History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Introduction to Evolutionary Computing (Natural Computing Series)

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Excellent textbook
Evolution as a practical tool
Excellent introduction
An excellent textbook suitable for all levels
an excellent introduction

Introduction to Evolutionary Computing (Natural Computing Series)
A.E. Eiben , and J.E. Smith
Manufacturer: Springer
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3540401849

Book Description

Evolutionary Computing is the collective name for a range of problem-solving techniques based on principles of biological evolution, such as natural selection and genetic inheritance. These techniques are being increasingly widely applied to a variety of problems, ranging from practical applications in industry and commerce to leading-edge scientific research.

This book presents the first complete overview of this exciting field aimed directly at lecturers and graduate and undergraduate students. It is also meant for those who wish to apply evolutionary computing to a particular problem or within a given application area. To this group the book is valuable because it presents EC as something to be used rather than just studied.

Last, but not least, this book contains quick-reference information on the current state-of-the-art in a wide range of related topics, so it is of interest not just to evolutionary computing specialists but to researchers working in other fields.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent textbook.......2006-10-31

I have used evolutionary programming in my research in the past and have read several books on the topic. This is one of the most well written books available, that can easily be read by a beginner despite its depth. The conclusions that they draw are logical and supported by the appropriate references. If you had to read only one book in evolutionary programming, consider this as a candidate.

Evolution as a practical tool.......2006-04-04

The authors emphasise from the get-go that this book is meant as a practical introduction to the application of evolutionary computing. It is not a high brow, abstruse monograph. (Which indeed Springer texts often are.)

The level of discussion can be adequately understood by someone with a good background in computing and hopefully also in some science or engineering field. Certainly, there are important abstractions that must be mastered. Like how the evolutionary search can be seen as a path across a fitness landscape or potential energy surface. But there appears to be a careful explanation of the minimum necessary maths to convey an idea. And where a chapter's references might point to more specialised texts or journal papers that give a fuller math treatment.

It may well be, as another reviewer remarked, that there is insufficient detail in some passages of this book. But perhaps the text is not meant to be a low level "user's manual" type of discussion.

If you do find this book useful, consider a more advanced text, "Foundations of Genetic Programming" by Langdon and Poli, also published by Springer. It takes you deeper into the subject.

Excellent introduction.......2005-02-02

I taught our introduction to evolutionary computation class from this book. It is a well rounded introduction to the topic covering most of the introductorty material you would expect. There is an real dearth of good introductory books for EC. This is probably the best because of its breadth. Its weakness is its lack of detail. It would not hurt if they covered the same material in about 50% more pages. As soon as they start a topic its over and on to the next topic. But if you are new to the field they give plenty of references and touch on most topics in enough detail for students to implement. All in all a good solid job.

An excellent textbook suitable for all levels.......2004-06-06

This is an excellent textbook which covers most aspects of the Evolutionary Computing. It's suitable for all levels. It's easy to follow, rich in content and has many references (439 to be precise) for further information. The table of contents from the book's web site is as follows:

1. Introduction
2. What is an Evolutionary Algorithm?
3. Genetic Algorithms
4. Evolution Strategies
5. Evolutionary Programming
6. Genetic Programming
7. Learning Classifier Systems
8. Parameter Control in Evolutionary Algorithms
9. Multi-Modal Problems and Spatial Distribution
10. Hybridisation with Other Techniques: Memetic Algorithms
11. Theory
12. Constraint Handling
13. Special Forms of Evolution
14. Working with Evolutionary Algorithms
15. Summary
16. Appendices
17. Index
18. References

Recommended to everyone interested in EC.

an excellent introduction.......2004-01-29

The book is easy and refreshing to read. Assuming only a minimum of prior knowledge, all the relevant aspects are covered. The focus is on practical applications, with numerous examples, simple equations and plenty of practical advise for the user.

As should be the costum with every scientific introduction, the authors are at great pains to clarify the relationship between the different flavours of EC and to show how they historically developed.

The book does not provide much on the mathematical level, though. Not even a basic graph theoretical analysis of mutation and recombination.

Book Description

William Harms develops the conceptual foundations and tools for a science of knowledge through the application of evolutionary theory, thus allowing us to acknowledge the legacy of skepticism while denying its relativistic offspring. The most significant legacy of philosophical skepticism is the realization that our concepts, beliefs and theories are social constructs. This belief has led to epistemological relativism, or the thesis that, since there is no ultimate truth about the world, theory preferences are only a matter of opinion.

Information and American Democracy: Technology in the Evolution of Political Power (Communication, Society and Politics)

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excellent in combination

Information and American Democracy: Technology in the Evolution of Political Power (Communication, Society and Politics)
Bruce Bimber
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0521804922

Book Description

To provide a comprehensive evaluation of the internet in American democracy, Bruce Bimber sets the contemporary information revolution in historical context, asserting that past developments in American history offer important lessons for understanding how the internet is affecting politics. He examines how citizens and organizations use it for political purposes and is especially interested as to whether new technology is making Americans more engaged in their government. This study about the internet and politics combines historical and survey analysis with case studies of political events.

Customer Reviews:

excellent in combination.......2005-10-13

I plan to use this book in combination with a traditional MIS textbook in an undergraduate course in a political science/public administration setting. It is clearly written and addresses not only information but also complexity in the design of government systems. I think this book is a rare and valuable resource that will spark a lot of discovery and discussion in class among my students.

Information Theory, Evolution, and The Origin of Life

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Dr. Yockey Scores Again!
Information Theory as a Foundation of Biology
Explaining Evolution in Terms of Digital Information Flow
Until Amazon removes them...
Interesting history. We wanted even more theory!

