Best of
Computer-Science

1972

What Computers Still Can't Do: A Critique of Artificial Reason


Hubert L. Dreyfus - 1972
    The world has changed since then. Today it is clear that "good old-fashioned AI," based on the idea of using symbolic representations to produce general intelligence, is in decline (although several believers still pursue its pot of gold), and the focus of the AI community has shifted to more complex models of the mind. It has also become more common for AI researchers to seek out and study philosophy. For this edition of his now classic book, Dreyfus has added a lengthy new introduction outlining these changes and assessing the paradigms of connectionism and neural networks that have transformed the field. At a time when researchers were proposing grand plans for general problem solvers and automatic translation machines, Dreyfus predicted that they would fail because their conception of mental functioning was naive, and he suggested that they would do well to acquaint themselves with modern philosophical approaches to human being. "What Computers Still Can't Do" was widely attacked but quietly studied. Dreyfus's arguments are still provocative and focus our attention once again on what it is that makes human beings unique.

EWD 340: The Humble Programmer


Edsger W. Dijkstra - 1972
    Dijkstra in 1972.

Graph Theory (on Demand Printing Of 02787)


Frank Harary - 1972
    In addition, there are three appendices which provide diagrams of graphs, directed graphs, and trees. The emphasis throughout is on theorems rather than algorithms or applications, which however are occaisionally mentioned.

Systematic Programming: An Introduction


Niklaus Wirth - 1972
    

Structured Programming


Ole-Johan Dahl - 1972
    Studies in Data Processing, No. 8Contents:Chapter I: Notes on Structured Programming (Edsger W. Dijkstra)Chapter II: Notes on Data Structuring (C.A.R. Hoare)Chapter III: Hierarchical Program Structures (Ole-Johan Dahl, C.A.R. Hoare)

The Multics System: An Examination Of Its Structure


Elliott I. Organick - 1972
    The advantage that this new system has over its predecessors lies in its expanded capacity to manipulate and file information on several levels and to police and control access to data in its various files. On the invitation of M.I.T.'s Project MAC, Elliott Organick developed over a period of years an explanation of the workings, concepts, and mechanisms of the Multics system. This book is a result of that effort, and is approved by the Computer Systems Research Group of Project MAC.In keeping with his reputation as a writer able to explain technical ideas in the computer field clearly and precisely, the author develops an exceptionally lucid description of the Multics system, particularly in the area of "how it works." His stated purpose is to serve the expected needs of designers, and to help them "to gain confidence that they are really able to exploit the system fully, as they design increasingly larger programs and subsystems."The chapter sequence was planned to build an understanding of increasingly larger entities. From segments and the addressing of segments, the discussion extends to ways in which procedure segments may link dynamically to one another and to data segments. Subsequent chapters are devoted to how Multics provides for the solution of problems, the file system organization and services, and the segment management functions of the Multics file system and how the user may employ these facilities to advantage. Ultimately, the author builds a picture of the life of a process in coexistence with other processes, and suggests ways to model or construct subsystems that are far more complex than could be implemented using predecessor computer facilities.This volume is intended for the moderately well-informed computer user accustomed to predecessor systems and familiar with some of the Multics overview literature. While not intended as a definitive work on this living, ever-changing system, the book nevertheless reflects Multics as it has been first implemented, and should reveal its flavor, structure and power for some time to come.

How Things Work: The Universal Encyclopedia Of Machines


Paladin - 1972