The Computer and the Brain
Encyclopedia
The Computer and the Brain is an unfinished book by mathematician John von Neumann
John von Neumann
John von Neumann was a Hungarian-American mathematician and polymath who made major contributions to a vast number of fields, including set theory, functional analysis, quantum mechanics, ergodic theory, geometry, fluid dynamics, economics and game theory, computer science, numerical analysis,...

, begun shortly before his death. Von Neumann was an important figure in computer science, and the book discusses how the brain can be viewed as a computing machine. The book is speculative in nature, but von Neumann discusses several important differences between brains and computers of his day (such as processing speed and parallelism
Parallel computing
Parallel computing is a form of computation in which many calculations are carried out simultaneously, operating on the principle that large problems can often be divided into smaller ones, which are then solved concurrently . There are several different forms of parallel computing: bit-level,...

), as well as suggesting directions for future research.

At only 96 pages, the book was originally intended for Yale's Silliman lectures, but it was published posthumously. The second edition contains a foreword by Paul Churchland
Paul Churchland
Paul Churchland is a philosopher noted for his studies in neurophilosophy and the philosophy of mind. He is currently a Professor at the University of California, San Diego, where he holds the Valtz Chair of Philosophy. Churchland holds a joint appointment with the Cognitive Science Faculty and...

 and Patricia Churchland
Patricia Churchland
Patricia Smith Churchland is a Canadian-American philosopher noted for her contributions to neurophilosophy and the philosophy of mind. She has been a Professor at the University of California, San Diego since 1984...

that places von Neumann's views in the context of science at that time.

Amazon.com: The Computer and The Brain: Second Edition
http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Brain-Silliman-Memorial-Lectures/dp/0300084730/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1298758228&sr=8-5
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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