In this narrative tour de force, gifted scientist and author John
L. Casti contemplates an imaginary evening of intellectual
inquiry--a sort of "My Dinner with" not Andre, but five of the most
brilliant thinkers of the twentieth century.Imagine, if you will,
one stormy summer evening in 1949, as novelist and scientist C. P.
Snow, Britain's distinguished wartime science advisor and author of
"The Two Cultures," invites four singular guests to a sumptuous
seven-course dinner at his alma mater, Christ's College, Cambridge,
to discuss one of the emerging scientific issues of the day: Can we
build a machine that could duplicate human cognitive processes? The
distinguished guest list for Snow's dinner consists of physicist
Erwin Schrodinger, inventor of wave mechanics; Ludwig Wittgenstein,
the famous twentieth-century philosopher of language, who posited
two completely contradictory theories of human thought in his
lifetime; population geneticist/science popularizer J.B.S. Haldane;
and Alan Turing, the mathematician/codebreaker who formulated the
computing scheme that foreshadowed the logical structure of all
modern computers. Capturing not only their unique personalities but
also their particular stands on this fascinating issue, Casti
dramatically shows what each of these great men might have argued
about artificial intelligence, had they actually gathered for
dinner that midsummer evening.With Snow acting as referee, a lively
intellectual debate unfolds. Philosopher Wittgenstein argues that
in order to become conscious, a machine would have to have life
experiences similar to those of human beings--such as pain, joy,
grief, or pleasure. Biologist Haldane offers the idea that mind is
aseparate entity from matter, so that regardless of how
sophisticated the machine, only flesh can bond with that mysterious
force called intelligence. Both physicist Schrodinger and, of
course, computer pioneer Turing maintain that it is not the
substance, but rather the organization of that substance, that
makes a mind conscious.With great verve and skill, Casti recreates
a unique and thrilling moment of time in the grand history of
scientific ideas. Even readers who have already formed an opinion
on artificial intelligence will be forced to reopen their minds on
the subject upon reading this absorbing narrative. After almost
four decades, the solutions to the epic scientific and
philosophical problems posed over this meal in C. P. Snow's old
rooms at Christ's College remains tantalizingly just out of reach,
making this adventure into scientific speculation as valid today as
it was in 1949.
General
Imprint: |
BasicBooks
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
April 1999 |
First published: |
May 1999 |
Authors: |
John L. Casti
|
Dimensions: |
210 x 136 x 19mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Paperback
|
Pages: |
208 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-7382-0138-2 |
Categories: |
Books >
Science & Mathematics >
General
|
LSN: |
0-7382-0138-3 |
Barcode: |
9780738201382 |
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