Mathematical Theory of Communication (Shannon), 61
mathematics. see also algebra; arithmetic; digital computers; formal systems; game theory; incompleteness; logic
foundations of, 6–7, 43–44, 49–50, 53–58, 156,
philosophy of, 7, 9, 38, 39, 41–44, 49–50, 130, 168, 190, 218, 228
truth and proof in, 39, 42, 49–50, 53–54, 56, 168, 228
matrix
biological, 19
computational, 177, 183, 215
Matthew, Patrick (1790–1874), 17
Mauchly, John W. (1907–1980), 81, 82, 85, 90, 98
McClelland, J. E., 159
McCulloch–Pitts symbolism, 90
McCulloch, Warren S. (1898–1969), 72, 89, 109, 157
on Bigelow and origins of cybernetics, 101
on Theseus, Shannon’s mechanical mouse, 150
on when the brass head speaks, 213
Mead, Carver, on neural computation, 169
meaning, and economy, 8, 133, 156, 158–59, 171
“Mechanical Creation, The” (Butler), 25
mechanical intelligence, 70, 211. see also artificial intelligence
mechanical notation (Babbage), 38–39, 49, 128
memes, 28
memory (digital)
acoustic delay-line, 68–69, 90, 104, 108, 133
and analytical engine, 38, 40–42, 103
cost of, 8, 122, 185, 209
electronic, internal, and Colossus, 65
hierarchical, 98
magnetic drum, wire, and tape, 98, 100–101, 180
magnetic-core, 81, 180
nature of, 8, 69, 216
proliferation of, 8, 12, 122, 124, 209
punched paper tape, and SSEC, 103–104
random-access (RAM), 69, 98, 103–105, 113, 122
read-only (ROM), 40, 81
Selectron, 104, 148
and stored-program computers, 41, 67, 69, 81, 90, 104, 215
Williams tube (CRT), 67, 70, 104–105, 113, 117
memory capacity, of the human brain, 136
Menabrea, Luigi F. (1809–1896), 41
Mendelssohn, Felix (1809–1847), 225
Mercury, or the Secret and Swift messenger (Wilkins), 132
Merezhkovsky, Konstantin S. (1855–1921), 111–12
metabolism. see also origins of life
biological 29–30, 32, 202, 224,
technological, 8, 30, 32, 123, 172, 202, 215, 224
without replication? 30, 32
metalanguages, 123
metamathematics, 49–50. see also formal systems; incompleteness; logic
metaphysics, 3–4, 38, 73, 171, 172, 205
meteorology. See weather prediction
Metricom, Inc., 207–208
Metropolis, Nicholas, 78, 91–92, 102
microcontrollers, 8. see also microprocessors
microcosm, organic beings as, 192
Micrographia (Hooke), 135
microorganisms, 121, 136
as genetic reserve, 128–29
Martian, of Olaf Stapledon, 199–201
and nanotechnology, 174
and symbiogenesis, 112–13
microprocessors. see also integrated circuits
and collective intelligence, 72, 157, 174, 192, 204, 209–210
cost, and production of, 8
embedded versus non-embedded, 8
origins and evolution, 98, 108, 122, 157, 202–203
premonitions of, 37, 39, 98, 173–74
proliferation of, 7–8, 11, 12, 13, 109, 122, 185, 192, 202–203, 208–209
and wireless telecommunications, 208–209
microwave communications, 148, 152, 208
MIKE (H-bomb) test, Eniwetok Atoll (1952), 111
Miller, Agnes (1894–1984), 193, 198
Million Random Digits with 100,000 Normal Deviates, (RAND), 145
Mind. see also artificial intelligence; brain; Can machines think?; consciousness; intelligence; logic; neural networks
and brain, 5, 45–48, 72, 87, 89, 109–110, 136, 155–59, 168, 176, 204, 214–15, 219, 225
composite, 34, 168, 172, 199–200, 203–204, 209–210, 217–18, 224, 227–28
and computability, 5–7, 36, 39, 43, 50, 58, 59, 70, 72, 73, 157
and electrons, 109, 198
emergence of, 9, 222–24
Hobbes on physical nature of, 3–5, 39, 51
Hooke on operation and capacity of, 136
human, capacity of, 136, 217
and incompleteness, 50, 70, 72
Leibniz on, 35–36, 38, 51
and mechanism, 3–9, 25–26, 35, 47, 50–51, 59, 70, 73, 87, 108–110, 168, 211, 214, 227
and music, 222–24, 225