Information Theory, Evolution, and The Origin of Life
Hubert P. Yockey
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521802938

Book Description

Information Theory, Evolution and the Origin of Life presents a timely introduction to the use of information theory and coding theory in molecular biology. The genetical information system, because it is linear and digital, resembles the algorithmic language of computers. George Gamow pointed out that the application of Shannon's information theory breaks genetics and molecular biology out of the descriptive mode into the quantitative mode and Dr Yockey develops this theme, discussing how information theory and coding theory can be applied to molecular biology. He discusses how these tools for measuring the information in the sequences of the genome and the proteome are essential for our complete understanding of the nature and origin of life. The author writes for the computer competent reader who is interested in evolution and the origins of life.

Customer Reviews:

Dr. Yockey Scores Again!.......2006-12-07

This book, which is the long awaited follow-up to Information Theory and Molecular Biology, is another tour de force in a long history of such insights from Dr. Yockey. As the former head of the U.S. Government's Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Yockey has a demonstrated history of squashing austensibly scientific ideas that superficially make sense, but when given the acid test are found entirely wanting. This book is replete with such deconstructions and they are much needed as they pertain to the current origin of life debate. Let me cite a few examples:

Perhaps formost among them is the idea that life arose from some Urschleim (primeval slime). Not only does Yockey show that this theory cannot be true, he explains exactly why, using mathematical certainty. First, he shows, applying Information theory to Crick's Central Dogma, that because the flow of information can only pass from larger encoding alphabets to smaller ones, but not the other way around, it is impossible for the information which fills the genetic code to have proceded from proteins (the smaller alphabet) to DNA/RNA (the larger alphabet). Ergo, it is equally impossible for any proteins-first theory of life origin to be correct - simply on that basis. Because what matters is not so much the DNA itself, in the scheme of life's continued existence, but the information it contains!

Next, he offers what may be the best summation of evidence in print to show that there simply is no scientific basis whatsoever to conclude that anything like Darwin's "warm little pond" ever existed. But he goes much further, taking evidence from fossil records as to the nature of the earth's atmosphere during the time the Urschleim was presumed to exist, Yockey shows that it is simply not possible chemically for earth to have had the atmosphere that it did and for those ponds to exist. The upshot being, according to cellular biologist and Nobel Laureate Christian Du Duve, without those ponds, the chance of any natural origin of life is zero.

Another strength of the book is the facility with which he ties the procedural activities of the genome to information theory, specifically Shannon's Law. The importance here is his insight into the nature of codes. He begins by demonstrating that the genetic code, in its present optimal form, could not have had a natural origin simply because not enough time has existed since the beginning of the universe to allow for it's actuality strictly in terms of processing.

He furthers this with the following quote from one of his earlier works: "The calculations presented in this paper show that the origin of a rather accurate genetic code, not necessarily the modern one, is a pons asinorum that must be crossed to pass over the abyss that separates crystallography, high polymer chemistry and physics from biology.(Yockey, 1981, 1992)" Then quoting from the book directly thereafter, "The paradox is seldom mentioned that enzymes are required to define or generate the reaction network, and the network is required to synthesize the enzymes and their component amino acids. There is no trace in physics or chemistry of the control of chemical reactions by a sequence of any sort or of a code between sequences. Thus, when we make the distinction between the origin of the genetic code and its evolution, we find the origin of the genetic code is unknowable."

However, Yockey is not arguing for some kind of theistic event. In fact, he takes great pains later in the book to demonstrate that he does not support any theistic conclusion. From his perspective, while it is provably true, based on mathematical certainty, that the genetic code did not have a natural origin, because the universe has demonstrated no ability whatsoever to formulate any kind of code, let alone something as sophisticated as the genome, it cannot be assumed ipso facto that a supernatural event is the only other choice. Because there is no scientific evidence to support that possibility, Yockey is completely unwilling to postulate such, even in off-the-record conversations.

To further distance himself from any hint that he supports Intelligent Design (ID) with is work, he takes-on one of the icons of ID, Dr. Michael Behe, and his theory of Irreducible complexity (IR). The way in which he attempts to show that Behe's theory does not work is to formulate IR as a kind of Gordian Knot that, if Behe is correct, is not computable. Because he can show that Behe's model is computable, he believes he has shown Behe's theory to be incorrect in principle.

However, his complete misunderstanding of Behe's theory leads him to disprove something Behe did not theorize. Behe's IR does not refer to a mathematically unsolvable puzzle, but to a kind of engineering dilemma for which there is no functional step-wise construction. Mechanisms for which there is no gradual, step by step approach to their completion, where every single step is itself a working model, are termed Irreducibly Complex. In other words, IR refers to any mechanism wherein all the parts necessary for its function are similtaneously extant because no partial iteration of the mechanism will function in any way.

I would use the example of a car engine. There is a net of engine parts required for the engine to run. Below that net assembly of parts, the engine will neither start nor run, even in principle. So while an engine is constructed sequentially, none of those sequences, short of a complete engine, will function, as is required by Darwinian gradualism.

Behe uses a simpler example, the mouse trap. His theory states that if you remove any one of the simple parts, it is impossible for the trap to function. The net result of Behe's theory is that IR makes it impossible for any mechanism so possessed to evolve in a gradual way because all the parts have to be there at the start for the mechanism to work. On the other hand, Darwinian Gradualism requires that every step be not only an advancement in function, but a competitive advantage that allows the creature superior ability in the war for continued existence.

