Knowing AlgorithmsThis chapter in the Digital STS Field Guide describes some of the challenges that face people, especially “outsiders,” who want to know things about algorithms. It argues that many of these challenges stem from an overly narrow understanding of what an “algorithm” is in practice, which leads critics to imagine them as simple, recipe-like processes that only need to be revealed to be understood. Against this revelatory model,the chapter advances an understanding of algorithms as heterogeneous “algorithmic systems,” composed of computational processes, data flows, people, and a host of infrastructural supports.