Reading this book starting out engaging, but I felt like the title belies the complexity of content in the book. After the introduction, the author seemed often to go into complicated details in each chapter, so it wasn’t easy to follow.
The last chapter was a favorite part for me. I enjoyed the author’s theorizing on how artificial intelligence could be created without designing the entire thing, but instead creating components that would organize themselves into an artificial intelligence.
The most interesting thing in the book was the beginning when the author was simply relating how computers are machines for storing and manipulating data and that data is the smallest thing that makes a difference, which allows data to be represented with Boolean logic. That lead to his noting that a computer could be made out of anything as long as there can be interconnected on/off switches that can represent information.
Like I mentioned earlier, what I didn’t like was that I felt the author was not completely successful in simplifying concepts so that they could be clearly understood by a layman or a novice. Related to that, I think the diagrams in the book could have been more engaging and more professionally rendered. Drawings by hand are not necessary and color could have been used in some circumstances to make diagrams clearer and more engaging. I think the author would have benefited from working with a graphic designer for the illustrations. The cover of the book could have been more engaging, as well, which could have been achieved by collaborating with an artist or artists.
The book did help explain things I didn’t know about computers, but not to a greater degree than the class lectures or simple exploration of sites like codecademy. I think the best way to learn anything, but especially math and computers, is to learn by doing. That makes sites like codecademy and khan academy more effective tools to me than any book. Reading about concepts never sticks as well as applying concepts through trial and error.
If I were to suggest learning aids to a friend that wanted to know more about computers, I would suggest they start with interactive websites like the ones previously mentioned before reading this book. The interactivity is much more engaging and I think because it is more engaging, my friend would be more likely to stick with it than if they start out with a book, which can be perceived as boring because it is less interactive.
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