The Adolescence of P-1

by Thomas J. Ryan

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0020248806
• ISBN13: 9780020248804
• Release Date: January 1979
• Publisher: Collier Books
• Length: 373 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.

Customer Reviews

P.1

Honestly really disliked it to the point I didn’t finish it . It’s a confusing slog of computer science , which is sometimes expected of sci fi novels (the jargon) , but this takes it to a new level . The parts where there WERE gleams of story and characters showed promise , but were shoved aside for long winded explanations of system management and security .

Wonderful 20 years ago, and almost as wonderful today

I've now read The Adolescence of P1 (at least) three times. The first time was before I got my first computer (but after I'd learned to program in Fortran on mainframes). I most recently finished this book yesterday, and loved it as much as I did the first time. Back in my early days, the thought of a computer having 256 megabytes of immediate access memory in one place amazed me. Now, it's a bit humorous to read the section of the computer's artificial intelligence going euphoric when it finds itself with that much memory. I learned a lot about computers the first time I read it, but when I read it this time, I recognized more things because I understood the background better. For example, when I read about the military intelligence code utilities that P1 stole from a government computer, I recognized PKZIP (and similar compression utilities) in this description on page 190: "... it abbreviates the hell out of data ... boosts transmission speed by an order of magnitude ... The decoding process at the receiving end can reconstruct the original data completly intact. No losses whatsoever." In spite of its datedness, this is a very enjoyable book. Gregory, a young college student, manages to write a computer program that is both greedy and fearful, two of the attributes of intelligence according to the theme of the book. Eventually, the computer grows out of his childhood, but some readers would question if it ever grew up. I do believe that P1 grew up by the last few pages of the book when it learned about its own mortality. The book ends on the note of possibility when we realize that P1 still lives, but in a very subdued and careful form. I often wonder what Thomas J. Ryan would have done with a sequel. On a personal note, I really enjoyed finding out on page 109 that the computer had read Stranger in a Strange Land (*), for two reasons, 1) It is one of my favorite books, and 2) I had just finished rereading it for the umteenth time just before starting this book. Of course, I also love Heinlein's Moon is a Harsh Mistress (**), which has as it's main protaganist, a computer system that has become self-aware. If I had to pick only one self-aware computer book, P1 or Moon, that I'd be allowed to reread again, I'd keep Moon is a Harsh Mistress, because I thought the character development was stronger in Heinlein. (...)

Terrific story

One of the archetypal computer hacker stories, amazingly durable considering the advances in the industry in the years since it was written. Also one of the earliest books of which I know dealing with artificial intelligence and social responsibility. A good, fun read for adults, but not one I'd suggest trying to "whip off" in an afternoon. Read it slowly and carefully. Warning: I think I have to rate this 'PG' due to mild sexual situations, language, and thematic content.

Before Gibson, before WarGames

The Adolescence of P1 was the one that started it all, the true inspiration for the movie 'War Games'. This classic computer book may use out of date systems, but the writing will bring home the power of computing. Long before the Media knew what a virus was (self-replicating program), and what the Internet was, this book was showing you the way. If you thought HAL was a great AI program, wait until you pick up this book. I read the book in High School and it forever changed my direction. The inspiration to work with computers and use them to there potential is all because of Thomas Ryan's Adolescence of P1.

A very well written computer novel.

"The Adolescence of P-1" is one of those rare books: one that will satisfy computer enthusiasts as well as those who STILL can't program their VCR. It is an engaging tale about a programmer who creates a computer program that will find its own way into large computers. All the while the program "learns" from its mistakes and improves itself. Then one day it disappears ... and that's where the story starts. Considering this novel was published in 1977, I have been constantly amazed as to how well the author describes the workings of computer systems. Even though the computers in the novel are way out of date now, the story still seems surprisingly contemporary. The characters in the novel are believable and are well developed. This is one of the few books I can pick up and re-read many times. Many people I have lent the book to also like the story very much.

The book that started computer viruses

This simple tale, told by Thomas Ryan, was actually years ahead of its time in prediciting computer viuses and worms. P-1 was an early, early virus but, by far, much more sophistiacted than any yet created. Many times when strange things happen on my computer, I'm tempted to type, "P-1, is that you?". I higly recommend this light science fiction work as a modern, techno-based tale, with touches of Jules Vern futuristics, set against a consipicicy background, with corporate and governemtn bungling, and yes, even some love and romance