Opening Pandora's Box: From Abacus To Artificial Intelligence (Hardcover)

Michael Gurvitch

ISBN 10: 9819826373 / ISBN 13: 9789819826377

Published by World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd, Singapore, 2026

About this Item

Hardcover. In this book, the author, who was closely involved in his own career with the development of modern electronics, presents the history of computational technology from ancient times to this day. He explains to the general reader the essential features of that powerful technology and does not shy away from supplying interesting historical details and anecdotes that illuminate this subject. The author also follows and describes in accessible terms the development of AI, a topic that many people discuss lately but few truly understand. A special chapter is devoted to the opinions and warnings expressed by scientists, philosophers, engineers, and writers concerning the prospects of developing the Artificial General Intelligence, AGI. The promise and the possible peril that may follow are described in the book most vividly and intelligently. There are many books now appearing on the subject of AI; we recommend this one as the most insightful and historically grounded. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9789819826377

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Opening Pandora's Box: From Abacus To Artificial Intelligence (Hardcover)
• Publisher: World Scientific Publishing Co Pte Ltd, Singapore
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 9819826373
• ISBN 13: 9789819826377
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

In this book, the author, who was closely involved in his own career with the development of modern electronics, presents the history of computational technology from ancient times to this day. He explains to the general reader the essential features of that powerful technology and does not shy away from supplying interesting historical details and anecdotes that illuminate this subject. The author also follows and describes in accessible terms the development of AI, a topic that many people discuss lately but few truly understand. A special chapter is devoted to the opinions and warnings expressed by scientists, philosophers, engineers, and writers concerning the prospects of developing the Artificial General Intelligence, AGI. The promise and the possible peril that may follow are described in the book most vividly and intelligently. There are many books now appearing on the subject of AI; we recommend this one as the most insightful and historically grounded.

About the Author

Michael Gurvitch is a physicist who earned his PhD in Physics from Stony Brook University in 1978. He was a Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bell Laboratories (1979–1989), where he conducted research in Solid State Physics and, with his Bell Labs colleagues, developed the technology of refractory Josephson junctions now universally used in superconducting electronics. He joined Stony Brook University as a tenured Full Professor of Physics in 1990 and, in the first 5 years there, also served as Director of the Institute for Interface Phenomena. He remained at Stony Brook until his retirement in 2023. Professor Gurvitch holds several patents and has published over 100 papers in leading peer-reviewed journals. He is a co-editor and chapter author of the book Josephson Junctions: History, Devices, and Applications (Pan Stanford Publishing, 2017), and the sole author of the two-volume Brave New e-World (World Scientific, 2023), a book on the evolutionary history of electronics.