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Turing's Cathedral
Turing's Cathedral
Oct 30, 2024 1:25 PM

Author:George Dyson

Turing's Cathedral

How did computers take over the world? In late 1945, a small group of brilliant engineers and mathematicians gathered at the newly created Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Their ostensible goal was to build a computer which would be instrumental in the US government's race to create a hydrogen bomb. The mathematicians themselves, however, saw their project as the realization of Alan Turing's theoretical 'universal machine.'

In Turing's Cathedral, George Dyson vividly re-creates the intense experimentation, incredible mathematical insight and pure creative genius that led to the dawn of the digital universe, uncovering a wealth of new material to bring a human story of extraordinary men and women and their ideas to life. From the lowliest iPhone app to Google's sprawling metazoan codes, we now live in a world of self-replicating numbers and self-reproducing machines whose origins go back to a 5-kilobyte matrix that still holds clues as to what may lie ahead.

Reviews

Fascinating . . . the story Dyson tells is intensely human, a tale of teamwork over many years and all the harmonies and rows that involves

—— Jenny Uglow

A beautiful example of technological storytelling . . . much more than a chronicle of engineering progress: it includes fascinating digressions into the history and physics of nuclear weapons, the fundamentals of mathematical logic, the mathematical insights of Hobbes and Leibniz, the history of weather forecasting, Nils Barricelli's pioneering work on artificial life and lots of other interesting stuff

—— John Naughton , Observer

The world he re-creates will enthral scientific romantics . . . an entertaining starting point for anyone wanting to understand how Turing's astonishing ideas became a reality, and how they continue to shape the world we live in today

—— The Sunday Times

An engrossing and well-researched book that recounts an important chapter in the history of 20th-century computing

—— Evgeny Morozov , Observer

Rich in historical insight . . . a timely reminder of why we should care about computers and the endless possibilities they hold

—— The Times

The world he re-creates will enthral scientific romantics. . . . [Dyson] provides an entertaining starting point for anyone wanting to understand how Turning's astonishing ideas became a reality, and how they continue to shape the world we live in today.

—— The Sunday Times

This has got to be the wine reference book to top all such guides

—— S Irene Virbila , Los Angeles Times

Definitely the WINE BOOK of the decade, if not the century!

—— Wine Appreciation Guild, San Francisco

Even for the already knowledgeable and deeply well versed, the book offers countless new discoveries, surprises about grapes' true origins and kinships, and a plethora of varieties you've never even heard of

—— Michel Jamais , LivetsGoda.se

It is almost bible-like, which is perhaps quite fitting. I found the overall appearance quite beautiful. I was especially pleased to see many varieties have a description of the taste of their wines. From a drinker's perspective this must be the most important information

—— Steve Slatcher , Winenous.co.uk

Wine Grapes sets a new standard; it is a seminal new work

—— Joelle Thomson , Dominion Post and Christchurch Press

Oenophiles, you have here the ideal book to give others (and yourself!) this Christmas

—— Victor Franco , Polakia.com

Every wine lover MUST have this on their shelves

—— René Langdahl Jørgensen , Gastro.dk

Amazingly informative and insightful ... Wine Grapes is an essential reference that belongs on every wine lover's bookshelf, right up there next to The World Atlas of Wine. One of the biggest pleasures of wine is its diversity. Wine Grapes will inspire you to stick your nose and tongue into new aromas and flavors

—— Elin McCoy , Business Week/Bloomberg.com

There have been books on grapes before, but we were badly in need of a bang up-to-date properly researched book, and we indeed have it in the new Wine Grapes. To me it is already indispensable ... I can already see that this big fat book is a fabulous resource and essential for all serious wine lovers to own

—— Wink Lorch , Winetravelmedia.com

Wine Grapes is an invaluable resource destined to find a fascinated, albeit niche, audience

—— Anthony Rose , anthonyrosewine.com

What seemed at first like a prim reference tome to crack when I needed to sort out the 13 different varieties of Lambrusco has a more compelling mystery underneath ... The thoroughness (Listán Negro and Listán Prieto? Not the same thing, Canary Island fans) is matched by a sense of purpose, mostly because equal space is devoted to the esoteric (Grillo, Menu Pineau, Parellada) as to the obvious ... Along the way, it nullifies most simple homilies that litter the world of wine, instead offering a more complicated and interesting tale, one that reinforces wine as one of history's great culturing forces

