1949 Giant Brains: SIMON Relay Computer IBM ASCC MIT Mark 1 ENIAC Babbage GENIAC
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Giant Brains - or, Machines That Think
by GENIAC Inventor Edmund C. Berkeley First published at a time when enormous calculating machines like the ENIAC and Harvard Mark I were beginning to enter the public's consciousness, this groundbreaking master work from GENIAC inventor Edmund Berkeley is a must-have for any serious student of computer history. Best known for his popular series of articles in Radio-Electronics, this is the very book tha...t introduced "Simon, " what many consider to be the world's first personal computer. Predating the Kenbak-1, Mark-8, and Altair 8800 by nearly a quarter century, the machine was programmed via paper tape and used a bank of relays to implement rudimentary decision-making logic. Berkeley devotes a full 20 pages to Simon's construction, programming, and operation.But it doesn't end there: The bulk of this fascinating book takes an in-depth look at digital and analog computers of the day, both electronic and mechanical, as well as speculates on the future of computing in the decades to come. I can't think of a more forward-looking book of its kind, with a wealth of information on this emerging new field.Chapters include:1. Can Machines Think?2. Languages: Systems for Handling Information3. A Machine That Will Think: Simon, a Very Simple Mechanical Brain4. Counting Holes: Punch Card Calculating Machines5. Measuring: MIT's Differential Analyzer #26. Accuracy to 23 Digits: IBM's ASCC (a.k.a. the Harvard Mark I)7. Speed - 5000 Additions a Second: Moore School's ENIAC8. Reliability - No Wrong Results: Bell Labs' General-Purpose Relay Calculator9. Reasoning: The Kalin-Burkhart Logical-Truth Calculator10. An Excursion: The Future Design of Machines That Think11. The Future: Machines That Think, and What They Might Do For Men12. Social Control: Machines That Think, and How Society May Control ThemSupplement - Words & Ideas, Mathematics, ReferencesApart from a little cover wear, the book is in very good condition. Hardcover, 270 pages. Original copyright 1949. 1952 Printing. This item ships WORLDWIDE.
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by GENIAC Inventor Edmund C. Berkeley First published at a time when enormous calculating machines like the ENIAC and Harvard Mark I were beginning to enter the public's consciousness, this groundbreaking master work from GENIAC inventor Edmund Berkeley is a must-have for any serious student of computer history. Best known for his popular series of articles in Radio-Electronics, this is the very book tha...t introduced "Simon, " what many consider to be the world's first personal computer. Predating the Kenbak-1, Mark-8, and Altair 8800 by nearly a quarter century, the machine was programmed via paper tape and used a bank of relays to implement rudimentary decision-making logic. Berkeley devotes a full 20 pages to Simon's construction, programming, and operation.But it doesn't end there: The bulk of this fascinating book takes an in-depth look at digital and analog computers of the day, both electronic and mechanical, as well as speculates on the future of computing in the decades to come. I can't think of a more forward-looking book of its kind, with a wealth of information on this emerging new field.Chapters include:1. Can Machines Think?2. Languages: Systems for Handling Information3. A Machine That Will Think: Simon, a Very Simple Mechanical Brain4. Counting Holes: Punch Card Calculating Machines5. Measuring: MIT's Differential Analyzer #26. Accuracy to 23 Digits: IBM's ASCC (a.k.a. the Harvard Mark I)7. Speed - 5000 Additions a Second: Moore School's ENIAC8. Reliability - No Wrong Results: Bell Labs' General-Purpose Relay Calculator9. Reasoning: The Kalin-Burkhart Logical-Truth Calculator10. An Excursion: The Future Design of Machines That Think11. The Future: Machines That Think, and What They Might Do For Men12. Social Control: Machines That Think, and How Society May Control ThemSupplement - Words & Ideas, Mathematics, ReferencesApart from a little cover wear, the book is in very good condition. Hardcover, 270 pages. Original copyright 1949. 1952 Printing. This item ships WORLDWIDE.
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