The Computer and the Brain

Von Neumann, John

ISBN 10: 0300007930 / ISBN 13: 9780300007930

Published by Yale Univ Pr, 1958

Yale Univ Press. Stated eighth printing (1974). Missing dust jacket otherwise book has no marks, clean tight and bright, grey cloth hardcover is clean and strong black lettering on spine is clean, light fading to a few letters on spine. Seller Inventory # SKU1026089

Synopsis:

Dr. Von Neumann's views on the analogies between the human brain and computing machines

Review: Whether they think that artificial intelligence is impossible or inevitable, most people have highly polarized views on it. John von Neumann, genius, mathematician, and inventor of the nearly ubiquitous computer architecture that bears his name, blazed trails for both camps in The Computer and the Brain. This short book, which was written originally for Yale's Silliman lectures, but published posthumously, summarizes his views on machine and biological intelligence with unprecedented clarity and precision. His understanding of neuroscience was that of a brilliant and strongly motivated amateur at the end of the 1950s--good enough to take on the problem, but by no means matching his comprehension of the machines to which he had devoted much of his professional life. Still, his take on intracranial computation is stunningly prescient--he looks beyond the then-fashionable digital metaphors to suggest a semi-analog strategy that uses parallel processing to make up for its deficiency in speed. Prominent neuroscientific thinkers Paul M. Churchland and Patricia S. Churchland provide a brief, enlightening foreword to this second edition, placing the author's thinking in context and grounding the reader in the scientific milieu that gave rise to The Computer and the Brain. Although his computer architecture slowly is growing obsolete, von Neumann has given us a more lasting legacy in his thinking about thinking. --Rob Lightner

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Computer and the Brain
Publisher: Yale Univ Pr
Publication Date: 1958
Binding: hardcover
Condition: Very Good++
Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good++