biology

The Unfinished Revolution

The Unfinished Revolution is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Unfinished Revolution rather than just read about it. In short: The Unfinished Revolution is a 2001 book by Michael Dertouzos that proposes why and how technology should be made to work for humans. It goes on to state that until this goal has been met the computer revolution is 'unfinished'.

Key takeaways

The Unfinished Revolution belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Unfinished Revolution to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Unfinished Revolution from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Unfinished Revolution is a 2001 book by Michael Dertouzos that proposes why and how technology should be made to work for humans. It goes on to state that until this goal has been met the computer revolution is 'unfinished'.

Summary In the foreword to the paperback edition, written by Tim Berners-Lee shortly after Michael Dertouzos's death, he succinctly summarizes the objectives of the book by stating the three areas he believes computers still need improvement in: "helping us to communicate better with each other, by helping with the actual processing of data, and by being less of a pain in the process." More specifically, the book breaks this down into five buckets that need special attention and improvement:

Natural Interaction Automation Individualized Information Access Collaboration Customization

Natural interaction Dertouzos argues that since humans are not born with keyboard and mouse inputs to interact with the world why should we be expected to interact with computers in such a fashion. Instead he states that computers should engage us through our existing five senses and goes on to mostly focus on examples for vision and hearing. His primary focus for providing input to computer systems lies in proposals within the speech recognition area but he also emphasizes the need to simplify software interface systems, while warning against reducing them down to an unreasonably small number of options (such as a car only being able to accelerate or turn right).

Further reading Weisman, Robert (4 February 2001). "As easy as breathing". Boston Globe. p. H1. Propson, David (5 February 2011). "The future of computers: The humanity of it all". The Ottawa Citizen. p. B11. Manjoo, Farhad (13 March 2001). "Technology: Is That All There Is?". Wired. Olsen, Florence (14 September 2001). "A Book on 'Human-Centered Computers' Foresees Productivity Gains for All". The Chronicle of Higher Education. p. A38. Martin, Greenberger (30 November 2001). "Toward the invisible computer". Science. 294 (5548): 1838. doi:10.1126/science.1066236.

External links Publisher's Book website

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Unfinished Revolution

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Unfinished Revolution claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Unfinished Revolution before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Unfinished Revolution ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Unfinished Revolution

In research: The Unfinished Revolution appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Unfinished Revolution in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Unfinished Revolution is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2001 non-fiction books, HarperCollins books, Human–computer interaction, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Unfinished Revolution outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Unfinished Revolution in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Unfinished Revolution means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Unfinished Revolution out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Unfinished Revolution in simple terms?

Why does The Unfinished Revolution matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Unfinished Revolution?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Unfinished Revolution.