The Computer and the Brain

In this classic work, one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century explores the analogies between computing machines and the living human brain. John von Neumann, whose many contributions to science, mathematics, and engineering include the basic organizational framework at the heart of today's computers, concludes that the brain operates both digitally and analogically, but also has its own peculiar statistical language. In his foreword to this new edition, Ray Kurzweil, a futurist famous in part for his own reflections on the relationship between technology and consciousness, places von Neumann's work in a historical context and shows how it remains relevant today.

At the time of his death in February 1957, John von Neumann, renowned for his theory of games and his work at the Electronic Computer Project at the Institute for Advanced Study, was serving as a member of the Atomic Energy Commission. Ray Kurzweil is an inventor, author, and futurist who has written five books including The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology.