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2.12 MB
Extraction Summary
7
People
1
Organizations
0
Locations
1
Events
1
Relationships
4
Quotes
Document Information
Type:
Essay / article (contained within house oversight committee legal production)
File Size:
2.12 MB
Summary
This document is page 37 of a production for the House Oversight Committee (Bates 016840). It contains an essay titled 'The Third Law' by historian George Dyson. The text explores the history of computing, distinguishing between 'Old Testament' logic (Hobbes, Leibniz) and 'New Testament' machines (Turing, von Neumann), and discusses the distinctions and transitions between analog and digital computing.
People (7)
| Name | Role | Context |
|---|---|---|
| George Dyson | Author / Historian of Science |
Author of the essay 'The Third Law' and books such as 'Darwin Among the Machines'.
|
| Thomas Hobbes | Philosopher |
Described as an 'Old Testament prophet' of computing logic.
|
| Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz | Mathematician/Philosopher |
Described as an 'Old Testament prophet' of computing logic.
|
| Alan Turing | Mathematician/Computer Scientist |
Described as a 'New Testament prophet'; wondered what it would take for machines to become intelligent.
|
| John von Neumann | Mathematician/Physicist |
Described as a 'New Testament prophet'; wondered what it would take for machines to self-reproduce.
|
| Claude Shannon | Mathematician/Electrical Engineer |
Described as a 'New Testament prophet'; wondered about reliable communication amidst noise.
|
| Norbert Wiener | Mathematician/Philosopher |
Described as a 'New Testament prophet'; warned about machines assuming control.
|
Organizations (1)
| Name | Type | Context |
|---|---|---|
| House Oversight Committee |
Implied by the Bates stamp 'HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_016840' indicating this document is part of a congressional investigation.
|
Timeline (1 events)
1949
Norbert Wiener's warnings about control systems appeared; introduction of the first generation of stored-program electronic digital computers.
N/A
Relationships (1)
Dyson wrote 'Turing's Cathedral' and discusses Turing in this essay.
Key Quotes (4)
"The history of computing can be divided into an Old Testament and a New Testament"Source
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Quote #1
"What if digital computing is being superseded by something else?"Source
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Quote #2
"Analog computation is alive and well, even though vacuum tubes are commercially extinct."Source
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Quote #3
"Imagine you need to find the middle of a road... you can use a piece of string as an analog computer"Source
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Quote #4
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