The Universal Computer – The Road from Leibniz to Turing - Hardcover

Davis, Martin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0393047857 ISBN 13: 9780393047851

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000

Synopsis

Computers are everywhere today--at work, in the bank, in artist's studios, sometimes even in our pockets--yet they remain to many of us objects of irreducible mystery. How can today's computers perform such a bewildering variety of tasks if computing is just glorified arithmetic? The answer, as Martin Davis lucidly illustrates, lies in the fact that computers are essentially engines of logic. Their hardware and software embody concepts developed over centuries by logicians such as Leibniz, Boole, and Godel, culminating in the amazing insights of Alan Turing. The Universal Computer traces the development of these concepts by exploring with captivating detail the lives and work of the geniuses who first formulated them. Readers will come away with a revelatory understanding of how and why computers work and how the algorithms within them came to be.

About this title

Review

Computers rely on such things as semiconductors, memory chips, and electricity. But they also rely on a hard-won body of scientific knowledge that has enabled the now-ubiquitous devices to perform complex calculations, multitask, and even play a game of solitaire.

Martin Davis, a fluent interpreter of mathematics and philosophy, locates the source of this knowledge in the work of the remarkable German thinker GW Leibniz, who, among other accomplishments, was a distinguished jurist, mining engineer, and diplomat but found time to invent a contraption called the "Leibniz wheel", a sort of calculator that could carry out the four basic operations of arithmetic. Leibniz subsequently developed a method of calculation called the calculus ratiocinator, an innovation his successor George Boole extended by, in Davis's words, "turning logic into algebra". (Boole emerges as a deeply sympathetic character in Davis's pages, rather than as the dry-as-dust figure of other histories. He explained, Davis reports, that he had turned to mathematics because he had so little money as a student to buy books, and mathematics books provided more value for the money because they took so long to work through.) Davis traces the development of this logic, essential to the advent of "thinking machines," through the workshops and studies of such thinkers as Georg Cantor, Kurt Gödel, and Alan Turing, each of whom puzzled out just a little bit more of the workings of the world--and who, in the bargain, made the present possible. --Gregory McNamee

Review

"The stories masterfully told in this book underscore the power of ideas and the ‘futility of predicting in advance where they will lead.’ ... the structure and presentation of the material make the book an outstanding achievement."
―SIGACT News, 2014

"In just over two hundred pages, noted logician Davis (emer., New York Univ.) weaves the story, starting with Leibniz, Boole, and Frege, that leads to the universal computer. ... One should read this book from cover to cover, and take the time to read the chapter notes. Do not miss Aiken's (1956!) quote in the introduction, and spend time thinking about the brief summary in the epilogue. Libraries that do not own the original edition will definitely want to acquire this book. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries."
― CHOICE Magazine, October 2012

"Now in a revised edition with added insights concerning Konrad Zuse, the success of the IBM Watson on the game show Jeopardy!, and more, The Universal Computer: The Road from Leibniz to Turing is an extraordinary study of computational pioneers who ultimately transformed the modern world. ... highly recommended especially for college library computer science shelves, and an exceptional pick for any reader who is curious about the lives and efforts of great thinkers."
―Library Bookwatch, September 2012

"I read and enjoyed the first edition. Upon reading the second, I was again impressed. The book remains fresh and compelling. ... I recommend this book very highly. It is suitable for a high school or college library."
―Richard Wilders, MAA Reviews, September 2012

"Anyone who works with computers today, anyone who seeks to look into the electronic future, can profit greatly from reading Martin Davis’s fine ramble through the history of logic and the lives of its pioneers."
―John McCarthy, Stanford University

"At last, a book about the origin of the computer that goes to the heart of the story: the human struggle for logic and truth. Erudite, gripping, and humane, Martin Davis shows the extraordinary individuals through whom the groundwork of the computer came into being, and the culmination in Alan Turing, whose universal machine now dominates the world economy."
―Andrew Hodges, author of Alan Turing: The Enigma

"This updated and eminently readable account of the development of computers and computability theory is a well-wrought tribute to the pioneers in those fields, and in particular to Alan Turing on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of his birth."
―John W. Dawson, author of Logical Dilemmas: The Life and Work of Kurt Gödel

"The author and I are near the same age, and what amazing progress we have seen in more than half a century since our college days! The great pioneers, Alan Turing and John von Neumann, would be truly astonished to see how computers have evolved and how they have invaded nearly every aspect of modern life─for both good and evil. In this centenary of Turing's birth, let us pause to honor their vision and multiple accomplishments and to enjoy the lively, readable and insightful story the author weaves for us in this book."
―Dana S. Scott, University Professor Emeritus, Carnegie Mellon University, and ACM Turing Award Winner, 1976

Edition details

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0393047857
• ISBN 13: 9780393047851
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 270