If it should turn out that the basic logics of a machine designed for the numerical solution of differential equations coincide with the logics of a machine intended to make bills for a department store, I would regard this as the most amazing coincidence I have ever encountered.
—Howard Aiken 19561
Let us now return to the analogy of the theoretical computing machines … It can be shown that a single special machine of that type can be made to do the work of all. It could in fact be made to work as a model of any other machine. The special machine may be called the universal machine …
—Alan Turing 19472
In the fall of 1945, as the ENIAC, a gigantic calculating engine containing thousands of vacuum tubes, neared completion at the ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
and much more.
Read now
Unlock full access