{"product_id":"devil-in-the-stack-searching-for-the-soul-of-the-new-machine-9780802158840","title":"Devil in the Stack: Searching for the Soul of the New Machine","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom internationally-bestselling author and journalist\u003cbr\u003eAndrew Smith, an immersive, alarming, sharp-eyed journey into the bizarre world\u003cbr\u003eof computer code, told through his sometimes painful, often amusing attempt to\u003cbr\u003ebecome a coder himself\u003c\/b\u003eThroughout history, technological revolutions have been\u003cbr\u003edriven by the invention of machines. But today, the power of the\u003cbr\u003etechnology transforming our world lies in an intangible and impenetrable cosmos\u003cbr\u003eof software: algorithmic code. So symbiotic has our relationship with this code\u003cbr\u003ebecome that we barely notice it anymore. We can't see it, are not even sure how\u003cbr\u003eto think about it, and yet we do almost nothing that doesn't depend on it. In a\u003cbr\u003eworld increasingly governed by technologies that so few can comprehend, \u003cbr\u003ewho--or \u003ci\u003ewhat\u003c\/i\u003e--controls the future?\u003ci\u003eDevil in the Stack\u003c\/i\u003e follows Andrew Smith on his\u003cbr\u003eimmersive trip into the world of coding, passing through the stories of logic, \u003cbr\u003emachine-learning and early computing, from Ada Lovelace to Alan Turing, and up\u003cbr\u003eto the present moment, behind the scenes into the lives--and minds--of the new\u003cbr\u003efrontierspeople of the 21st century: those who write code. Smith embarks on a\u003cbr\u003equest to understand this sect in what he believes to be the only way\u003cbr\u003epossible: by learning to code himself. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eExpansive and effervescent, \u003ci\u003eDevil in the Stack\u003c\/i\u003e delivers\u003cbr\u003ea portrait of code as both a vivid culture and an impending threat. How do we\u003cbr\u003econtrol a technology that most people can't understand? And are we programming\u003cbr\u003eourselves out of existence? Perhaps most terrifying of all: Is there\u003cbr\u003esomething about the way we compute - the way code works - that is innately at\u003cbr\u003eodds with the way humans have evolved? By turns revelatory, unsettling, and\u003cbr\u003ejoyously funny, \u003ci\u003eDevil in the Stack\u003c\/i\u003e is an essential book for\u003cbr\u003eour times, of vital interest to anyone hoping to participate in the\u003cbr\u003efuture-defining technological debates to come.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Atlantic Monthly Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/26\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780802158840\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 417\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2023 pg. 27\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Andrew Smith","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43568696524981,"sku":"9780802158840","price":23.8,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_955963ba-bb86-47d0-89e6-76e478a582a4.jpg?v=1706628834","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/devil-in-the-stack-searching-for-the-soul-of-the-new-machine-9780802158840","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}