È un libro che supera la divulgazione per approdare su una dimensione nuova , quella del romanzo divulgativo, in cui però l'aspetto divulgativo è infarcito da personaggi e dai loro rispettivi punti di vista. Ovviamente scorre molto meglio di un saggio divulgativo ma permane un'ambiguità di fondo che inquina un po' tutto. Probabilmente deve essere accompagnato da altri testi più classici sul tema che ne facciano da contraltare, testi che sono peraltro indicati dall'autore stesso nei ringraziamenti.
I remember years ago watching two shows called Eureka and Stargate Atlantis. I call them bad militarized sci-fi, also known as fun sci-fi. Nothing dense like actual good sci-fi can be. The plots for each show basically followed the formula of:
1. scientist(s) discovers something amazing and/or has a big theory, 2. scientist(s) then egotistically mess around with discovery/theory, then, 3. scientist cause a rupture in the fabric of space or time or inadvertently cause a galaxy or universe wide extinction level event because they just can't control themselves. The whirlygig machine keeps spinning making more and more maniacal sounds, until... 4. scientist(s) with the help of their grunt military friends save the day and shut down the machine.
Then they wake up in the next episode and do the same damn thing, putting all of us once again in jeopardy of annihilation or some such. They think what they …
I remember years ago watching two shows called Eureka and Stargate Atlantis. I call them bad militarized sci-fi, also known as fun sci-fi. Nothing dense like actual good sci-fi can be. The plots for each show basically followed the formula of:
1. scientist(s) discovers something amazing and/or has a big theory, 2. scientist(s) then egotistically mess around with discovery/theory, then, 3. scientist cause a rupture in the fabric of space or time or inadvertently cause a galaxy or universe wide extinction level event because they just can't control themselves. The whirlygig machine keeps spinning making more and more maniacal sounds, until... 4. scientist(s) with the help of their grunt military friends save the day and shut down the machine.
Then they wake up in the next episode and do the same damn thing, putting all of us once again in jeopardy of annihilation or some such. They think what they are doing is more important than all of us other people and we should just be grateful for their big brains.
And here's the thing about these type of shows: They're actually supposed to make you think that the scientists and their military backing are the heroes. But I couldn't help but think that the characters I grew to love were straight up terrifying MANIACS.
This book is just like these shows, except this book is very well written, entirely absorbing, sticks with you for days, has a much better point to its story, and the math and science are real. Bravo. Best book of 2024 so far.
While the rest of the Manhattan Project folks were wringing their hands, Von Neumann was buying fancy clothes and drinking scotch. This book plays with rationality/irrationality and madness in interesting ways. The closing section on Go and AI is also really engrossing.