origins and evolution, 81–82, 172, 211, 219, 222–25
robustness of, 176
unpredictability of, 9, 35, 45, 72–73, 109–110
minimax theorem, defined, 154
Minsky, Marvin, 7, 72, 111
MTT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), 80, 98, 144, 179, 180
Mivart, St. George Jackson (1827–1900), 18
“Model of General Economic Equilibrium” (von Neumann), 155
modeling. see also self-organizing systems; weather prediction; vision
of air defense, 178–82
computational, 62, 83, 85, 86–88, 110, 196–97
of evolution, 27, 29, 111–19, 125–26
and evolution of consciousness, 10, 82
and evolution of control, 179, 183–84
of intelligence, 71, 72, 89, 175–76, 184–85
modems, wireless, 208
molecules. see also DNA; RNA
as code, 19, 144
evolution of, 12
as parts, 173
and self-replication, 29, 113, 118, 123, 129
Monadology (Leibniz), 35, 51
money
and cryptography, 62, 165, 167
and cost of decreasing entropy, 170
electronic, 165, 167–70
evolution of, 162–68, 170
and intelligence, 165–71
velocity of, 164, 167
Moore School of Electrical Engineering (Philadelphia), 80–81, 90, 98, 99, 104
Morgenstern, Oskar (1902–1977), 146, 153, 154, 158, 167, 168, 171
morphogenesis, 70, 160, 175
Morrison, Philip, v, 11, 192
Morse code, 142, 175, 184, 225
Morse, Samuel (1791–1872), 142
mouse (computer input), origins of, 226
MS-DOS (operating system), 121
multiplexing (telecommunications), 8, 148, 152
frequency-division, 208
time-division, 143, 205
music, 35, 204, 218–20, 221–26
mutation, and evolution, 20, 113–17, 120
My Garden; its Plan and Culture (Smee), 48
Myers, Frederic W. H. (1843–1901), 201
Myers, Leopold (1881–1944), 201
Myhill, John (1923–1987), 190
mythology, 211–12, 227
N
nanotechnology, 173–74
Napoléon (1769–1821), 138
Nash, John, 155
National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Teddington, U.K., 68–70, 150, 196
natural selection, 19, 27–28, 29–30, 116, 215/219, 226
and argument from design, 18, 116, 186, 189
and artificial selection, 113, 115, 120, 185, 189, 190, 215, 216
and design, 18, 27
Erasmus Darwin on, 20
insufficiencies of, 18, 27, 115–16, 186–87, 190
and intelligence, 82, 186, 189
and Lamarckian evolution, 29–30
nature
and artificial life, 1–2, 25
and complexity, 13, 192
and design, 12, 13, 108, 185–86, 189, 215
end of? 13
and game theory, 153, 155, 171–72
and intelligence, 189, 215, 227–28
and technology, ix, 228
Nautical A
lmanac, 39, 59, 79
neo-Darwinism, 18, 30, 31
nervous systems, 46–48, 127, 174, 184, 192. see also brain; neural networks; self-organizing systems
embryonic, 175
fault-tolerance of, 108, 169, 176
models of, 71, 89–90, 108, 176
statistical nature of, 156–57, 159, 169
study of, as cerebral meteorology, 85
wireless, 199–200
networks. see also neural networks, telecommunications, packet switching
all-optical, 131
circuit-switched vs. packet-switched, 11–12, 149
damage-resistant, 147, 149, 168
fiber optic, 9, 203
financial, 62, 167–170, 171
in microbiology, 12
microwave, 148, 152, 208
optical telegraph, 138–39
origins and evolution, 133–34, 138–39, 140–44, 146–52, 180, 183
potential immortality of, 210
premonitions of, 33–34, 88, 192, 210
proliferation of, 10, 11–12, 13, 127, 184, 192, 203, 205, 215
and proliferation of software, 126–28, 189, 215–16
random, advantages of, 12, 177, 151
semantic, 47
telepathic, 203–204
wireless, 205–208
Neumann, John von. See von Neumann, John
Neumann, Max, 76
neural networks, 12, 155–59, 169, 175–76, 177
fault tolerance of, 108, 156–57, 176
and game theory, 158–59, 171
natural selection in, 12, 175, 185, 215, 219
Ortvay on, 89
