文档介绍：THE UNIVERSAL MACHINE
From the Dawn puting
to Digital Consciousness
.
Ian Watson
THE UNIVERSAL MACHINE
From the Dawn puting
to Digital Consciousness
An Imprint of Springer Science + Business Media
# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in the United States by Copernicus Books,
an imprint of Springer Science+Business Media.
Copernicus Books
Springer Science+Business Media
233 Spring Street
New York, NY 10013
Library of Congress Control Number: 9783642281013
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Printed on acid-free paper
ISBN 978-3-642-28101-3 e-ISBN 978-3-642-28102-0
This book is dedicated to the memory of my grandfather, an
airman, who gave his life in World War II, and to Alan Turing
and all the men and women who worked alongside him, in
secrecy and without any recognition at Bletchley Park to
ensure that we all enjoy freedom.
v
Preface
hilst working on this book several people asked
me, “What gave you the idea to write the book?”
W –
Good question the idea of writing a popular sci-
ence book had been in my mind for a while. I like popular
science documentaries and books; I think they help people
better understand the world they live in. I also like histories
and again it’s important that people recognize the remarkable
achievements of those who preceded them. I’ve read and
enjoyed books like Salt: A World History and Spice: The His-
tory of Temptation, so at some point it must e to me
that bination of popular science and history would be a
good idea.
To write a popular history of puter was a natural
progression since I’m puter scientist and have always
had an interest in its history. But, to write a popular book on
c