Here George Dyson considers the intriguing question of artificial life: the possibility that machines will one day come to life, or are even alive already. Dyson argues that life, having emerged once already through biological evolution, is presently emerging for a second time, on this occasion through the spontaneous evolution of intelligence within our rapidly expanding computer networks. Dyson shows that to a real extent we have created life, but have largely failed to notice. Others have considered this possibility and Dyson guides us through this alternative scientific and literary tradition, recounting the insights of historical figures such as Hobbes, Samuel Butler, Erasmus and Charles Darwin, as well as a variety of researchers from the 20th century.

Documents the innovations of a group of eccentric geniuses who developed computer code in the mid-20th century as part of mathematician Alan Turin's theoretical universal machine idea, exploring how their ideas led to such developments as digital television, modern genetics and the hydrogen bomb.

"Project Orion" chronicles a fascinating episode in U.S. scientific research, while capturing a unique time in American history and culture. It is the improbable story of the wildest idea--a space craft powered by hydrogen bombs--to come out of the space race. 8-page photo insert.

In this astonishing prediction of the World Wide Web's ultimate challenge to human civilization--a globally networked, electronic, sentient being--Dyson traces the course of the information revolution, illuminating the lives, work, and ideas of visionaries who foresaw the development of artificial intelligence, artificial life, and the global mind.

Named one of WIRED’s "The Best Pop Culture That Got Us Through 2020" In Analogia, technology historian George Dyson presents a startling look back at the analog age and life before the digital revolution—and an unsettling vision of what comes next. In 1716, the philosopher and mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz spent eight days taking the cure with Peter the Great at Bad Pyrmont in Saxony, trying to persuade the tsar to launch a voyage of discovery from Russia to America and to adopt digital computing as the foundation for a remaking of life on earth. In two classic books, Darwin Among the Machines and Turing’s Cathedral, George Dyson chronicled the realization of the second of Leibniz’s visions. In Analogia, his pathbreaking new book, he brings the story full circle, starting with the Russian American expedition of 1741 and ending with the beyond-digital revolution that will complete the transformation of the world. Dyson enlists a startling cast of characters, from the time of Catherine the Great to the age of machine intelligence, and draws heavily on his own experiences at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, and onward to the rain forest of the Northwest Coast. We are, Dyson reveals, entering a new epoch in human history, one driven by a generation of machines whose powers are no longer under programmable control. Includes black-and-white illustrations

As timely now as it was when it was first published in 1997, Darwin Among the Machines tells the story of humankind's long journey into the digital age. Historian of technology George Dyson traces the course of the information revolution, illuminating the lives and work of visionaries -- from Thomas Hobbes to John von Neumann -- who foresaw the development of artificial intelligence, artificial life, and artificial mind. Weaving a convincing, occasionally frightening narrative of the evolution of the global network, Dyson explores the limits of Darwinian evolution to suggest what lies ahead. Computer programs and worldwide networks are combining to produce an evolutionary theater in which the distinctions between nature and technology are increasingly obscured, he argues. We are living in the midst of an experiment -- one that echoes the prehistory of human intelligence and the origins of life. Now in a new paperback edition, this classic work on the emergence of collective mechanical intelligence will resonate for generations to come.

In 1957, a small group of Scientists launched a secret US Government-sponsored attempt to build a 40,000-ton manned spaceship propelled by nuclear bombs. The apparent absurdity of the project is one reason why it ultimately failed. This book tells that story.

Paper discussing the hydrodynamics of the Aleut baidarka (skin kayak) touching on design, speed, divided bow, wide-tailed stern, hull speed and structural dynamics.