Though Yockey confuses Behe's theory with the mathematical version of irreducibly complexity, to his credit, as the aforementioned quote from his book, regarding the impossibility of a network creating enzymes when enzymes themselves must first exist to make the network creating enzymes work [a classic Catch 22], he recognizes the irreducibly complex problem to which Behe refers. As such, while he discusses the it in completely different terms, his own example recognizes, as Behe theorizes, that it is impossible for such mechanisms to come into existence by some natural means.

That little flap is however, of no consequence in the panarama of Yockey's book. Everything he has written on the subject of this book has become a must read for anyone who wants to be completely up to speed on the origin of life question. His original insights are powerful precisely because he goes beyond supposition and hypotheses cum theories, to show with the certainty of mathematical law, why some things cannot be. As a consequence, whenever amathematical biologists finally decide to stop arguing about matters that have already been definitively determined, and consult the wisdom and insights of one of a physicist who is one of the 20th century's great scientific minds, they will devour this book.
John Tomlinson, MA, CHt

Information Theory as a Foundation of Biology.......2006-03-23

The previous book of Hubert P. Yockey, 'Information theory and molecular biology', published in 1992, was unfortunately out of print for many years. Publication of 'Information theory, evolution, and the origin of life' makes available much of its material. The scope of the new book has moreover been broadened to encompass the hot topics mentioned in the title.

The academic world is divided into narrow compartments, each having its own methods, language, habits and gurus. Communication between them is made difficult by the lack of a common language so they most often ignore each other. When a concept from one of them eventually penetrates another one, it often assumes a superficial form which leads to misunderstandings. Although this may sometimes be better than plain ignorance, it results in rooting prejudices wrongly believed to hold true in other disciplines, and they live long for lack of proper internal criticism. Yockey is at the antipodes of this parochial system. His life-long efforts have been intended to convince biologists that information theory, a discipline originating in communication engineering, is the proper tool for dealing with molecular biology, hence should be at the heart of biology as a whole. He possesses to a high degree the needed didactic talents, as well as an extreme rigor in vocabulary and reasoning. Not only Yockey transcends disciplinary barriers, but also the famous divide between the 'two cultures'. His extremely broad scholarship is not purely scientific, but also historical, philosophical and literary. All chapters of the book bear in epigraph quotations from poets as well as from scientists or philosophers of all times, always wonderfully relevant to the subject matter. Similarly, many excellent quotations pepper the text. Yockey obviously does not think that scientific rigor demands dullness. On the contrary, the book is written in a witty and often caustic style. It abounds with historical anecdotes and comments, often intended to rehabilitate forgotten authors of major concepts or discoveries and to denounce usurped fames (one may disagree with some abrupt judgements).

As an engineer, I am convinced that information theory is the proper tool for dealing with molecular biology. Indeed, genomes communicate the genetic message as sequences of symbols (that these symbols are molecules does not mean they are relevant to chemistry only), and information theory is precisely the science of communication by means of symbol sequences. As a mathematical science, its results consist of theorems which can be thought of as predetermined forms which need 'only' to be filled with biological matter. But Shannon, the founding father of information theory, warned us that this task is far from trivial: 'Seldom do more than a few of nature's secrets give way at one time. [...] A thorough understanding of the mathematical foundations and its communication application is surely a prerequisite to other applications. I personally believe that many of the concepts of information theory will prove useful in these other fields [i.e., social sciences] but the establishing of such applications is not a trivial matter of translating words to a new domain, but rather the slow tedious process of hypothesis and experimental verification.' (from 'The Bandwagon', 1956, in 'Claude Elwood Shannon collected papers', edited by N.J.A. Sloane and A.D. Wyner, IEEE Press, 1993, page 462). Although Shannon made these comments about social sciences, I think that they perfectly apply to biology. Yockey's efforts are precisely aimed at letting biologists understand how relevant and potentially rewarding to their discipline is information theory.

Besides it presents compelling arguments in favor of the use of information theory in biology, the book also considers biological evolution and the origin of life. Since the genome is the medium which transmits the hereditary information through time, information theory is relevant to evolution just as it is to genetics. The book also critically reviews the many scientific and philosophical hypotheses about the origin of life, and shows that none of the alleged scenarios is likely to properly describe the events that actually occurred. The origin of life may well remain unknowable. Similarly, the mathematicians know since Gödel that propositions may be undecidable so, within a given system of axioms, it may be impossible to prove true results. The algorithmic information theory explains why it is so in a surprisingly simple manner: it results from the necessarily finite amount of available information. That the origin of life may remain a mystery forever is the bad news of the book. The good news is that information theory enables dealing with life phenomena by 'measuring, counting and weighting together with reasonings from postulates or axioms', a sentence which is quoted from Socrates at the very beginning of the book. Using information theory, biology can thus reach the status of a quantitative science. Biologists did not yet realize their luck, however. The book bears in epigraph a quotation from Niccolo Machiavelli who very lucidly states how difficult and dangerous it is to '[...] initiate a new order of things. For the reformer has ennemies in all those who profit by the old order, and only lukewarm defenders in all those who would profit by the new order'. Yockey's extraordinary book leaves by no means its reader lukewarm and is in itself a big step towards the new order. Although it is mainly intended to biologists, this book can be fruitful to the general reader who is interested in evolution and the origin of life. There are somewhat technical developments, in either information theory or molecular biology, but they are few and can be skipped. An appendix dealing with information theory, a glossary and an index are provided to help the reader.

Gerard Battail

Explaining Evolution in Terms of Digital Information Flow.......2006-01-11

This book has the very ambitious task of introducing the general reader to the current thinking regarding evolution, the origin of life on Earth, and the question of life on Mars, Europa and elsewhere in the universe.

