Talking Nets: An Oral History of Neural Networks - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262511118 ISBN 13: 9780262511117

Publisher: The MIT Press, 2000

Synopsis

Since World War II, a group of scientists has been attempting to understand the human nervous system and to build computer systems that emulate the brain's abilities. Many of the early workers in this field of neural networks came from cybernetics; others came from neuroscience, physics, electrical engineering, mathematics, psychology, even economics. In this collection of interviews, those who helped to shape the field share their childhood memories, their influences, how they became interested in neural networks, and what they see as its future.The subjects tell stories that have been told, referred to, whispered about, and imagined throughout the history of the field. Together, the interviews form a Rashomon-like web of reality. Some of the mythic people responsible for the foundations of modern brain theory and cybernetics, such as Norbert Wiener, Warren McCulloch, and Frank Rosenblatt, appear prominently in the recollections. The interviewees agree about some things and disagree about more. Together, they tell the story of how science is actually done, including the false starts, and the Darwinian struggle for jobs, resources, and reputation. Although some of the interviews contain technical material, there is no actual mathematics in the book.Contributors : James A. Anderson, Michael Arbib, Gail Carpenter, Leon Cooper, Jack Cowan, Walter Freeman, Stephen Grossberg, Robert Hecht-Neilsen, Geoffrey Hinton, Teuvo Kohonen, Bart Kosko, Jerome Lettvin, Carver Mead, David Rumelhart, Terry Sejnowski, Paul Werbos, Bernard Widrow.

About this title

About the Author:

James A. Anderson is Professor in the Department of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences at Brown University.

Review:

" Talking Nets is a fascinating book.... Anyone with a serious—or even half-serious—interest in neural networks, or in the history of AI or cognitive science, should read Talking Nets."—Margaret A. Boden , Times Literary Supplement

" Talking Nets is a fascinating book.... Anyone with a serious -- or even half-serious -- interest in neural networks, or in the history of AI or cognitive science, should read Talking Nets." Margaret A. Boden Times Literary Supplement

"A fascinating compilation of discussions with many of the pioneers inneurocomputing. This book will certainly help fill in the motivationsand historical context surrounding many of the fundamentalbreakthroughs in the area." James L. McClelland , Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition

" Talking Nets is a fascinating book.... Anyone with a serious or even half-serious interest in neural networks, or in the history of AI or cognitive science, should read Talking Nets ." Margaret A. Boden , Times Literary Supplement

" Talking Nets is a fascinating book.... Anyone with a serious -- or even half-serious -- interest in neural networks, or in the history of AI or cognitive science, should read Talking Nets ." Margaret A. Boden Times Literary Supplement

About this edition

• Publisher: The MIT Press
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0262511118
• ISBN 13: 9780262511117
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 448
• Editor: Rosenfeld Edward, Anderson James A.