For the nonexpert looking for a rough guide, however, Singh's historical narrative makes for a surprisingly entertaining read. Readability is what David Berlinski's The Advent of the Algorithm sorely lacks. Of course, as Berlinski holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from Princeton, you can bet the math is correct. Like encryption, algorithms are everywhere, their histories unfolding in their own little-regarded dimensions. An algorithm is a fixed procedure, written in a symbolic vocabulary, that gets something done in discrete steps without the need for any intelligent assistance.
Computer programs are algorithms.
But the idea behind algorithms has implications deeper than just the making of Microsoft Minesweeper. As Berlinski shows in this history of algorithms, the concept's implications have troubled logicians, mathematicians, and philosophers for the better part of this century. This really bugged mathematicians, who fretted that that they would be unable to decide which problems did not have solutions. But such a precise attack on these problems also raised all sorts of philosophical quandaries. It makes for a fascinating story, though I repeatedly found myself consulting other books to pick up the logical steps Berlinski skips.