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Nine Algorithms that Changed the Future

The Ingenious Ideas that Drive Today's Computers: Princeton Science Library

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Nine Algorithms that Changed the Future

Written by: John MacCormick
Narrated by: Quentin Cooper
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About this listen

This audiobook narrated by Quentin Cooper explains the tricks behind nine revolutionary algorithms that power our computers and smartphones

Every day, we use our computers to perform remarkable feats. A simple web search picks out a handful of relevant needles from the world's biggest haystack. Uploading a photo to Facebook transmits millions of pieces of information over numerous error-prone network links, yet somehow a perfect copy of the photo arrives intact. Without even knowing it, we use public-key cryptography to transmit secret information like credit card numbers, and we use digital signatures to verify the identity of the websites we visit.

How do our computers perform these tasks with such ease? John MacCormick answers this question in language anyone can understand, using vivid examples to explain the fundamental tricks behind nine computer algorithms that power our PCs, tablets, and smartphones.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2020 John MacCormick (P)2020 Princeton University Press Computer Science Programming

Critic Reviews

"A great way to find out what computer science is really about.... MacCormick provides a taste of why we computer scientists get so excited about algorithms." (Paul Curzon, Science)

"There's likely no better account of the software that underpins everything from Amazon to Facebook." (Brett Szmajda, Cosmos)

"MacCormick leaves the reader with a sense of the engine that powers the networked world." (Kevin Slavin, New Scientist)

"Excellent.... This is an unusually well-written text suitable for anyone with an interest in how today's information systems really work." (John Gilbey, Times Higher Education)

All stars
Most relevant
The book is well prepared for the audio format. The algorithms are explained well. The choice of the algorithms is good too.

Awesome audiobook

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This book gives what it prommised. Very wonderful selection of algorithms and they were explained in a way which can be understood even in Audiobook format. But as this are some very ingenious ideas sometimes we need to rewind ⏪ it to grasp the correct implementation.

Amazing!!! Most Informative and Entertaining

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Would recommend to Beginners in CS or anyone who's interested in real life algorithms.

Simple and Good

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Loved it, very informative and interesting. Also narrated very well. I was totally fascinated by the reasoning behind the algorithms

Great book

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