Dr. Yockey shows that DNA is the genetic information system that compares in almost every aspect with digital data manipulation. DNA represents a code, a program if you will in computer terms that directs life. It also provides for the replication of life, and its evolution into changing forms over time.

The book is aimed at the non-specialist. It is not a text, but a kind of narrative history of significant developments in biology at a fundamental level. There is some mathematics in the book, but it is not a requirement that this be totally understood. The math serves as a proof of the statements he is making.

The book includes a chapter 'Does evolution need an intelligent designer?' This has caused some 'intelligent designers' to use Dr. Yockey's work in support of their argument.

Dr. Yockey concludes however, that there are some things that we just don't know and that: 'The fact that there are many things unavailable to human knowledge and reasoning, even in mathematics, does not mean that there must be an Intelligent Designer.'

This is a very enjoyable book to read. It is well written and clearly shows an intelligent approach to the problem.

Until Amazon removes them..........2005-10-12

Readers should note that the two reviews below dated 1999 and 1998 are for Yockey's 1992 book, not this 2005 one. Once Amazon deletes those reviews, Amazon can delete this one as well.

Interesting history. We wanted even more theory!.......2005-05-20

Hubert Yockey has long studied life's programming from the perspective of information theory. His sceptical conclusions about origin-of-life theories are often cited by proponents of creationism / intelligent design (ID). But in his new book, Yockey is sceptical about some of their theories, too. For example, against Michael Behe he says that protein sequences cannot be irreducibly complex (p 179).

Regarding ID he comments that, according to information theory, "Once life has appeared,... genetic messages will not fade away and can indeed survive for 3.85 billion years without assistance from an Intelligent Designer" (p 181, 184). Okay, but the most interesting aspect of evolution is not the survival of old genetic programs, but the apparent invention of new ones. Does information theory explain how new genetic programs might be composed de novo? Can the process be observed or modeled? An informed discussion of this issue is sorely needed. Yockey's silence about it surprises and disappoints us.

As he ranges widely through the history of evolutionary theory, Yockey often wants to set the record straight. Specifically, several theories and experiments were known already, before the scientists who got credit for them came along. Furthermore, "Darwin did not believe in a 'warm little pond'..." (p 120), and "Oparin was very close to Lysenko" (p 153). If you are interested in information theory and biology, you will probably be edified by Yockey's scholarship in this book.

The Ontogeny of Information: Developmental Systems and Evolution (Science and Cultural Theory)

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Great Book

The Ontogeny of Information: Developmental Systems and Evolution (Science and Cultural Theory)
Susan Oyama
Manufacturer: Duke University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0822324660

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The Ontogeny of Information is a critical intervention into the ongoing and perpetually troubling nature-nurture debates surrounding human development. Originally published in 1985, this was a foundational text in what is now the substantial field of developmental systems theory. In this revised edition Susan Oyama argues compellingly that nature and nurture are not alternative influences on human development but, rather, developmental products and the developmental processes that produce them.
Information, says Oyama, is thought to reside in molecules, cells, tissues, and the environment. When something wondrous occurs in the world, we tend to question whether the information guiding the transformation was pre-encoded in the organism or installed through experience or instruction. Oyama looks beyond this either-or question to focus on the history of such developments. She shows that what developmental âinformationâ does depends on what is already in place and what alternatives are available. She terms this process âconstructive interactionism,â whereby each combination of genes and environmental influences simultaneously interacts to produce a unique result. Ontogeny, then, is the result of dynamic and complex interactions in multileveled developmental systems.
The Ontogeny of Information challenges specialists in the fields of developmental biology, philosophy of biology, psychology, and sociology, and even nonspecialists, to reexamine the existing nature-nurture dichotomy as it relates to the history and formation of organisms.

Customer Reviews:

Great Book.......2002-03-29

Sorry that my review is so small. This is a great book about the dichotomy of genes and environment and how there is no real line dividing the 2. It speaks of some of the misconceptions that way of thinking produces. It also discusses some of the common metaphors that have been used in the past relating genes to "blue prints" and the such and how these metaphors should be gotton rid of. The ingredients that go into an oransism and inheritance are many which includes genes, atmosphere, culture, and many more that she discuses. All are important in the construction of an organism and none are more important then any other. She also discuses the silliness of the nature nurture debate. I think this book and way of thinking is very important for science, social sciences and just the everyday [mis]conceptions most people in the western world have of the dualism of genetics and environment.

Beyond Humanity: Cyberevolution and Future Minds

Average customer rating:

Right about religion, but too much rides on their scenario
Less Filling
An awe inspiring vision of the future!!
Organic Life is Doomed
Where are we going?

Beyond Humanity: Cyberevolution and Future Minds
Gregory S. Paul , and Earl Cox
Manufacturer: Delmar Thomson Learning
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1886801215

Customer Reviews:

Right about religion, but too much rides on their scenario.......2002-01-26

The idea that robots could supplant humanity has been around at least since the 1920's, when Karel Capek anglicized the Czech word "robota" and introduced it into the English language through his play "Rossum's Universal Robots." Lately the idea has taken on new life because of a possibly misplaced emphasis on Moore's Law and the growing power of computer networks. But a couple years ago I read where a real-world robotics engineer joked that if the robots are going to take over, they'd better act quickly because the batteries we give them only last for about a half-hour or so.

Nonetheless, this book covers ground that should be familiar to people who have already been exposed to similar scenarios popularized in books by Hans Moravec, Ray Kurzweil, Kevin Warwick, Damien Broderick and others. It's pretty much plain-vanilla Transhumanist wishful thinking, though livened up by a discussion of the faults of traditional religious belief systems.

