Donald MacKenzie Books

Most aspects of our private and social lives—our safety, the integrity of the financial system, the functioning of utilities and other services, and national security—now depend on computing. But how can we know that this computing is trustworthy? In Mechanizing Proof , Donald MacKenzie addresses this key issue by investigating the interrelations of computing, risk, and mathematical proof over the last half century from the perspectives of history and sociology. His discussion draws on the technical literature of computer science and artificial intelligence and on extensive interviews with participants. MacKenzie argues that our culture now contains two ideals of proof as traditionally conducted by human mathematicians, and formal, mechanized proof. He describes the systems constructed by those committed to the latter ideal and the many questions those systems raise about the nature of proof. He looks at the primary social influence on the development of automated proof—the need to predict the behavior of the computer systems upon which human life and security depend—and explores the involvement of powerful organizations such as the National Security Agency. He concludes that in mechanizing proof, and in pursuing dependable computer systems, we do not obviate the need for trust in our collective human judgment.

"Mackenzie has achieved a masterful synthesis of engrossing narrative, imaginative concepts, historical perspective, and social concern." Donald MacKenzie follows one line of technology—strategic ballistic missile guidance through a succession of weapons systems to reveal the workings of a world that is neither awesome nor unstoppable. He uncovers the parameters, the pressures, and the politics that make up the complex social construction of an equally complex technology.

This volume, edited by two of McKenzie's former students, brings together a wide range of his writings on bibliography, the book trade and the sociology of texts.

The Reader focuses on the practices of modern and contemporary science and technology located in different national and institutional settings, with some attention to non- Western contexts. By mapping some of the open questions and points of tension likely to occupy the field for years to come, the essays in the Reader cast fresh light on what "science" means at the end of the twentieth century.

The first case of Inspector Kurt Wallander. He drinks too much, he works too hard, and he sleeps too little. His life is a shambles. But all of a sudden these are the least of his worries. Wallander is a senior police officer at Ystad, a small town in the wind- lashed Swedish province of Skåne. His wife has left him, his daughter won't speak to him, his ageing father barely tolerates him. Then, at 5 a.m. on a frozen January morning, he responds to a routine call. An old man has been tortured and beaten to death in his isolated farmhouse; his wife is lying barely alive beside him. Wallander has one clue: the killers may have been foreign. When this information is leaked, xenophobia is unleashed in Skåne, and Wallander finds himself in a race against time: solve the crimes or the death toll will rise. --back cover

Ein Polizist, der krumme Dinger dreht, hält sich für besonders clever. Soviel Cleverness bricht ihm den Hals...

Geld macht zwar nicht glücklich, aber es beruhigt ungemein. Diese Überzeugung macht die drei Männer zu Komplizen. Sie sind bereit, jeden Preis dafür zu zahlen.Aber ihre Rechnung geht nicht auf. Denn daß Geld auch den Charakter verderben kann, das haben sie nicht einkalkuliert. Und für diesen Fehler müssen sie teuer bezahlen ... (Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine frühere Ausgabe.)

Freiwild für Hyänen - bk687; Scherz Verlag; Donald MacKenzie; pocket_book; 1970