- Mass Market Paperback
- Publisher: Avon Books (Mm); First THUS edition (May 1995)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0380718448
- ISBN-13: 978-0380718443
- Product Dimensions: 17.3 x 10.4 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,696,426 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Book Description
Computer programmer Jerzy Rugby spends his days blissfully hacking away in cyberspace - aiding the GoMotion Corporation in its noble quest to create intelligent robots. Then an electronic ant gets into the machinery...then more ants...then millions and millions of the viral pests appear out of nowhere to wreak havoc throughout the net. And suddenly Jerzy Rugby is Public Enemy Number One, wanted for sabotage, computer crime, and treason - a set-up patsy who must now get to the bottom of the virtually real insectile plague.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.
Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
MONDAY MORNING WHEN I ANSWERED THE door there were twenty-one new real estate agents there, all in horrible polyester gold jackets. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
MONDAY MORNING WHEN I ANSWERED THE door there were twenty-one new real estate agents there, all in horrible polyester gold jackets. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This book seems largely an attempt to explain Rucker's ideas about using artificial evolution to create artificial intelligence--the same scientific ideas that underlie his Software trilogy, but here presented in a much more "realistic" setting. I prefer the surrealism of Software (which also packs more of a philosophic punch) but I did enjoy reading this book--as much for the slacker main character as for the AI inspired plot--and would recommend it over Software for those who are mainly concerned about the science in their science fiction.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am a big sci-fi reader and I love the works of authors like Isaac Asimov, P K Dick, Stanislaw Lem, Harlan Ellison and others. Coming to Rudy Rucker's The Hacker and the Ants, however, was a major step backwards.
While there's no denying that Rucker knows his science, his writing is several steps behind. This novel reads like it was aimed at, and possibly written by, young teenagers (if it wasn't for the sexual content I would have assumed that were the case). A potentially interesting concept is let down by massive repetition, bland style, and a predeliction for including completely irrelevant facts and descriptions. I wont be reading any more of these, instead I will stick to the more mature writings of other authors.
While there's no denying that Rucker knows his science, his writing is several steps behind. This novel reads like it was aimed at, and possibly written by, young teenagers (if it wasn't for the sexual content I would have assumed that were the case). A potentially interesting concept is let down by massive repetition, bland style, and a predeliction for including completely irrelevant facts and descriptions. I wont be reading any more of these, instead I will stick to the more mature writings of other authors.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Only a few years ago an artificial intelligence engineer and an evolutionary biologist collaborated on a speculation of how computers and humanity will combine, becoming thinking robots. Beyond Humanity:CyberEvolution and Future Minds was met with a fanfare of resounding silence. Well done with strong evidence and good presentation, the book challenged traditional thinking about the separation of machines and humanity. It should have gained greater notice than it did. A pity, for this book should have raised immense discussion.
Now, Rudy Rucker has turned the same ideas into a speculative fiction account of a programmer ['hacker'] using evolutionary processes to make robotic creatures biological. As with all evolutionary processes, his program gets out of hand and the creatures run amok, out of control. Only another robotic biological is capable of dealing with them.
If Rucker ever produced 'his best book' this is the one that qualifies. Many of his other works are loaded with a sloppy kind of mysticism that seems horribly inconsistent with his profession as a mathematics professor. This book seems to merge an audited biology course with his math skills in producing a plausible scenario of the future. That he makes this future so near makes the book even more compelling. Having railed against 'WHITE LIGHT' and SAUCER WISDOM, it was gratifying to find a work of his that tends to redeem his worth as a novelist. The writing, as always, falls below the worth of his concepts. Still the book made an entertaining afternoon. If you haven't the patience or courage to confront BEYOND HUMANITY, you might try this as an introduction to the possibilities of artificial intelligence. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