My main problem with it is that Paul and Cox's scenario requires about as many critical assumptions as the Drake Equation to turn out just so. Social acceptance of new technologies isn't as straightforward as the authors assume. Why, for example, don't we have technologically doable videophones (a science-fictional cliché about life in the 21st Century), while we do have those obnoxious and unreliable cellphones everywhere these days? Apart from the technical considerations, the lack of demand for the former suggests that we probably don't value having to confront and interpret one another's body language as much as you would have predicted from the characterization of our species as social primates. For similar reasons, the authors' assumption that most people will readily upload into cyber-bodies can't be substantiated until something like that really becomes available. Although we should have learned by now that there are usually unintended consequences to what we do, I haven't seen evidence for emergent and unforeseen AI-like behavior coming from software written by humans for human purposes. There is nothing analogous to Moore's Law for the evolution of software. And even if there are powerful economic incentives to create software with such behavior, it doesn't necessarily have to happen on a short time scale if it turns out to be really hard.

Paul and Cox are more on target in their discussion of the perverse backwardness of traditional religious worldviews in response to current and foreseeable progress. Christians should realize that something is wrong with their story when virgins can now routinely give birth via modern reproductive medicine, and soon without even genetic contributions from men. When Rush Limbaugh went deaf, he didn't pray to some deity to restore his hearing -- he got a cochlear implant, which seems to be working well enough to save his radio career. Advocates of the creationist "Intelligent Design" theory have a problem they don't even realize yet: Humans are intelligently designing and producing things of ever greater complexity, especially computers, yet they are totally unlike things found in nature. No theist ever thought of attributing to his deity the ability to create a computer, which suggests that humans are able to do things that the postulated deity can't! (That's why bio-engineering is denounced as "playing god," while computer engineering isn't.) As the authors say on page 410, "As much as they may hate to admit it, the religious and the mystical know that science and technology do not just make promises that never quite seem to come to pass, or claim miracles that cannot be separated from illusion. They deliver the goods. They make pretend magic real." When "SciTech" gets to the point where it can reverse human aging and resuscitate "dead" people from cryonic suspension, the whole rationale for religion will be thrown into question. Paul and Cox are a little too hard on Buddhism, however, for Buddhists were way ahead of the curve when they developed the insight centuries ago, now substantiated by modern cognitive neuroscience, that the perception of selfhood is illusory. (However I find it ironic that certain Transhumanists want to deny selfhood to people while attributing it to "spiritual machines"!)

Paul and Cox finally go astray by putting too much of the burden of conquering aging and death on their predicted cyber "future minds." While they emphasize the importance of funding scientific education and research now, so that the breakthrough they are predicting will come sooner and save more human lives, they don't seem to realize that there are plenty of things we can be doing with current human intelligence to improve our survival chances. For one thing, there are some as yet unreported breakthroughs in the cryopreservation of the human brain that could enable people dying now a chance to be resuscitated by future medicine. For another, the genetic mechanisms of aging are quickly being discovered, allowing scientists to design drugs that could give us the anti-aging effects of calorie restriction without some of the drawbacks.

On the whole this book gives an overdetermined version of Transhumanist thinking. Better to read it in conjunction with several others, along with related Web texts, to get a better sense of what Transhumanism is all about.

Less Filling.......2001-07-11

Earl Cox, who also peddles his magical machine vision on radio talk shows, is selling us a large bill of goods in this book, with exciting but ultimately meaningless statements like "downloading your brain into cyberspace"...etc. A close read of his book from a non-materialistic standpoint reveals major assumptions that simply do not hold up to close scrutiny.

1) First, technology does not just "keep developing" faster and faster in some sort of self generating way. Technology is developed for a particular purpose, to solve a problem, to make thing smaller, faster, etc., and is developed in a specific economic and social environment, within which it has to make sense. Much of the type of intelligent machine that Cox discusses make little sense in these terms, despite the fact that he keeps insisting that technology will develop in directons we can't imagine, wrong, we imagine the direction of technological direction, period. Who is going to pay for all these wonderful machines that we will make?

2) Second, throughout the book there appears to be a simplistic assumption or analogy at work throughout the book: mind/body - software/hardware. It is this analogy that fuels. Mr. Cox seems simplistically enamored of modern technology, and oos and aas constantly about our ability to manipulate the atom, create body parts, characterize the human genome, etc. all while half the world is illiterate and millions die of starvation daily. He seems completely fooled by technolopolist propaganda, i.e., all problems can be solved by technology, technology has the answers, his belief in this is akin to a religious belief. But we have many instances of great scientific and technological "advances" that mostly create greater problems than they solve--has Cox been to some of our uncountable nuclear waste sites, the unhappy reminders of our conquering of the atom, and when will that next nuclear power plant be built? Closer to home, it now appears that cloning produces animals with something less than perfect genetic material, in fact, their survival prospects are pretty bleak. And what about the possibility that our pursuit of technological fixes could lead to the total destruction of the ecosystem, humankind, etc.? Mr. Cox hopes that first we will have built machines that could survive such a catastrophe...

3) Sadly Cox is a total materialist, a position which gives his whole edifice a feeling of unreality from the get go, soul-less as it is. The simple question why do this? Why do that? Comes up frequently. Cox has not more sophisticated answer than, well the technology is there, we will keep devloping it ad infinitum.

