the mathematics in an accessible fashion, without distorting it by over-simplification. A good book for people new to the field as well as those already familiar with these stories.
An Excellent Overview.......2003-07-02
I thought that this book was an excellent overview of the development of logical thought and it's relevance to the modern computer. Davis does a superior job of energizing a subject that is admittedly a little dull. I found myself rereading several of the sections to try to better understand some of the math involved, but overall, I think Davis found a nice balance between the complexity of the math and the history of logic. My one serious criticism of the book is that I found the chronology to be tough to follow, and I often found myself referring back to previous chapters to try and get a better sense of when events were happening. It is natural to assume that a book like this is presented in chronological fashion. The Universal Computer generally is presented that way, but there are some events that happen more or less simultaneously. This is important to the overview of the history of the field. I think the book could actually use a graphical timeline with the birth dates of the mathematicians and the significant events (i.e. 1902 - Russell's letter to Frege, etc.) that are involved. Other than that, the book is informative and enjoyable for those interested in the origins of the modern computer.
A history of the underlying mathematical concepts.......2003-06-12
As a recent college graduate, who earned a B.S. in computer science, I thought this book provided some good background information on the people who worked to discover the underlying principles of automated mathematics implemented in a machine. The book was, for the most part, not terribly difficult to follow and gave more insight on the actual history of the individual people and times than I thought it might. Nevertheless, the individual histories, and time context put the points being made into a better framework. Not a long book, I recommend this to the more intellectual type, rather than an occasional reader.
The best popular history of the computer as logic engine.......2003-03-19
While most of us consider computers to be some special silicon in a white box, they are in fact machines that execute rules in applied logic. For this reason, the history of computing has two tracks. The first is the hardware track, which generally starts with Charles Babbage and progresses through the recent advances in integrated circuits. One chapter of the book traces the historical development of computer hardware, starting with the Jacquard loom and moving up to the modern personal computer. The second is the history of logic that can be mechanically applied, which is the primary focus of this book.
Once again, the mathematics largely predates the applications. It is amazing how mathematicians develop mathematical structures that initially have no applications and then after some time, something appears that requires that form of mathematics. To me, it is nothing sort of amazing that Alan Turing invented an abstract universal computer long before any of the physical counterparts existed. No one has ever been able to substantially improve on his Turing machines and it is widely believed that they cannot be improved. This theme permeates the book and Davis does a very good job in presenting all of the advances in a historical context.
The contributions of Leibniz, Boole, Frege, Cantor, Hilbert, Godel and Turing are all described in detail, and it is clear how one person's work was built using that done by their predecessors. Other people noted include Bertrand Russell, Leopold Kronecker, and Albert Einstein.
This is the best popular history of the development of the computer viewed as a logic engine. I strongly recommend it as a book for courses in the history of mathematics and computing.
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The Sheer Logic of IT.(Review): An article from: American Scientist
Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
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Binding: Digital
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Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
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The Universal Computer: The Road from Leibniz to Turing.(Review) (book review): An article from: New Criterion
John Derbyshire
Manufacturer: Foundation for Cultural Review
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ASIN: B0008HV7JS
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from New Criterion, published by Foundation for Cultural Review on April 1, 2001. The length of the article is 1691 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Universal Computer: The Road from Leibniz to Turing.(Review) (book review)
Author: John Derbyshire
Publication:
New Criterion (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 2001
Publisher: Foundation for Cultural Review
Volume: 19
Issue: 8
Page: 73
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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