"It is possible to invent a single machine which can be used to compute any computable sequence," twenty-four-year-old Alan Turing announced in 1936. In "Turing's Cathedral," George Dyson focuses on a small group of men and women, led by John von Neumann at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, who built one of the first computers to realize Alan Turing's vision of a Universal Machine. Their work would break the distinction between numbers that "mean" things and numbers that "do" things--and our universe would never be the same.
Using five kilobytes of memory (the amount allocated to displaying the cursor on a computer desktop of today), they achieved unprecedented success in both weather prediction and nuclear weapons design, while tackling, in their spare time, problems ranging from the evolution of viruses to the evolution of stars.
Dyson's account, both historic and prophetic, sheds important new light on how the digital universe exploded in the aftermath of World War II. The proliferation of both codes and machines was paralleled by two historic developments: the decoding of self-replicating sequences in biology and the invention of the hydrogen bomb. It's no coincidence that the most destructive and the most constructive of human inventions appeared at exactly the same time.
How did code take over the world? In retracing how Alan Turing's one-dimensional model became John von Neumann's two-dimensional implementation, "Turing's Cathedral" offers a series of provocative suggestions as to where the digital universe, now fully three-dimensional, may be heading next.
"It is possible to invent a single machine which can be used to compute any computable sequence," twenty-four-year-old Alan Turing announced in 1936. In "Turing's Cathedral," George Dyson focuses on a small group of men and women, led by John von Neumann at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey, who built one of the first computers to realize Alan Turing's vision of a Universal Machine. Their work would break the distinction between numbers that "mean" things and numbers that "do" things--and our universe would never be the same.
Using five kilobytes of memory (the amount allocated to displaying the cursor on a computer desktop of today), they achieved unprecedented success in both weather prediction and nuclear weapons design, while tackling, in their spare time, problems ranging from the evolution of viruses to the evolution of stars.
Dyson's account, both historic and prophetic, sheds important new light on how the digital universe exploded in the aftermath of World War II. The proliferation of both codes and machines was paralleled by two historic developments: the decoding of self-replicating sequences in biology and the invention of the hydrogen bomb. It's no coincidence that the most destructive and the most constructive of human inventions appeared at exactly the same time.
How did code take over the world? In retracing how Alan Turing's one-dimensional model became John von Neumann's two-dimensional implementation, "Turing's Cathedral" offers a series of provocative suggestions as to where the digital universe, now fully three-dimensional, may be heading next.
George Dyson is a historian of technology whose interests include the development (and redevelopment) of the Aleut kayak ("Baidarka), " the evolution of digital computing and telecommunications" (Darwin Among the Machines), " and the exploration of space "(Project Orion)."
"An expansive narrative . . . The book brims with unexpected
detail. Maybe the bomb (or the specter of the machines) affected
everyone. Godel believed his food was poisoned and starved himself
to death. Turing, persecuted for his homosexuality, actually did
die of poisoning, perhaps by biting a cyanide-laced apple. Less
well known is the tragic end of Klari von Neumann, a depressive
Jewish socialite who became one of the world's first
machine-language programmers and enacted the grandest suicide of
the lot, downing cocktails before walking into the Pacific surf in
a black dress with fur cuffs. Dyson's well made sentences are
worthy of these operatic contradictions . . . A groundbreaking
history of the Princeton computer."
--William Poundstone, "The New York Times Book Review"
"Dyson combines his prodigious skills as a historian and writer
with his privileged position within the [Institute for Advanced
Study's] history to present a vivid account of the digital computer
project . . . A powerful story of the ethical dimension of
scientific research, a story whose lessons apply as much today in
an era of expanded military R&D as they did in the ENIAC and
MANIAC era . . . Dyson closes the book with three absolutely,
hair-on-neck-standing-up inspiring chapters on the present and
future, a bracing reminder of the distance we have come on some of
the paths envisioned by von Neumann, Turing, et al."
--Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing
"A fascinating combination of the technical and human stories
behind the computing breakthroughs of the 1940s and '50s . . . It
demonstrates that the power of human thought often precedes
determination and creativity in the birth of world-changing
technology . . . An important work."
--Richard DiDio, "Philadelphia Inquirer"
"Dyson's book is not only learned, but brilliantly and surprisingly
idiosyncratic and strange."
--Josh Rothman, Braniac blog, "Boston Globe"
" "
"Beyond the importance of this book as a contribution to the
history of science, as a generalist I was struck by Dyson's eye and
ear for the delightfully entertaining detail . . . Turing's
Cathedral is suffused . . . with moments of insight, quirk and
hilarity rendering it more than just a great book about science.
It's a great book, period."
