How new?

“He argues that all universal computing systems are equivalent; no calculating machine can be more powerful, no computer more sophisticated than the cellular automaton Mr. Wolfram describes. This insight alone, he claims, ‘has vastly richer implications’ than ‘any single collection of laws in science’.” Stephen Wolfram doesn’t feel he needs to be modest. His book, A New Kind of Science, is intended to overturn a signficant amount of scientific thought.

I’m certainly not the one to judge the validity or otherwise of Wolfram’s arguments. But I did hear some odd, juicy tales about the book pre-publication. Wolfram only allowed a few, trusted souls to read the manuscript. Even they were required to sign non-disclosure agreements. Apparently his obsession with secrecy stems from being very appallingly treated over the copyright of a mathematical site he created for Mathematica users.