Christopher Steiner
Auteur de Automate This: How Algorithms Came to Rule Our World
A propos de l'auteur
Christopher Steiner is an author and staff writer for Forbes magazine, often writing on energy, technology and innovative entrepreneurs. His research has led him to his first book, $20 Per Gallon: How the Rising Cost of Gasoline Will Radically Change Our Lives, which was published in June 2009. afficher plus Steiner received his B.S. in civil engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1999. In 2003, he received his M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University. He has worked as a civil and design engineer and also as a Staff Reporter for the Chicago Tribune. Steiner lives with his wife, Sarah, and son, Jackson, in Evanston, Illinois. afficher moins
Œuvres de Christopher Steiner
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A lot of outdated stories and mediocre thoughts.
this book was a bit of a strain to read and I really had to psych myself to jump into the book each day. I bet this book would have been more fascinating in 2012 when it was published. The world of algorithms has changed dramatically since then.
I have to laugh at the prophetic side note about Donald Trump. I did really enjoy tossing the idea of music being appraised and created by algorithms.
Good idea. Horrendous execution.
I would have loved to read a proper book on algorithms; their usefulness, as well as their drawbacks. But despite the few tidbits of new information that I've picked up from every 20 pages or so, I think this book suffers from some serious flaws.
First off, the organization of chapters and topics were seriously baffling. Sure, the author wanted to make a point about algorithms being so prevalent in the world of finance, but by the 2nd or 3rd chapter, I think we've got it already. The book goes from Wall St. back in time to the history of algorithms then back to Wall St. again, then to a chapter on "hardware", before taking a trip to some other applications of algorithms without as much detail (including a chapter where two different application domains were discussed one after the other - which further raised a few question marks in my head), and then returning to Wall St. once more. This, alone, was a horrible experience for me. At times I felt the author lost his true focus and objective wandering around aimlessly with anecdotes contributing little to none to the main theme.
And don't get me wrong; this is a very accessible book for the layperson, but it's the organization of the book that I particularly did not enjoy.
Secondly, I would have loved a critical analysis of algorithms; what they entail for us as humans, how they have shaped our thinking patterns, what is on the horizon for humans in terms of algorithm design and opportunities (or lack thereof). One would surely expect that from reading the title. While some of those questions were indeed answered, they were far from critically analyzed. The answers given were quite shallow to say the least. One would not even dare call them answers.
Finally, not a stranger to a number of algorithms myself (even though it is not my primary field of study), I think I could conjure up quite a few interesting algorithms that would make a great addition to the book. I would've also appreciated a less anecdotal approach to such a book as it is my belief that one does not need anecdotes to sell the wonderful world of algorithms to the masses.
2/5… (plus d'informations)
I would have loved to read a proper book on algorithms; their usefulness, as well as their drawbacks. But despite the few tidbits of new information that I've picked up from every 20 pages or so, I think this book suffers from some serious flaws.
First off, the organization of chapters and topics were seriously baffling. Sure, the author wanted to make a point about algorithms being so prevalent in the world of finance, but by the 2nd or 3rd chapter, I think we've got it already. The book goes from Wall St. back in time to the history of algorithms then back to Wall St. again, then to a chapter on "hardware", before taking a trip to some other applications of algorithms without as much detail (including a chapter where two different application domains were discussed one after the other - which further raised a few question marks in my head), and then returning to Wall St. once more. This, alone, was a horrible experience for me. At times I felt the author lost his true focus and objective wandering around aimlessly with anecdotes contributing little to none to the main theme.
And don't get me wrong; this is a very accessible book for the layperson, but it's the organization of the book that I particularly did not enjoy.
Secondly, I would have loved a critical analysis of algorithms; what they entail for us as humans, how they have shaped our thinking patterns, what is on the horizon for humans in terms of algorithm design and opportunities (or lack thereof). One would surely expect that from reading the title. While some of those questions were indeed answered, they were far from critically analyzed. The answers given were quite shallow to say the least. One would not even dare call them answers.
Finally, not a stranger to a number of algorithms myself (even though it is not my primary field of study), I think I could conjure up quite a few interesting algorithms that would make a great addition to the book. I would've also appreciated a less anecdotal approach to such a book as it is my belief that one does not need anecdotes to sell the wonderful world of algorithms to the masses.
2/5… (plus d'informations)
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Statistiques
- Œuvres
- 3
- Membres
- 417
- Popularité
- #58,443
- Évaluation
- 3.6
- Critiques
- 28
- ISBN
- 12
Automated decision making can be amazing for humans so long as there is human intervention.