World War I was won by the chemists. World War II was won by the physicists. World War III will be won by the mathematicians. I heard this twenty years ago and didn't really understand how it could matter. Now think about how the internet and computer security have become the center piece of our society. I'm not too worried about some bunker of bombs that might be launched against us (well, I'm a little worried). I'm more worried about an army of hackers that can have access to our entire financial system, power system, transportation systems, and communication systems at will.

I would have to agree. GEB was the first book I though of as an answer to your question. I only read it a couple of years ago, but I wish I would have been introduced to it in high school. Not that I would have read it then, I only started reading for pleasure about ten years ago. I still have a file of about five programs I wrote while reading the book to solve problems or try to answer questions. fun fun.

My other answer would Chaos by james Glick. The only book I've ever more than once. It really inspired me to be a physicist. I missed and landed on Engineer but as soon as I'm done with this management gig I'm going to complete my Masters in Applied Physics.

The A330 also has much more powerful engines but neither of those really matter. The reason the pilot controls didn't respond is a matter of fly-by-wire philosophy. Do you allow the pilot to put the plane is a situation that will stall the plane or worse break it, or do you prevent the pilot from flying outside the capabilities of the plane. Airbus's philosophy is the latter. The only problem is - what if the flight control computer is wrong.

You do *not* need an autopilot to fly at that altitude. And yes I am an autopilot engineer.