(opens in a new window)Chris Bleakley, Associate Professor and Head of the School of Computer Science was on UCD Institute for Discovery's Zoom for Thought 15-min chat series to discuss his book (opens in a new window)"Poems that Solve Puzzles: The History and Science of Algorithms" - just published by Oxford University Press. UCD Discovery Director Professor Patricia Maguire spoke to Chris about his book, which tells the story of algorithms from their ancient origins to the present day. The book introduces readers to the inventors and inspirational events behind the genesis of the world’s most important algorithms. Chris recounts tales of ancient lost inscriptions, Victorian steam-driven contraptions, top-secret military projects, penniless academics, hippy dreamers, tech billionaires, superhuman artificial intelligences, cryptocurrencies, and quantum computing. Along the way, the book explains, with the aid of clear examples and illustrations, how the most influential algorithms work.
Link to talk here
Biography
Chris Bleakley is an Associate Professor and Head of the School of Computer Science at University College Dublin (UCD). Chris graduated with a BSc (Hons) degree in Computer Science from Queen’s University, Belfast, and a Ph.D. degree in Electronic Engineering from Dublin City University. After college, he was employed as a software consultant by Accenture and as a senior telecommunications researcher by Broadcom Éireann Research. Later, he was appointed Vice President of Engineering at Massana, a leading-edge start-up company developing integrated circuits and software for data communications. Chris joined UCD in 2003. Today, his research focuses on inventing novel algorithms for analysing real-world sensor data. His work has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals and presented at major international conferences. For more information on “Poems that Solve Puzzles”, see http://chrisbleakley.com
For more information on Chris’s academic work, see https://people.ucd.ie/chris.bleakley