I felt deeply honored when Professor Sumit Ghosh asked me to write the foreword to his book with an extraordinary perspective. I have long admired him, ?rst as a student leader at Stanford, where he initiated the ?rst IEEE Computer Society’s student chapter, and later as an esteemed and inspiring friend whose transdisciplinary research broadened and enhanced the horizons of practitioners of computer science and engineering, including my own. His ideas, which are derived from his profound vision, deep critical thinking, and personal intuition, reach from information technology to bioscience, as - hibited in this excellent book. To me, an ordinary engineer, it opens up a panoramic view of the Universe of Knowledge that keeps expanding and - spiring,likethegoodIndianproverb,whichsays,“agoodbookinformsyou,an excellent book teaches you, and a great book changes you. ” I sincerely believe that Professor Ghosh’s book will help us change and advance the methods of systems engineering and technology. Vision Inspired vision sees ahead of others what will or may come to be, a vivid, imagined concept or anticipation. An inspired vision personi?es what is good and what like-minded individuals hope for. Our vision is one of creating an Internet of minds, where minds are Web sites or knowledge centers, which create, store, and radiate knowledge through interaction with other minds connected by a universal shared network. This vision will not just hasten the death of distance, but will also - carcerate ignorance.
