"A machine can handle information; it can calculate, conclude, and choose; it can perform reasonable operations with information. A machine. therefore, can think." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"Another scientific problem to which new machinery for handling information applies is the problem of understanding human beings and their behavior. This increased understanding may lead to much wiser dealing with human behavior." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"As everyone knows, it is not always easy to think. By thinking, we mean computing, reasoning, and other handling of information. By information we mean collections of ideas - physically, collections of marks that have meaning. By handling information, we mean proceeding logically from some ideas to other ideas - physically, changing from some marks to other marks in ways that have meaning." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"For at least two centuries, solving differential equations to answer physical problems has been a main job for mathematicians. Mathematics is supposed to be logical, and perhaps you would think this would be easy. But mathematicians have been unable to solve a great many differential equations; only here and there, as if by accident, could they solve one. So they often wished for better methods in order to make the job easier." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"From a narrow point of view, a machine that only thinks produces only information. It takes in information in one state, and it puts out information in another state. From this viewpoint, information in itself is harmless; it is just an arrangement of marks; and accordingly, a machine that thinks is harmless, and no control is necessary." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"Now when we speak of a machine that thinks, or a mechanical brain, what do we mean? Essentially, a mechanical brain is a machine that handles information, transfers information automatically from one part of the machine to another, and has a flexible control over the sequence of its operations. No human being is needed around such a machine to pick up a physical piece of information produced in one part of the machine, personally move it to another part of the machine, and there put it in again. Nor is any human being needed to give the machine instructions from minute to minute. Instead, we can write out the whole program to solve a problem, translate the program into machine language, and put the program into the machine." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"One of the operations of algebra that is important for a mechanical brain is approximation, the problem of getting close to the right value of a number. [...] Another important operation of algebra is interpolation, the problem of putting values smoothly in between other values." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"Probably the foremost problem which machines that think can solve is automatic control over all sorts of other machines. This involves controlling a machine that is running so that it will do the right thing at the right time in response to information." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"Programming - the way to give instructions to machines [...] (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"The amount of human effort needed to handle information correctly depends very much on the properties of the physical equipment expressing the information, although the laws of correct reasoning are independent of the equipment." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"These machines are similar to what a brain would be if it were made of hardware and wire instead of flesh and nerves. It is therefore natural to call these machines mechanical brains. Also, since their powers are like those of a giant, we may call them giant brains." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"Understanding an idea is basically a standard process. First, we find the name of the idea, a word or phrase that identifies it. Then, we collect true statements about the idea. Finally, we practice using them. The more true statements we have gathered, and the more practice we have had in applying them, the more we understand the idea." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"We can even imagine what new machinery for handling information may some day become: a small pocket instrument that we carry around with us, talking to it whenever we need to, and either storing information in it or receiving information from it." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Giant Brains or Machines that Think", 1949)
"A computer is a person or machine that is able to take in information (problems and data), perform reasonable operations on the iformation, and put out answers. A computer is identified by the fact that it (or he) handles information reasonably." (Edmund C Berkeley & Lawrence Wainwright, Computers: Their Operation and Applications", 1956)
"Information is a set of marks that have meaning. Physically, the set of marks is a set of physical objects or a set of arrangements of some physical equipment. Then, out of this set, a selection is made in order to communicate, to convey meaning. For meaning to exist, there has to be a society of at least two persons or machines, a society that requires communication, that desires to convey meaning. By convention, the society establishes the meaning of the marks." (Edmund C Berkeley & Lawrence Wainwright, Computers: Their Operation and Applications", 1956)
"The precision of a number is the degree of exactness with which it is stated, while the accuracy of a number is the degree of exactness with which it is known or observed. The precision of a quantity is reported by the number of significant figures in it." (Edmund C Berkeley & Lawrence Wainwright, Computers: Their Operation and Applications", 1956)
"The moment you have worked out an answer, start checking it - it probably isn't right." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Right Answers: A Short Guide for Obtaining Them", Computers and Automation, Vol. 18 (10), 1969)
"The World is more complicated than most of our theories make it out to be." (Edmund C Berkeley, "Right Answers: A Short Guide for Obtaining Them", Computers and Automation, Vol. 18 (10), 1969)
"There is no substitute for honest, thorough, scientific effort to get correct data (no matter how much it clashes with preconceived ideas). There is no substitute for actually reaching a correct chain of reasoning. Poor data and good reasoning give poor results. Good data and poor reasoning give poor results. Poor data and poor reasoning give rotten results." (Edmund C Berkeley, Computers and Automation, 1969)
"Most problems have either many answers or no answer. Only a
few problems have one answer." (Edmund Berkeley, Computers and Automation, 1970)
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