Nine Algorithms That Changed the Future：The Ingenious Ideas That Drive Today's Computers

Everyday,weuseourcomputerstoperformremarkablefeats.Asimplewebsearchpicksoutahandfulofrelevantneedlesfromtheworld'sbiggesthaystack:thebillionsofpagesontheWorldWideWeb.UploadingaphototoFacebooktransmitsmillionsofpiecesofinformationovernumerouserror-pronenetworklinks,yetsomehowaperfectcopyofthephotoarrivesintact.Withoutevenknowingit,weusepublic-keycryptographytotransmitsecretinformationlikecreditcardnumbers;andweusedigitalsignaturestoverifytheidentityofthewebsiteswevisit.Howdoourcomputersperformthesetaskswithsuchease?Thisisthefirstbooktoanswerthatquestioninlanguageanyonecanunderstand,revealingtheextraordinaryideasthatpowerourPCs,laptops,andsmartphones.Usingvividexamples,JohnMacCormickexplainsthefundamental"tricks"behindninetypesofcomputeralgorithms,includingartificialintelligence(wherewelearnaboutthe"nearestneighbortrick"and"twentyquestionstrick"),Google'sfamousPageRankalgorithm(whichusesthe"randomsurfertrick"),datacompression,errorcorrection,andmuchmore.Theserevolutionaryalgorithmshavechangedourworld:thisbookunlockstheirsecrets,andlaysbaretheincredibleideasthatourcomputersuseeveryday.