Tom Stonier - Böcker

In comparing plant and animal tumors it must bc remembered, however, that there are certain developmental and I'unctional characteristics C01- monly used in the differentiation of animal cancers that are more or less restricted to animals and cannot, therefore, be carried over and applied to plant tumors. These have been dealt with in detail by WHITE and BRAUN (1942) and by BLACK (1949), and will not be considered further here. The most essential characteristic of being able to grow independently of any morphogenetic restraint, upon which all of the other diagnostic features must ultimately depend, is, however, equaHy capable of expression in neoplasia of a11 higher organisms since it is a characteristic of the ceH itself. One striking aspect of tumor genesis is the multiplicity of diverse agencies that are seemingly capable of accomplishing essentially the same end result. Radiant energy, irritation, carcinogenic ehemicals, parasitic organisms, and virus es have all been shown to serve as incitors of tumors in animals. The effectiveness of these various I'actors in cliciting tumor formation appears to be a I'unction of the hereditary constitution of the host.Many of these same agencies have also beeIl found to be concerned etiologically in the inception of tumors in plants.

The second half of the 20th century has seen the use of machine intelligence infiltrate many critical areas of technology, including defence and military planning. Intelligent knowledge-based systems have the potential to augment informed judgement and to help avoid high-technology failures such as the Chernobyl meltdown by reducing the margin for human error. However, as our understanding of the nature of information and human intelligence is extremely limited, it is now recognized that we need to develop a body of scientific knowledge about artificial intelligence to ensure that these systems are sufficiently reliable for the roles they perform. In "Beyond Information" Professor Tom Stonier examines the issues involved in making artificial intelligence into an engineering science and clarifies many of the accompanying problems. He also makes an important contribution to the development of a theory of information by discussing the evolution of intelligence from its most primitive to its most advanced conceivable form."Beyond Information" is the second in a trilogy of books which addresses this important area: the first volume, Information and the Internal Structure of the Universe, examined the proposition that information has a physical reality, like matter and energy, while a third volume, Beyond Chaos, will outline the requirements of a theory of information in greater detail. Among the actual topics discussed in this volume are: the nature of intelligence and information; intelligence as the inevitable product of an advanced information system; the evolution of collective intelligence into animal society; the evolution of human culture and technology; a comparison between the human brain and the computer; and the future of machine intelligence with an emphasis of neural network computers. Overall "Beyond Information" considers the long term future of the human race in the face of the extraordinary new technology which is emerging. Although it is specifically aimed at physicists and members of the IT comunity, it is a book which should also be of interest to a wide general readership.

The first of a planned trilogy, this book examines the proposition that "Information" is as much a part of the physical universe as energy and matter. The acceptance of such a proposition has profound implications for the physical sciences it also lays the foundations for a general theory of information. This book is directed firstly at researchers in information theory and scientists in other disciplines. However, its relatively non-mathematical nature and accessible writing style place it at the "scientific" end of the spectrum of popular science books. A general theory of information will emerge in the second volume the third will examine the mechanism and evolution of human and machine intelligence.

Ist Information eine unabhängige Größe, wie Masse, Impuls oder elektrische Ladung? Professor T. Stonier ist davon überzeugt. Information existiert, unabhängig davon, ob jemand sie versteht. Mehr als 2000 Jahre konnte niemand ägyptische Hieroglyphen entziffern, die Information war aber enthalten. Niemand wird bezweifeln, daß ein DNA-Kristall mehr Information trägt als ein Salzkristall derselben Masse. Der entscheidende Punkt ist, daß die Bildung eines DNA-Kristalls mehr Energie benötigt. Energie wird verbraucht, um Information zu erzeugen, d.h. um den Organisationsgrad eines Systems zu erhöhen bzw. seine Entropie zu reduzieren. Tom Stonier stellt den Begriff von Information und ihre Bedeutung von einer neuen Warte dar. Wer mit Information zu tun hat, sollte dieses Buch lesen. Die Zeit schreibt zur englischen Ausgabe: "... unterstützt er seine Thesen mit einleuchtenden Beispielen und Metaphern, die auch Nichtphysikern das Lesen seines Buches zum logischen Vergnügen machen. Nebenbei lernen wir bei ihm eine Menge Physik und Molekulargenetik."