Algorithms:

 "The author [Panos Louridas] firmly believes that we have reached a point where algorithms are inside the core of what we consider to be essential knowledge. Unless we know what they are and how they work, we cannot understand what they can do, how they can affect us, what to expect from them, what their limits are, and what they require in order to work. In a society that increasingly functions thanks to algorithms, it behooves us as informed citizens to be knowledgeable about them."