4) The kinds of machine derived "improvements" that Cox apotheosizes, faster information processing, tireless ability to monitor and calculate, etc. are only a small fraction of the totality of human expression, development, etc. and are wholly external. The term intelligence is used as if there is one measure of intelligence, when in fact there are many, and machines that we create typically only are able to do a single thing very very well, yes better than we can do it but usually because we wouldnt be suited to do it, it would be boring, etc. not because we can't do it.

5) Cox, not suprisiingly, ignores completely, the real locus of human development, not manipulating the external world, but cultivating the inner world.....

An awe inspiring vision of the future!!.......2001-05-13

This book will grab you from the first page and take you on a vision of the future where people will never die and where our descendents will be robots that will eventually populate the entire universe. The authors paint a very convincing story of a future which they think is inevitable.
"... these machines will see and feel, care and wonder, not just as well as we do, but far better than we can ever hope to. There will be a world of seemingly magical power in which the collective of super-minds will perform (or will conduct) super-science millions of times faster the we humans." (pg. 8)
"When the winds of change deposit us in the future of our dreams, you can be sure we won't be in Kansas anymore. Humanity, as we know it, will be facing a rapid extinction, not from natural causes...but from a situation of our own making. We will find our niche on Earth crowded out by a better and more competitive organism. Yet this is not the end of humanity, only its physical existence as a biological life form. Mankind will join our newly invented partners. We will download our minds into vessels created by our machine children and, with them, explore the universe." (pg.8)
It is the exponential growth of technology that will make this vision possible as the authors write, "the power of calculation has grown an astounding trillion times in less than 100 years! Over the last 50 years, computer speed has expanded some ten millionfold.." (pg. 201)
"There were few cars in 1920 and millions of them in 1930; there wer few home computers in 1975 and millions of them in 1995, and there will be millions of robots among us in a few decades." (pg. 241). (Robots) "will need humans less and less, and fewer and fewer folks will be able to find work. Imagine a world where humans are competing with hundreds of millions of mobile robots, most of them becoming smarter all the time." (pg. 251)
There is a section on the death of religion towards the end of the book which may disturb some people and probably would have been better off not included. There is also a general belief by the authors that we are probably the only intelligent life forms in the universe which they argue unconvincingly. But these two faults are minor in a book of this length.
Close to 500 pages in length I have read it cover to cover 4 times now and always find something new everytime. You do not have to be a scientific expert in this field to appreciate this masterpeice because the writing style reminds me of watching a good sci fi movie. The only difference is that this is NOT fiction!
If you have children or grandchildren you should definately read this book because it is very possible that they may never die!

Organic Life is Doomed.......2001-05-01

Read this book if you what to understand where our society is headed in the near future. Gregory S. Paul and Earl D. Cox have put together some extremely well thought out theories of where the computer revolution is taking us. They base these theories on a wealth of facts from the past and present.

The biggest revelation for me was realizing that the advancement in knowledge and computing power is a result of the driving force of information exchange. There are many underlying similarities to thermodynamics, and this book hints at this. Evolution, Thermodynamics, Biology, Material Science, and Information Technology are all discussed in the book. If this book is right, the next fifty years will be illuminating.

Where are we going?.......2000-08-21

Foretelling the future, once the realm of mystics and entrail pullers, is now a subject of serious scientific study. Paul and Cox offer us a rational and plausible scenario of what the future holds for humanity. With backgrounds in biology and computer engineering, they've combined to bring competence to an enduring question: Where are we going? You may not like their view of the road ahead, but it's impossible to ignore their forecast.

Their arguments focus on developments in neurosciences and computing power. They foresee a merger of these two disciplines resulting in the creation of a new humanity capable of engineering new, immortal physical brain carriers - bodies. Bodies themselves, as any gene can verify, are of minor importance. They are in essential agreement with Richard Dawkins that the selfish gene, in replicating itself, casts off the brain/mind of its host and losing whatever that mind has accumulated during its life. Their forecast is that the brain, using cybernetic technologies, will be able to avoid that waste by taking control of what DNA does during its thoughtless replication activity.

This is a momentous proposal, worthy of serious consideration. The so- called 'moral' issues of whether humanity should engage in such activity, aren't shrugged off. Paul and Cox contend that there will be Rejectionists who will refused the option of cyberevolution and remain mortal. They suggest the Rejectionists will remain the chief source of art, music and other more diverse roles in life. We are left unclear as to how diverse the cyberhumans will become. The authors argue that the cyberhumans will be the ones to populate other planets, finding their diversity in response to new environments.

The only real flaw in this book is ignoring the power of DNA in driving our lives and society. Whether we will ever understand the workings of DNA sufficiently to actually create a wide range of individuals remains problematic. The individual who first successfully transforms into a cyberhuman will set a pattern more likely to be repeated than modified. To create discrete cyber-individuals will be tremendously resource extravagant. This is likely lead to a narrow range of available DNA to launch the cyberpopulation. As we have already experienced with the shrinking gene pool of crop seeds, such a reduced variety is highly vulnerable to virus assault. An organism that succeeds in infecting such a limited diversity can quickly wipe out the whole cyberhuman population. Modifying the gene pool to resist such an infestation will take more resources and the Rejectionists will again be successful survivors through their genetic diversity.

Book Description

This highly interdisciplinary book discusses the phenomenon of life, including its origin and evolution (and also human cultural evolution), against the background of thermodynamics, statistical mechanics, and information theory. Among the central themes is the seeming contradiction between the second law of thermodynamics and the high degree of order and complexity produced by living systems. This paradox has its resolution in the information content of the Gibbs free energy that enters the biosphere from outside sources, as the author shows. The role of information in human cultural evolution is another focus of the book. One of the final chapters discusses the merging of information technology and biotechnology into a new discipline — bio-information technology.

