The Science of the Blockchain
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| Pages |
123 |
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| Published Date |
2016 |
The Science of the Blockchain introduces the basic techniques when building fault-tolerant distributed systems, in a scientific way. We will present different protocols and algorithms that allow for fault-tolerant operation, and we will discuss practical systems that implement these techniques.
Introduction:
The central concept of this book will be introduced in Chapter 2 and is generally known as state replication. We achieve state replication if all nodes of a distributed system agree on a sequence of commands, the same set of commands in the same order. In the financial tech industry, state replication is often synonymous with the term blockchain. State replication can be achieved using various algorithms, depending on the failures the system must be able to tolerate.
In Chapter 2 we will motivate and introduce the basic definitions, and present Paxos, an algorithm that achieves state replication even though a minority of nodes in the system may crash. In Chapter 3 we will understand that Paxos may not make progress, and that indeed no deterministic protocol can solve state replication if we are unlucky. However, on the positive side, we will also introduce a fast randomized consensus protocol that can solve state replication despite crash failures.
In Chapter 4 we look beyond simple crash failures, and introduce protocols that work even in the presence of malicious behavior, in synchronous and asynchronous systems. In addition, we will explore different definitions for correct behavior. In Chapter 5 we use a cryptographic concept called message authentication. We first present a simple synchronous protocol, and then Zyzzyva, a state of the art asynchronous protocol for implementing state replication if message authentication is available.
In Chapter 6 we investigate scalability issues by studying socalled quorum systems. If a set of servers is no longer powerful enough, and adding more servers does not help, quorum systems may be an elegant solution. In Chapter 7 we introduce weaker consistency concepts, and
provide a detailed explanation of the Bitcoin protocol as a prime example of such a protocol. Finally, in Chapter 8 we explore even weaker consistency concepts, and present highly scalable distributed storage solutions.
Contents:
- Fault-Tolerance & Paxos
- Consensus
- Byzantine Agreement
- Authenticated Agreement
- Quorum Systems
- Eventual Consistency & Bitcoin
- Distributed Storage
The Science of the Blockchain By Roger Wattenhofer PDF
15 reviews for The Science of the Blockchain
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Jefferson Costa (verified owner) –
Overpriced pamplet. Contains some useful (highly technical) info, but I’d have been better off using Google. Not good value for money.
Raul Hammond (verified owner) –
For those readers who have a very compressed and mathematical (!) Looking for some blockchain-related concepts, this book can provide interesting insights. All other readers, especially those seeking a didactic introduction to blockchain technology or its underlying concepts, will be less satisfied with this book.
Due to the compressed mathematical presentation, the book leads readers into a dilemma: those who read this book and get along with mathematics do not need the book because they could also read the information directly in the original publications (e.g. Lamport Byzantine Fault Tolerance) and that they can read the information directly in the original publications (e.g. Lamport Byzantine Fault Tolerance). Readers who can’t do anything with the original publications (yet) need this book but unfortunately can’t understand it. As a result, this book will appeal to a very low readership.
Robin Lang (verified owner) –
If you are an undergraduate revising for an exam, these might be very helpful notes. If you want to learn about the science of blockchain, note that the book is full of definitions, minor remarks and references but very little else. There is virtually no reasoning, motivation, theorems, proofs, applications … let alone story.
Lauren Bautista (verified owner) –
This is an excellent, technically clear, yet concise introduction to the theory of distributed systems. The author does a great job of presenting the specific problem being solved, the solution and its theoretical limitations. Strongly recommended for block chain developers who wish to understand the underlying theory of the various approaches.
Bristol Small (verified owner) –
The book is interesting, since it deals with several distributed systems problems and algorithms. However, in my opinion, its title shouldn’t be “The Science of the Blockchain”, since only one chapter in eight is about blockchain and bitcoin.
Kara Sawyer (verified owner) –
Very short, very academic book that follows the development of topics foundational to the creation of the blockchain. It describes a variety of distributed system concepts like fault tolerance, consensus, and quorum. I thought the book did a particularly good job of defining Byzantine nodes and following up with implications for several algorithms. It is very good at showing the quantitative impact of defence against attacks in different systems.
The book seems like it is targeting a committee of professors with its lemmas and formal definitions. No concession is made to civilians. That said, I quite like the remarks at the end of the chapters that discuss first publication of ideas tracing their history. Furthermore, the ideas themselves are generally well explained. I did learn several things.
If you are committed to learning more about the computer science that shapes the blockchain then I recommend this book. But it’s not as easy a read as it’s diminutive size would suggest.
Phoenix Wolfe (verified owner) –
For me, this was an excellent refresher on the theoretical foundations of distributed databases and the logic of concensus algorithms. The title however, does not do the content justice and/or vice versa: it doesn’t cover the broader science behind blockchain, but covers the relevant parts (for me) in depth…
Rudy Harrell (verified owner) –
It is great overview but if you would like to know details you need to dig deeper in the other books that are listed in it.
Rio Duncan (verified owner) –
It is not detail enough and some topics are lack of example, but for beginners, it i good enough for picking up at least the keywords
Jerry Kerr (verified owner) –
Very helpful and clear in providing understanding some of the key elements of Blockchain
. Assumes some understanding of the overall operation of Blockchain implementations, requiring colateral references.
Trevor Waters (verified owner) –
When I started going over this book, I was completely disappointed but as I spent more time, I thought it has some nuggets and is worth a couple of lattes at Starbucks. I would not call this a book but rather notes taken by student in a class. It is a collection of algorithms – with notes and explanation. But on a positive note, it may not be a bad idea to get introduced to these algorithms at one place. If you have not encountered these algorithms in your computer science course, you may need to supplement your reading with a few google searches.
Baylee Bowen (verified owner) –
Good CS introduction to blockchain. Be warned though, it is verbose and not the right book if you’re not looking for something dry but formal.
Wells Dunn (verified owner) –
This is an excellent book. Whilst a bit terse, it progressively builds and illustrates a good solid Mathematical framework to the Blockchain and manages to condense it all down into a reasonable size avoiding all the fluff and hot air that normally accompanies most other books on this subject. The book also provides good potted histories at the end of each chapter, listing the references to the key academic papers for further reading into the key concepts described.
Anaya Terrell (verified owner) –
This book is modest in size, some 110 pages of text. But it’s going to be very tough going for anyone without a solid background in mathematics (such as the commonly used symbols in set theory and logic), and the computer science of distributed systems.
It’s a mix of writing done in a casual style, that can be a bit careless about precision and completeness, intermingled with classically formatted Definitions, Algorithms, Theorems and Lemmas, where the Algorithms are a written in an Algol-like pseudo-computer language, sometimes missing key little details such as how some variable gets initialized or what means what.
The reader should be comfortable with such mathematical symbols as those for subset, set membership, union, intersection, universal and existential quantifiers, power set (the number “2” followed by a superscript such as for example “V” would denote the set of all subsets of “V”), empty set, and so forth.
The book covers various state replication algorithms. These algorithms enable multiple communicating nodes to come to a common agreement on some shared state, with some provable degree of tolerance for nodes failing or lying.
Elise Estrada (verified owner) –
Wow – this is a terrific book for people with a deep background in computer science. The book is a gem describing the process of state replication problem between distributed computers which underlies the FinTech implementation of blockchain. The chapters include Fault-Tolerance, Consensus, Byzantine Agreement, Authenticated Agreement, Quorum Systems, Eventual Consistency & Bitcoin and Distributed Storage.