The Computer and the Brain (The Silliman Memorial Lectures Series)

Neuroscience and computer science have advanced considerably since Von Neumann, one of the founders of the modern computer, discussed these subjects in The Computer and the Brain.I do not believe, for example, that the text contains any insights that have not been picked up on by more recent authors.There are, however, good reasons to purchase this book. Obviously, if one wants to look at the history of human understanding of artificial intelligence the work is an important foundation.But, more profoundly, Von Neumann discusses the architecture of the computer and what was known about the brain in such easily comprehensible prose that the book is also a good introductory essay. Being less than 100 pages, it is also a relatively quick read.If then, you are looking for the most up to date neuroscience and artificial intelligence theory you should not choose this work. But as a landmark historical essay and a good introduction to these fields the book is, beyond doubt, a good choice.

This monograph is worth reading to get a sense of how von Neumann approached a problem using his mathematical intuition. I found it a valuable if short read.

John von Neumann was the principal architect (in 1945) of the design from which all subsequent electronic computers trace their lineage. As he was dying of bone cancer, this giant of 20th Century mathematics and physics wrote the last of his 150 research papers, "The Computer and the Brain".In 80 pages, von Neumann describes the key components and processes of computers and of brains and then analyzes their similarities and differences. Developments in both computer science and neuroscience during the intervening six decades have corroborated his overall analysis. Von Neumann had a better grasp in 1956 than proponents of AI have today of what differentiates artificial intelligence (computers) from biological intelligence (brains). In the last section of "The Computer and the Brain", von Neumann goes to considerable lengths to explain exactly how computers differ from brains:"It should also be noted that the message-system used in the nervous system, as described in the above, is of an essentially statistical character. In other words, what matters are not the precise positions of definite markers, digits, but the statistical characteristics of their occurrence, i.e., frequencies of periodic or nearly periodic pulse-trains, etc."Thus the nervous system appears to be using a radically different system of notation from the ones we are familiar with in ordinary arithmetic and mathematics. Instead of the precise systems of markers where the position--and presence or absence--of every marker counts decisively in determining the meaning of the message, we have here a system of notations in which the meaning is conveyed by the statistical properties of the message. We have seen how this leads to a lower level of arithmetical precision but to a higher level of logical reliability: a deterioration in arithmetics has been traded for an improvement in logics."Or, to quote von Neumann again farther down the same page, "The Language of the Brain is Not the Language of Mathematics".Try to imagine transistor logic gates, arithmetic logic units, integrated circuits, multi-core microprocessors, neuromorphic chips, neural networks, massively parallel systems, software algorithms, etc.--all without math. Good luck.

Perhaps more so than Alan Turing, (If we accept the intro by Kirtzweil, a man with serious credentials), John von Neuman was one of the most important figures in developing the basic architecture of the modern digital computer. The two did work together, but von Neuman was the senior and I propose had a better grasp of the juncture of math and machine.The Computer and the Brain is the last published work by von Neuman and was an attempt to bring together what was known about the machine qualities of the brain and what the machines of 1957 might one day be able to accomplish.As such almost everything is dated and new discoveries in neuroscience more so than in computers place limits on the absolute value of his comments.That said, there was a head line in recent science news that there is a prototype computer in testing that combines both digital and large scale parallel computing in the manner von Neuman suggests as the model for how the brain may work.The Computer and the Brain is the printed from of a lecture. He was too ill (mortally) for the series he was offered to conduct. So great was the respect for the man that he was allowed to present only these papers, sufficient for one lecture and about 3 hours reading. I do not think he read the paper; he had just the strength to write it.Besides having been a vitally important mathematician, he was active in the cause of scientific ethics and as the man who drafted the letter, signed by Einstein credited with America committing to atomic research he is therefore a originator of the atomic age. He was a man of great thought and influence.Reading this book is a chance to listen to a great mind. I make no claim to have understood all of it. I suspect that no one should read it in an effort to be at the leading edge of math, computers or neurology. It is a hard, but worth it read, and a glass into our recent history.

Incredible insights that are as remarkable for their content as for when von Neuman proposed them. It is fascinating to get a look at the way he thought and looked at the world.

As other reviews stated; great for the history lesson, and the introduction is excellent--and worth buying for that alone. The actual content of von Neumann's focus isn't particularly useful for modern work, at least in the context that I am working on.

The book is mildly interesting from an historical perspective about what von Neumann was thinking about before he died, but really not that useful from a neuroscience point of view.

Very hard to understand