The Computer and the Brain; Second Edition

by John von Neumann; With a foreword by Paul M. Churchland and Patricia S. Churchla

• ISBN13: 9780300084733
• ISBN10: 0300084730
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Trade Paper
• Copyright: 2000-07-11
• Publisher: Yale University Press

Summary

This book represents the views of one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century on the analogies between computing machines and the living human brain. John von Neumann concludes that the brain operates in part digitally, in part analogically, but uses a peculiar statistical language unlike that employed in the operation of man-made computers. This edition includes a new foreword by two eminent figures in the fields of philosophy, neuroscience, and consciousness.

Table of Contents

Foreword to the Second Edition	xi
Preface	xxiii
Klara von Neumann
Introduction	1	(2)
PART 1. THE COMPUTER	3	(36)
The Analog Procedure	3	(3)
The Conventional Basic Operations	4	(1)
Unusual Basic Operations	4	(2)
The Digital Procedure	6	(5)
Markers, Their Combinations and Embodiments	6	(1)
Digital Machine Types and Their Basic Components	7	(1)
Parallel and Serial Schemes	8	(1)
The Conventional Basic Operations	8	(3)
Logical Control	11	(11)
Plugged Control	12	(1)
Logical Tape Control	12	(1)
The Principle of Only One Organ for Each Basic Operation	13	(1)
The Consequent Need for a Special Memory Organ	14	(1)
Control by ``Control Sequence'' Points	14	(3)
Memory-Stored Control	17	(2)
Modus Operandi of the Memory-Stored Control	19	(1)
Mixed Forms of Control	20	(2)
Mixed Numerical Procedures	22	(2)
Mixed Representations of Numbers. Machines Built on This Basis	22	(2)
Precision	24	(4)
Reasons for the High (Digital) Precision Requirements	26	(2)
Characteristics of Modern Analog Machines	28	(1)
Characteristics of Modern Digital Machines	29	(10)
Active Components; Questions of Speed	30	(1)
Number of Active Components Required	30	(1)
Memory Organs. Access Times and Memory Capacities	31	(1)
Memory Registers Built from Active Organs	32	(1)
The Hierarchic Principle for Memory Organs	33	(1)
Memory Components; Questions of Access	34	(2)
Complexities of the Concept of Access Time	36	(1)
The Principle of Direct Addressing	37	(2)
PART 2. THE BRAIN	39	(41)
Simplified Description of the Function of the Neuron	39	(1)
The Nature of the Nerve Impulse	40	(12)
The Process of Stimulation	42	(1)
The Mechanism of Stimulating Pulses by Pulses; Its Digital Character	43	(1)
Time Characteristics of Nerve Response, Fatigue, and Recovery	44	(3)
Size of Neuron. Comparisons with Artificial Components	47	(2)
Energy Dissipation. Comparisons with Artificial Components	49	(1)
Summary of Comparisons	50	(2)
Stimulation Criteria	52	(8)
The Simplest-Elementary Logical	52	(1)
More Complicated Stimulation Criteria	53	(2)
The Threshold	55	(1)
The Summation Time	55	(1)
Stimulation Criteria for Receptors	56	(4)
The Problem of Memory within the Nervous System	60	(8)
Principles for Estimating the Capacity of the Memory in the Nervous System	61	(2)
Memory Capacity Estimates with These Stipulations	63	(1)
Various Possible Physical Embodiments of the Memory	64	(2)
Analogies with Artificial Computing Machines	66	(1)
The Underlying Componentry of the Memory Need Not Be the Same as That of the Basic Active Organs	66	(2)
Digital and Analog Parts in the Nervous System	68	(2)
Role of the Genetic Mechanism in the Above Context	69	(1)
Codes and Their Role in the Control of the Functioning of a Machine	70	(4)
The Concept of a Complete Code	70	(1)
The Concept of a Short Code	71	(1)
The Function of a Short Code	72	(2)
The Logical Structure of the Nervous System	74	(2)
Importance of the Numerical Procedures	74	(1)
Interaction of Numerical Procedures with Logic	75	(1)
Reasons for Expecting High Precision Requirements	75	(1)
Nature of the System of Notations Employed: Not Digital but Statistical	76	(4)
Arithmetical Deterioration. Roles of Arithmetical and Logical Depths	78	(1)
Arithmetical Precision or Logical Reliability, Alternatives	79	(1)
Other Statistical Traits of the Message System That Could Be Used	80	(1)
The Language of the Brain Not the Language of Mathematics	80