Customer Reviews:

Interesting read, may have technical flaws.......2006-06-24

This book discusses the phenomenon of life in terms of information
theory, statistical mechanics, and thermodynamics. The author has chapters
devoted to evolution, statistical mechanics and information, molecular biology,
information technology, and speculation about the future.

Avery makes several key points in his book. The first is that living
organisms, as highly ordered systems whose configurations could hardly have
arisen by chance, are constantly fighting the Second Law of Thermodynamics,
and get their thermodynamic information from the environment. To explain
this, Avery ties together the fields of information theory, developed by
Shannon, and statical mechanics and thermodynamics, developed by
Gibbs, Boltzmann, Maxwell, and others. While I am not sure whether his
logic is correct (according to reviewers on Amazon.com, this is debatable),
I do wish he showed the derivations in more detail, rather than just
stating things.

Avery observes that when humans developed complex language and culture, it
demarcates a new phase in the evolution of life on Earth. Previously,
information as passed down from one generation to the next in the genetic
code. Humans, however, can use language to do as well. Since human
language can transmit a far greater amount and range of information than
DNA, human cultural evolution is the current great chapter in evolution,
especially after the invention of writing and electronic computers. For
example, he notes that the scientific revolution in the West was possible
only after the inventions of paper and printing reached Europe.

This observation comes with a warning, however. Genetically, we are almost
identical with our Stone Age ancestors. Avery says, ``Because of the slowness
of genetic evolution in comparison to the rapid and constantly-accelerating
rate of cultural change, our bodies and minds are not perfectly adapted to
our new way of life. They reflect more accurately the way of life of our
hunter-gatherer ancestors.'' More specifically, Avery believes that a
predilection towards ``tribalism'' and war is a negative characteristic that
we inherited. Given our technology, the devastating potential of war today
is far worse than ever. Thus, we in order for humans and life on Earth to
survive in the long term, Avery states that we must strive to eliminate war.
He says:

``... this does not mean that the elimination of the institution of war is
impossible, but it means that the task will require the full resources and
full cooperation of the world's educational systems, religions, and mass
media. It will be necessary to educate children throughout the world in
such a way that they will think of humanity as a single group -- a large
family to which all humans belong, and to which they own their ultimate
loyalty.''

Finally, There is some discussion on the definition of life. What if we
move beyond carbon-based organisms? Do computers count? Avery advances an
interesting theme of life: Living beings are able to convert the
thermodynamic information contained in food or in sunlight into complex
and statistically unlikely configurations of matter.

What makes this book enjoyable is that he includes both the history of science
as well as mathematical derivations. Most history books leave out mathematical
rigor out of fear of turning off lay audiences, and most textbooks skip the
history because it's seen as ``unimportant'' to teaching the concept at hand.
I disagree: I believe that both are necessary to appreciate the development of
science. Too often, modern students see science as a set a ideas handed down
from above, and lose sight of the fact that science is an ongoing human
endeavor to understand the universe that is continually being updated. By
giving the reader a glimpse into the stories of Condorcet, Darwin, Mendel,
Gibbs, Shannon, and others, we see how each generation of thinkers built on
the work of previous ones.

A Nobel Prize Winning physicist does us all justice!.......2005-12-02

Clearly, as we see by the last two reviewer's comments, a lack of education leads to confusion. Not that the "thermodynamics of life" isn't a confusing subject, but rather there exists no full textbook on the subject. For those interested, last week, I wrote up a quick review of thermodynamic evolution:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermodynamic_evolution

Quickly, let me point out a few things about the last reviewer's comments:

(1) Avery's book is a magnificent piece of intellectual crystal.
(2) Avery is a Nobel Prize Winner, and has degrees in BS physics (MIT), MS physics (Univ. of Chicago), PhD theoretical chemistry (Imperial College, London).
(3) Avery clearly makes a connection in this book between Gibbs free energy, being the total amount of energy available to do useful work in a reacting system, and Life. Well done Avery!
(4) Whenever a person does "work" it is owing to the electromagnetic fluxed through the earth system; a portion of this energy goes to "evolutionary" work [G], a portion goes to waste and friction [S].
(5) It is standard protocol when writing to break up your thoughts into paragraphs (note to last reviewer).
(6) Anyone who cites Dembski or Lambert as a source is a clearly missing the point.

Always remember, everything you see around you on earth is made from only three things: nuclei, electrons, and photons. If, at any time, you find someone trying to confuse you with "fancy" talk of information, bits, demons, entropy, etc., remember....its all nuclei-electron-photon interactions, as denied via QED; it's that simple - photon input causes things, i.e. molecular structures, to move or evolve.

Adios: Libb Thims,
BS Chemical Engineering, BS Electrical Engineering, Human Thermodynamicist, Author
PhD Biochemistry - MD Neuroscience (in progress)