and Smee, 46–48
temporal delay in, 169
Turing on, 71
and Turing machine equivalence, 72, 89–90, 157
and von Neumann, 89–90, 108–110, 155–57
wireless, 203–205
neurology, 45–46, 175
neurons, 71, 72, 89, 109, 175, 177
artificial, 90, 109, 205, 177–78
and ballistic motor control, 81–82, 219
and collective intelligence, 187, 204–205, 209, 210
pruning of, 12, 175, 185, 215
as purposive systems, 170
statistical nature of, 44–45, 108, 156, 159
neurotransmitters 169
New York Times, 87–88
New York University, 118
Newcomen, Thomas (1663–1729), 134
Newell, Allen (1927–1992), 178–179
Newman, Maxwell H. A. (1897–1984), 54, 65–69, 104
Newton, Isaac (1642–1727), 35, 36, 40, 75, 134, 227
Niagara Falls, and F. W. H. Myers, 201
Ninth Bridgewater Treatise (Babbage), 41–42
Nollet, Abbé Jean Antoine (1700–1770), 139
no-man’s-land, World War I, 194
nonlinear systems, 85, 86. see also complexity; self-organizing systems; turbulence
nuclear weapons. see also Los Alamos
and digital computers 78–79, 82–84, 92, 111, 144
and game theory, 76, 146, 155
hydrogen (super) bomb, 78–79, 82–83, 92, 111, 144–45
intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), 145–47
strategy, 76, 144–45, 146–47, 181
and survivable communications, 144, 146–49, 151–52
and von Neumann, 75–76, 78, 83, 87–88, 92, 144
and weather control, 87–88
nucleotides, 113, 118–19, 121, 129, 185, 216, 225. see also DNA; RNA
numbers. see also arithmetic; binary arithmetic; computable numbers; Gödel numbers; Reynolds number
Book of, 142
characteristic, of Leibniz, 38
kingdom of, 32, 119
natural, 53, 56
powers of and safety in, 73, 82, 150, 192
prime, and public-key cryptography, 165–66
random, 71, 114, 145
self-reproducing, xii, 114, 116, 121, 172. see also symbiogenesis
O
obsidian, x, 202
Oersted, Hans Christian (1777–1851), 141
Office of Naval Research, 91
Old Testament, Leviathan in, 1, 2
Olden Farm (Princeton, N. J.), 93, 97
Oldenburg, Henry (1615?–1677), 36
“On Computable Numbers” (Turing), 58, 60, 65, 68, 72, 88
On Distributed Communications (Baran), 151
operating systems (computer), 10, 38, 113–14, 121–23, 180, 189
Oppenheimer, J. Robert (1904–1967), 78–79, 82, 91, 94–95
optical fiber communications, 7, 8–9, 203–204, 207
Opticks (Newton), 227
Order, 62, 170, 222
and disorder, in hydrodynamics, 85
origins of, 29, 112, 170, 177, 188–89
order codes, 90, 93, 105–106, 121, 123
Organisms. see also artificial life; evolution; life; microorganisms; origins of life; parasitism; symbiogenesis; symbiosis
collective, 2–3, 13, 27, 150, 170, 175, 191–92
complexity of, 11–13, 112, 117, 126, 150, 181, 190–92
and machines, comparison with, 100–101, 181, 191
multicellular, 13, 115, 123, 160
organizations as, 179, 183
processors as, 215–16
reliable, from unreliable parts, 44, 108, 150
scale of, 7–8, 174–75, 186, 208
Origin of Species (Darwin), 18, 19, 23, 24, 116, 190
origins of life, 9, 12–13, 28–32, 111–13, 177, 202. see also symbiogenesis
Origins of Life (Dyson), 29–30, 32
Ortvay, Rudolf, 89
OS/360 (IBM 360 operating system), 121–22
Oslo, University of, 119–20
Ouroboros (Garrett), 226–27
Overlords (of Childhood’s End), 224
overmind, dangers of, 224
Oxford University, 2, 63, 132, 160
oxygen, 121, 202
P
packet switching
Babbage on, 42, 81
origins and development of, 143, 147–52, 205–207
proliferation of, 12, 122
Paley, William (1743–1805), 188–89
Pandemonium (Selfridge), 72, 184–85, 189
pangenesis, 20
panspermia, 28
Parallel Distributed Processing (Rumelhart and McClelland), 159
parallel processing
in biology, 82, 110, 115, 155, 159, 219
