In just about any magazine or news report today, somewhere we hear about algorithms. How they rule the world or will rule the world. They’re almost synonymous with any article written about the tech giants from Google to Amazon to Facebook. But what is an algorithm anyway? Why are the so important? In the simplest term, an algorithm is a recipe. It’s not the ingredients that go into the recipe, it’s the process, the steps in a recipe. An algorithm would tell you the process to make a stew through each step; cook stew meat, finely chop vegetables, add beef broth, add in broth and vegetables to meat, heat until ready. You can use the same algorithm every time you make the stew, except you may add different spices or vegetables, which is the “data” or ingredients. Humans have been using algorithms for thousands of years. Algorithms are at the