ABSTRACT
As we approach the end of the twentieth century, the information revolution has significantly changed our lives. It has been more than two hundred years since the beginnings of the industrial revolution, a period characterized by the introduction of machines as an adjunct to multiply human muscle power. Over the last few decades, microelectronics has been used to multiply our computing and reasoning powers, and we speak of this using the term "information revolution." And yet, the beginnings of this latter revolution occurred relatively early in the last century.