and computers, 12, 86–87, 108, 115, 126–27, 155, 197, 205
parasitism, 12, 29, 97, 114–16, 120, 185, 201, 223, 227
and evolution of software, 121–23
and origins of eukaryotic cells, 12, 29, 112, 115
Pascal, Blaise (1623–1666), 36
Passages from the Life of a Philosopher (Babbage), 42
pattern recognition, 10, 62, 158, 184
Patterson, George W., 59
Payne, Diana, 64
Pehrson, Björn, 133, 137, 139
Peirce, Charles Sanders (1839–1914), 58–59
penny post, and Babbage, 42
Pepys, Samuel (1633–1703), 5, 134
perception, 6, 51, 156, 158, 184, 218, 222
Petty, Charles, 161
Petty, William (1623–1687), 160–62, 171
phenotype, and distinction from genotype, 30–31, 117–19
Philco 2000 (transistorized computer), 183
philosophical algebra (Hooke), 135
Philosophical Club (Oxford), 132, 160
photosynthesis, 170
physics, 50, 73, 85, 125, 130, 174, 197, 216
Piaget, Jean, 94
Pickard, G. W., 203
Pilot ACE (computer), 69
pipelining (computational), 84
Pitts, Walter, 72, 89–90, 157, 213
plague (of 1665), 134
plasms (biological and technological), 112
plasticity, of neural and financial networks, 169
plugboards (for progr
amming), 63, 66, 81
poker (and game theory), 168
Political Arithmetick (Petty), 161
political economy, 160, 162
Polybius (ca. 200–118 B.C.), 132, 138, 143
Pomerene, James, 101, 102, 105, 114
Port Lyttelton (New Zealand), 16, 32
Post, Emil (1897–1954), 55
Post Office, British, 65, 69
Potato Plant, Its uses and properties, together with the cause of the present malady (Smee), 45
Power, D’arcy, on Smee, 48
Preliminary Design of an Experimental Earth-Circling Spaceship, (RAND), 145
Princeton (N.J.), xii, 58, 92, 93, 96, 99–101, 107, 116, 142
Princeton University, xi, 58, 72, 78, 88, 142, 155
and IAS, 79, 96, 97, 99, 107
principle of maximum diversity, 35
Principles of the Human Mind deduced from Physical Laws (Smee), 46
“Probabilistic Logics and the Synthesis of Reliable Organisms from Unreliable Components” (von Neumann), 44, 108
probability, 43–44, 154. see also improbability
Process of Thought Adapted to Words and Language, together with a description of the Relational and Differential Machines (Smee), 46
processing architectures. See computer architecture; parallel processing; von Neumann architecture
“Processors as Organisms” (Davidge), 215–16
programming, of digital computers. see also code and coding; languages; operating systems; software
of Colossus, 66–67, 206
ecology and evolution of, 9, 185
early development of, 68, 83–84, 90, 99, 113, 122, 160, 179
object-oriented, 123, 128, 185, 189
progress, evolutionary, 115, 190
“Proposal for the Development in the Mathematics Division of an Automatic Computing Engine (ACE)” (Turing), 68
protocols (telecommunication), 12, 122, 133, 137, 139, 143–44, 205
proving ground, U.S. Army, Aberdeen, Md., 79–80
Psychological Review, 87
punched-card data processing, 40, 60–62, 78, 81–84, 117, 120, 144, 178
punched cards, consumption of, 61, 122
punched paper tape, 69, 105
and automatic control, 61
at Bletchley Park, World War II, 9–10, 64–66, 205
and digital computing, 68–69, 103–104, 106, 144
and telegraphy, 65, 143–44, 148
purposive systems, 170
Q
Quakers (Society of Friends), 87, 193–94, 196
Quantulumcunque Concerning Money (Petty), 162
quantum computation, 72
quantum mechanics, 77, 78, 227
quartz, and fiber optics, 203
R
R. H. Macy & Co., 95
radio (and wireless), 64, 191, 204–208
AM, and survivable communications, 147
“cat’s-whisker” crystal detector, 208
microminiature, 205
spread-spectrum, 206–208
radiotelepathy, 200, 203, 208
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