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The author of Ideas and Information and director of research at Bell Labs describes the past decade's key technological developments and the resulting business transformations and discusses probable future changes in how business is conducted. National ad/promo. ... Read more

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Penzias, Nobel Prize winner and head of research at AT&T's Bell Laboratories, guides readers through the computer revolution and brings them out on the other side, more comfortable about machines, about people, and about their lives together. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Ideas and Information.
Inspiration as opposed to instruction. Mind as opposed to machine...
Read any physics text or popularization of the past thirty-five years and you are virtually certain to encounter Arno Penzias. He received the Nobel Prize for physics by detecting the cosmic microwave background radiation that George Gamow had predicted two decades earlier. Theorists sometimes suggest that Gamow's Nobel somehow landed accidentally in Penzias' empirical lap. One imagines that Penzias might be tempted to barrow a line from Rodney Dangerfield: "I tell ya, I don't get no respect." He doesn't do that.
Anyway, when I spotted this book in a used bookstore I happily nabbed it. The author's theme in this volume is computability -- how it works, what it is, and what it isn't. The book is highly readable and makes for a sound introduction to what computer software is, and to how artificial intelligence and human intelligence are, foundationally, two very different things. The strong AI types don't want to hear this stuff and will likely complain that Penzias' book is "dated." I will say that only the author's examples/ allegories are dated. Technological gadgetry changes quite a bit in 14 years, but the examples are only examples. Programming is still programming; it is still a process of numerical reduction. It is still something far different than human intuition. With a modicum of updates, Penzias' thesis might easily read as a more current set of arguments and observations.
Consider this book a springboard into the work of Roger Penrose (uh-oh, you'll be mixing empirical guy and theoretical guy!).
Penzias says, "If you don't want to be replaced by a machine, don't act like one." Machines are quite useful, but your mind is not a mere machine. Use it to its strength -- be creative, be non-linear. This empirical guy sounds a lot like a theoretical guy. Somewhere an ardent reductionist is cringing.

Great discussion of estimating information --
I give this book four stars just for the section on estimation -- can you calculate the number of barbers in the United States by using common sense and a few simple assumptions?How about the speed of the Mississippi river?As another reviewer has said, the book is not the most up to date and does not systematically address all aspects of the topic but provides some interesting insights that make it worth a look.

A History of AT&T
Though someone looking for a history of AT&T would be disappointed by this book, someone NOT looking for a history of AT&T may find the examples monotonous after a while (they were entertaining, but I was working on research -- I needed significant "thought"). Aside from the fact that the content is very dated, Penzias could have turned out a much more powerful book if he had started with his ending. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from World of Earth Science, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1083 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.A comprehensive guide to the concepts, theories, discoveries, pioneers, and issues relating to topics in earth science. Its encyclopedic approach offers entries that are written in easy to understand language. ... Read more

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Arno Allan Penzias is an American physicist and Nobellaureate in physics.Penzias was born in Munich, Germany. Atage six he was among the Jewish children evacuated toBritain as part of the Kindertransport rescue operation. Sixmonths later his parents also fled Nazi Germany for theU.S., and the family settled in the Garment District of NewYork City in 1940. In 1946, Penzias became a naturalizedcitizen of the United States. He graduated from BrooklynTechnical High School in 1951 and received a bachelor'sdegree from the City College of New York in 1954. FromColumbia University, he received his Master's degree in 1958and his Ph.D. in 1962.He went on to work at Bell Labs inHolmdel, New Jersey where, with Robert Woodrow Wilson, heworked on ultra-sensitive cryogenic microwave Receiver/receivers intended for radio astronomy observations. In1964, on building their most sensitive antenna/receiversystem, the pair encountered radio noise which they couldnot explain. It was far less energetic than the radiationgiven off by the Milky Way, and it was isotropic, so theyassumed their instrument was subject to interference byterrestrial sources. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Science and Its Times, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1699 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.The histories of science, technology, and mathematics merge with the study of humanities and social science in this interdisciplinary reference work. Essays on people, theories, discoveries, and concepts are combined with overviews, bibliographies of primary documents, and chronological elements to offer students a fascinating way to understand the impact of science on the course of human history and how science affects everyday life. Entries represent people and developments throughout the world, from about 2000 B.C. through the end of the twentieth century. ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from World of Earth Science, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1673 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.A comprehensive guide to the concepts, theories, discoveries, pioneers, and issues relating to topics in earth science. Its encyclopedic approach offers entries that are written in easy to understand language. ... Read more

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Great leaders have been the stuff of many business books over the years with authors often promising to deliver THE key ingredients that can guarantee the readers success in their own careers.

As we all know by now, there is no "secret sauce". But there are a number of "recipes for success" with specific ingredients that if applied, may smooth the path upward.

These recipes are the result of conversations with foreign-born (as well as US) Silicon Valley/US entrepreneurs who tell it as it is. Each leader tells a unique, personal story of how s/he came to the US and ultimately made it.

If you plan to immigrate to the U.S. and establish yourself in Silicon Valley, or if you are just curious to find out what make these extraordinary individuals tick, you can listen to these foreign-born professionals and gain personal insight into the fulfillment of their ambitions and dreams.
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Customer Reviews (3)

An inspirational book for entrepreneurs
As the facilitator of one of Silicon Valley key Executive Network, Dr Angelika Blendstrup was able to interview some of the key leaders of the Silicon Valley, the most dynamic business technology center of the world. This book brings us into the brain, heart and soul of successful men and women, and by extension shows us how we can ourselves reach outstanding achievements. A must-read book for all high-tech entrepreneurs and executives to-be.

I Read It!
Raised by immigrant parents, particularly as an engineer's daughter, I was eager to read the success stories of other foreign born professionals.Dr. Blendstrup's interviews capture the drive and determination of bright and passionate business men and women.This series is perfect for anyone interested in learning practical how-to recipes directly from a varied group of top-notch executives.

Great reading
If you are interested in discovering the human side of some famous Silicon Valley titans, then this book is for you.
Find out how their education and upbringing shaped their work ethic, learn what success really means for them, get a glimpse of what they sound like as human beings - beyond their public faces. ... Read more