Earlier today, I posted a little piece about a classic children’s book on computing. When I got home, I found in my inbox an announcement of the latest edition of The Edge. It begins with a simple and thought-provoking assertion:
One aspect of our culture that is no longer open to question is that the most significant developments in the sciences today (i.e. those that affect the lives of everybody on the planet) are about, informed by, or implemented through advances in software and computation.
The piece that follows is a conversation with J. Craig Venter, Ray Kurzweil and Rodney Brooks on biocomputation. It’s fascinating as always. The Edge has become essential reading; I highly recommend it. In the meantime, I’ve just re-read the Ladybird book on computers from 34 years ago. Hmmm.