Easy reading but misleading.......2005-01-31

The book is new but out of date, based on old mythologies about the relationship of information theory to biology. Communication theory is undergoing a revolution but you would not know anything about that from this book which focuses on century old analyses. The author wishes to introduce a new term 'thermodynamical information' which, combined with other terminological contradictions, leads to incorrect inferences and a 'just so story' about how life was inevitable. This may or may not be true but this book has not shed any light on it. The author states 'A flood of information-containing free energy reaches the earth's biosphere in the form of sunlight...much of it is degraded into heat, but part is converted into cybernetic information and preserved in the intricate structures which are characteristic of life.' This view is so simplistic it borders on ridiculous. Many scientists have, in estimating the probability of life purely using probablility theory (which is likely not possible but at least begs the question) estimated only highly improbable (or infinitisimal) numbers arise in light of modern cosmological estimates of the age of the universe and earth. Avery has no concern with cosmology because by equating (Gibbs free) energy with information there is obviously sufficient energy for life on earth from the sun? However why is absolute information relevant? Does not information require a recipient, which in turns begs the question how did it arise? Avery makes a widespread historical error in defining information and entropy as absolutes. This leads to many myths including 'Maxwell's Demon'. In real irreversible processes: 1. We have in thermodynamics an inequality of entropy being greater than heat dissipation, S>[Q/T]; 2. In information theory what Avery refers to (popularly) as 'Shannon entropy' that he equates with information is really 'uncertainty'. 'Shannon' information is the decrease (if any) of uncertainty of a receiver (or 'molecular machine') in going from a before state to an after state; so I = Hbefore - Hafter; where H is the standard entropy-like formula (without Boltzman's K) or -Sum[p.log2.p]. Comparing this with Boltzman's entropy S = -k.Sum[P.ln.P] and using log2(x) = ln(x)/ln(2) one gets and inequality with Clausius's thermodynamical entropy for irreversible systems of: kTln(2) < -Q/I [E.g. see Dr Tom Schneider's website.] Therefore for every bit of information gained, heat is dissipated into the environment. 'Maxwell's demon' is a myth in real irreversible processes. Avery devotes an entire appendix to suggest an equality of entropy with information and suggests Boltzman established the relationship. This is poppycock! All the appendix does is re-derive the usual connection between microconical statistical and macroconical thermodynamical entropy relations, ending with the Clausius equality for reversible systems [and into the Maxwell demon myth!]. As the true relationship between information and entropy is a proportionality (inequality for real systems) Boltzman in no way proved the connection! No one can establish an equality. For instance, if you flip a coin a minimum energy is dissipated but the information gained is 1 bit whether you toss it 1 foot or 10 feet! Also if you toss a coin 1000 times you do not get 1000 bits of information as suggested by W. Dembski in his book 'No Free Lunch' , as would Avery in using the absolute definition; instead Hbefore -Hafter = 0 bits. Information is a state function difference; otherwise it equates with entropy which many then equate with disorder; i.e. a contradiction. It leads to the paradoxical statements of some scientists that a random text has more information than a meaningful one. More poppycock! Further mythologies are perpetrated in Avery's dealing with entropy. As Dr. Frank Lambert says 'Entropy is not disorder, not a measure of chaos, not a driving force. Energy's diffusion or dispersal to more microstates is the driving force in chemistry. Entropy is the measure or index of that dispersal.' Similarly he refers to 'negentropy' '...which an organism...maintains in sucking orderliness from the environment.' This is a contradiction in terms. The absolute value of entropy cannot be negative (see Boltzman's equation for S); instead what should be refered to is a decrease in entropy, i.e. dS. The riddle of life though is not simply solved by referring to the free energy from the sun. As P.W. Atkins said in his excellent book on 'The 2nd Law': 'thermodynamic systems do not tend towards states of lower energy...The Universe falls upward in entropy: that is the only law of spontaneous change. The free energy is, in fact, just a disguised form of the total entropy of the Universe...The Second Law is a global [vs local] denial of the emergence of spontaneous structure.' Therefore Avery has not drawn the link between information and entropy (others have like Shannon; see Schneider; though there does not appear to be an adequate book on the subject yet) and has not explained how life arose anywhere, whether it's by free energy (necessary but not sufficient), 'thermodynamic information' (a contradiction in terms) or 'negentropy' (a further contradiction in terms). The mystery remains both quantitatively and qualitatively.
UPDATE-12/21/05-
Note: The Chicago reviewer misses the point that the book is a failed attempt to connect thermodynamics with information theory which is properly explained elsewhere as I have referenced; and not by Dembski who is a creationist and was quoted negatively and not as a 'source'. Information cannot be equated with energy for reasons I gave. The reviewer has suggested that the concept of information should not have even been referred to and I agree that that would have avoided the errors in the book, but it also would have made the title wrong and his thesis irrelevant. We all agree that free energy from the sun drives life; there is nothing new in those ramblings. In addition no one knows exactly how life was created despite all of the 'hand waving' by many authors. The suggestion that life is automatic from free energy is a physics answer and only glosses over the specifics and ignores the ongoing exciting research such as synthetic biology at the Genome Science Centre at the University of British Columbia. Physics is not particulary relevant to these studies, it is the wrong specialty and can be misapplied, particularly to information theory.

Future Net: The Essential Guide to Internet and Technology Megatrends

Average customer rating:

OK
At last a balanced perspective without the hype

Future Net: The Essential Guide to Internet and Technology Megatrends
Jim Ensor
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1553957245
Release Date: 2006-07-06

Book Description

Revolutionary new work explores many diverse emerging Internet and technology trends to offer a stunning new view of the future.

Customer Reviews:

OK.......2007-07-26

The book has some insights, the reason for purchasing was that my instructor required this book for his intro to tech trends class.

At last a balanced perspective without the hype.......2003-07-22

As a CPA advising SMEs on global and future trends in the technology, internet and related areas, I found the content of the book to be relevant, soundly researched and applicable to today's market place.

The information in this book will help many individuals and companies to make informed decisions relevant to their IT/internet strategies. This will help to avoid costly expenditures that so often happens from decisions that are based on out-of-date information.

Like all who operate in the fast moving world of technology today, and who are avalanched with information overload, it is timely that a book like 'Future Net' sorts the hype from the major trends and gives a balanced perspective.

Average customer rating: