Research Catalog

Details

Description

1. xxii, 401 p. : ill., maps; 25 cm.

Summary

1. "Legendary historian and philosopher of science George Dyson vividly re-creates the scenes of focused experimentation, incredible mathematical insight, and pure creative genius that gave us computers, digital television, modern genetics, models of stellar evolution--in other words, computer code. In the 1940s and '50s, a group of eccentric geniuses--led by John von Neumann--gathered at the newly created Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. Their joint project was the realization of the theoretical universal machine, an idea that had been put forth by mathematician Alan Turing. This group of brilliant engineers worked in isolation, almost entirely independent from industry and the traditional academic community. But because they relied exclusively on government funding, the government wanted its share of the results: the computer that they built also led directly to the hydrogen bomb. George Dyson has uncovered a wealth of new material about this project, and in bringing the story of these men and women and their ideas to life, he shows how the crucial advancements that dominated twentieth-century technology emerged from one computer in one laboratory, where the digital universe as we know it was born"--
2. "Legendary historian and philosopher of science George Dyson vividly re-creates the scenes of focused experimentation, incredible mathematical insight, and pure creative genius that gave us computers, digital television, modern genetics, models of stellar evolution--in other words, computer code"--

Subject

1. Computable functions
2. Random access memory
3. Von Neumann, John, 1903-1957
4. Computers > History
5. Turing, Alan, 1912-1954
6. SCIENCE / General
7. Turing machines
8. BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Science & Technology

Call number

1. JBE 18-964

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (p. 341-377) and index.

Author

1. Dyson, George, 1953-

Title

1. Turing's cathedral : the origins of the digital universe / George Dyson.

Imprint

1. New York : Pantheon Books, c2012.

Edition

1. 1st ed.

Bibliography

1. Includes bibliographical references (p. 341-377) and index.

LCCN

1. 2011030265

ISBN

1. 9780375422775
2. 0375422773

Research call number

1. JBE 18-964