The calculus, which Berlinski explained in his enormously successful book, "A Tour of the Calculus", is the idea that made modern science possible. The algorithm, which Berlinski discusses here, is the idea of an effective procedure that has made the modern world possible. Here is the story of the search for and eventual discovery of the algorithm, the set of instructions that drives computers. The algorithm was discovered by a succession of logicians and mathematicians working alone and in obscurity during the first half of the 20th century. Their story makes this the book of Genesis for the computer revolution. "A playful, witty, highly literate effort to guide the mathematically uninitiated through the mysteries of the calculus." Illustrated.