—— Jon Bonné , San Francisco Chronicle

It is very rare for me to buy a wine book but I had no hesitation in buying it from Amazon for £78, and cheap for this amount of scholarship and research

—— Jim Budd, editor , Circle [of Wine Writers] Update

The ultimate reference work on wine grapes

—— LeVinPerdu.be

I am impressed by the depth of scientifically justified and clearly formulated answers to a wide range of origin-related questions ... Wine Grapes gains an extra dimension for its attention to the diversity of grape-names ... With this book Jancis Robinson and her team have not only enriched our genetic knowledge of grape varieties, but also made it accessible to all wine enthusiasts who would like to know more about their names, ancestors and characteristics ... The most important wine book since The Oxford Companion to Wine has arrived, and with it Jancis Robinson has universally established her name as wine educator

—— John Bindels , Wijnwijs.eu

It will undoubtedly race to its place ahead of the few other 'must stock' books in any serious winey-person's library ... the book genuinely breaks new ground, which is (a) quite rare for wine books, and (b) always a joy to fact-nerds like myself. Its main premise is to genetically trace the origins and ancestors of these grape varieties, and there are some surprises here

—— Sally Easton MW , Winewisdom.com

The most important wine book in years ... I am presented with a tome that will garner my attention for the rest of my life, make me smarter and give me pause to reconsider every time I imagine I might have done something of significance ... this book could easily pass for any writer's proudest moment, the culmination of a life's work

—— Tom Wark , Fermentation

Wine Grapes - the new book from the @JancisRobinson team - incredible! Staggered by the detail. Seminal work, am speechless, thank you

—— Ronan Sayburn MS

In 'Abbuoto to Zweigelt' describes the book as one 'that I think any wine-lover would want to own'

—— Fiona Beckett , Guardian

An extraordinary new book ... an impressive new encyclopedic doorstop

—— Eric Asimov , New York Times

Some things you know you just have to have ... What a book!

—— Actor Sam Neill @ TwoPaddocks

[the] book is for me a sine qua Doon

—— Randall Grahm , Bonny Doon Vinyard

The most important event of the century so far... In its way this book is the equivalent to Diderot's Encyclopedie, Johnson's Dictionary or Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians.

—— Robert Slotover , Slotovino

...a beautiful object and a work of scholarship... an essential Christmas present for wine lovers

—— Henry Jeffreys , The Lady

The grape book to end all grape books

—— Joanna Simon , House & Garden

The only important new standard work of recent times; revolutionary!

—— Stuart Pigott

Despite its density, a page-turner... An epic book

—— Talia Baiocchi , Eater.com

In short, if you are only going to have one wine grape book, then this is it

—— Mark Greenaway , Vinodiversity.com

Setting aside the book's beauty and reference value, there's a lot of good reading here... Wine Grapes is awesome, a reference that anyone interested in wine, botany, culture and history should have on hand

—— Tara Q. Thomas , Wine & Spirits: BEST BOOK OF 2012

According to Wine Grapes, the Pinot family, Noir, Meunier, Gris and Blanc, are genetically identical. In fact more than one type of Pinot has been found in the same vine. It's one of the things I love most about wine is that just when you think you've grasped something, it slips out of your grasp. Buy this amazing work of scholarship and you'll realise quite how little you know.

—— Henry Jeffreys , Henry’s World of Booze

The most complete guide ever to grapes, vines and the bottles they produce. A wine buff's bible

—— Sunday Telegraph, Stella magazine

A masterly work ... not only timely, but overdue ... a must-have

—— Eric Asimov , New York Times

Graced with lavish color plates depicting dozens of important grape varieties, this trusty encyclopedia will inspire novel wine match-ups for favorite recipes and settle wine trivia debates around the dinner table. History buffs, like your reviewer, will absolutely love how the book examines the earliest written references to their favorite grapes; for example we learn that Cabernet grapes trace back to ancient Basque varieties in northeast Spain; who knew!

—— David Lincoln Ross , Saveur

For anyone serious about wine, this is an endlessly fascinating volume - and a beautifully designed one too

—— Andrew Neather , Evening Standard
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