The computer and the brain / created by John Von Neumann; Foreword by Ray Kurzweil

Foreword to the third edition / by Ray Kurzweil Foreword to the second edition / by Paul M. Churchland and Patricia S. Churchland Preface / by Klara von Neumann Introduction Part 1. The computer. The analog procedure The digital procedure Logical control Mixed numerical procedures Precision Characteristics of modern analog machines Characteristics of modern digital machines Part 2. The brain. Simplified description of the function of the neuron The nature of the nerve impulse Stimulation criteria The problem of memory within the nervous system Digital and analog parts in the nervous system Codes and their role in the control of the functioning of a machine The logical structure of the nervous system Nature of the system of notations employed : not digital but statistical The language of the brain not the language of mathematics

In this classic work, one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century explores the analogies between computing machines and the living human brain. John von Neumann, whose many contributions to science, mathematics, and engineering include the basic organizational framework at the heart of today's computers, concludes that the brain operates both digitally and analogically, but also has its own peculiar statistical language. In his foreword to this new edition, Ray Kurzweil, a futurist famous in part for his own reflections on the relationship between technology and intelligence, places von Neumann's work in a historical context and shows how it remains relevant today