Uncomputable: Play and Politics In the Long Digital Age

A journey through the uncomputable remains of computer history

Narrating some lesser known episodes from the deep history of digital machines, Alexander R. Galloway explains the technology that drives the world today, and the fascinating people who brought these machines to life. With an eye to both the computable and the uncomputable, Galloway shows how computation emerges or fails to emerge, how the digital thrives but also atrophies, how networks interconnect while also fray and fall apart. By re-building obsolete technology using today's software, the past comes to light in new ways, from intricate algebraic patterns woven on a hand loom, to striking artificial-life simulations, to war games and back boxes. A description of the past, this book is also an assessment of all that remains uncomputable as we continue to live in the aftermath of the long digital age.

Alexander R. Galloway is Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication at New York University. He is author or coauthor of several books, including The Interface Effect, Protocol: How Control Exists After Decentralization, and Gaming: Essays on Algorithmic Culture.