--Douglas Bell, "The Globe and Mail"
"The greatest strength of Turing's Cathedral lies in its luscious
wealth of anecdotal details about von Neumann and his band of
scientific geniuses at IAS. Dyson himself is the son of Freeman
Dyson, one of America's greatest twentieth-century physicists and
an IAS member from 1948 onward, and so Turing's Cathedral is, in
part, Dyson's attempt to make both moral and intellectual sense of
his father's glittering and yet severely compromised scientific
generation."
--Andrew Keen, B&N Review
"A mesmerizing tale brilliantly told . . . . The use of wonderful
quotes and pithy sketches of the brilliant cast of characters
further enriches the text . . . . Meticulously researched and
packed with not just technological details, but sociopolitical and
cultural details as well--the definitive history of the
computer."
--"Kirkus "(starred review)
"The most powerful technology of the last century was not the
atomic bomb, but software--and both were invented by the same
folks. Even as they were inventing it, the original geniuses
imagined almost everything software has become since. At long last,
George Dyson delivers the untold story of software's creation. It
is an amazing tale brilliantly deciphered."
--Kevin Kelly, cofounder of WIRED magazine, author of "What
Technology Wants"
" "
"It is a joy to read George Dyson's revelation of the very human
story of the invention of the electronic computer, which he tells
with wit, authority, and insight. Read Turing's Cathedral as both
the origin story of our digital universe and as a perceptive
glimpse into its future."
--W. Daniel Hillis, inventor of The Connection Machine, author of
"The Pattern on the Stone"
"Dyson combines his prodigious skills as a historian and writer
with his privileged position within the [Institute for Advanced
Study's] history to present a vivid account of the digital computer
project . . . A powerful story of the ethical dimension of
scientific research, a story whose lessons apply as much today in
an era of expanded military R&D as they did in the ENIAC and
MANIAC era . . . Dyson closes the book with three absolutely,
hair-on-neck-standing-up inspiring chapters on the present and
future, a bracing reminder of the distance we have come on some of
the paths envisioned by von Neumann, Turing, et al."
--Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing
"A fascinating combination of the technical and human stories
behind the computing breakthroughs of the 1940s and '50s . . . It
demonstrates that the power of human thought often precedes
determination and creativity in the birth of world-changing
technology . . . An important work."
--Richard DiDio, "Philadelphia Inquirer"
"Dyson's book is not only learned, but brilliantly and surprisingly
idiosyncratic and strange."
--Josh Rothman, Braniac blog, "Boston Globe"
" "
"Beyond the importance of this book as a contribution to the
history of science, as a generalist I was struck by Dyson's eye and
ear for the delightfully entertaining detail . . . Turing's
Cathedral is suffused . . . with moments of insight, quirk and
hilarity rendering it more than just a great book about science.
It's a great book, period."
--Douglas Bell, "The Globe and Mail"
"The greatest strength of Turing's Cathedral lies in its luscious
wealth of anecdotal details about von Neumann and his band of
scientific geniuses at IAS. Dyson himself is the son of Freeman
Dyson, one of America's greatest twentieth-century physicists and
an IAS member from 1948 onward, and so Turing's Cathedral is, in
part, Dyson's attempt to make both moral and intellectual sense of
his father's glittering and yet severely compromised scient
"A mesmerizing tale brilliantly told . . . . The use of wonderful
quotes and pithy sketches of the brilliant cast of characters
further enriches the text . . . . Meticulously researched and
packed with not just technological details, but sociopolitical and
cultural details as well--the definitive history of the
computer."
--"Kirkus "(starred review)
"The most powerful technology of the last century was not the
atomic bomb, but software--and both were invented by the same
folks. Even as they were inventing it, the original geniuses
imagined almost everything software has become since. At long last,
George Dyson delivers the untold story of software's creation. It
is an amazing tale brilliantly deciphered."
--Kevin Kelly, cofounder of WIRED magazine, author of "What
Technology Wants"
" "
"It is a joy to read George Dyson's revelation of the very human
story of the invention of the electronic computer, which he tells
with wit, authority, and insight. Read Turing's Cathedral as both
the origin story of our digital universe and as a perceptive
glimpse into its future."
--W. Daniel Hillis, inventor of The Connection Machine, author of
"The Pattern on the Stone"
"The most powerful technology of the last century was not the
atomic bomb, but software--and both were invented by the same
folks. Even as they were inventing it, the original geniuses
imagined almost everything software has become since. At long last,
George Dyson delivers the untold story of software's creation. It
is an amazing tale brilliantly deciphered."
--Kevin Kelly, cofounder of WIRED magazine, author of "What
Technology Wants"
" "
"It is a joy to read George Dyson's revelation of the very human
story of the invention of the electronic computer, which he tells
with wit, authority, and insight. Read Turing's Cathedral as both
the origin story of our digital universe and as a perceptive
glimpse into its future."
--W. Daniel Hillis, inventor of The Connection Machine, author of
"The Pattern on the Stone"
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