Computers are amazing machines. They seem to be able to do anything.They fly aircraft and spaceships,and control power stations and hazardous chemical plants.Companies can no longer be run without them,and a growing number of sophisticated medical procedures cannot be performed in their absence.They serve lawyers and judges who seek judicial precedents in scores of documented trials,and help scientists in performing immensely complicated and involved mathematical computations. They route and control millions of telephone calls in networks that span continents.They execute tasks with enormous precision-from map reading and typesetting to graphical picture processing and integrated circuit design.They can relieve us of many boring chores,such as keeping a meticulous track of home expenses,and at the same time provide us with diverse entertainment such as computer games or computerized music.Moreover,the computers of today are hard at work helping design the even more powerful computers of tomorrow.Computers are amazing machines. • They seem to be able to do anything. They fly aircraft and spaceships, and control power stations and hazardous chemical plants. Companies can no longer be run without them, and a growing number of sophisticated medical procedures cannot be performed in their absence. They serve lawyers and judges who seek judicial precedents in scores of documented trials, and help scientists in performing immensely complicated and involved mathematical computations. • They route and control millions of telephone calls in networks that span continents. They execute tasks with enormous precision—from map reading and typesetting to graphical picture processing and integrated circuit design. They can relieve us of many boring chores, such as keeping a meticulous track of home expenses, and at the same time provide us with diverse entertainment such as computer games or computerized music. Moreover, the computers of today are hard at work helping design the even more powerful computers of tomorrow