Computers—the machines we think with

Part 20

Chapter 203,525 wordsPublic domain

Arthur C. Clarke is most articulate in describing what he calls the evolutionary cycle from man to machine. As the discovery of tools by pre-man created man, so man’s invention of thinking machines set about the workings that will make _him_ extinct. Clarke theorizes that this breakthrough by man may well be his last, and that his machines will “think” him off the face of the earth!

As we move into a technology that embraces communication at a distance of millions of miles, survival under death-dealing radiation, and travel at fantastic speeds, man’s natural equipment falters and he must rely on the machine both as muscle and brain. Intelligence arose from life but does not necessarily need life, in the sense we think of it, to continue. Thus the extension of man’s intellect by electronics as hailed by Dr. Ramo will lead ultimately to our extinction.

Clarke feels that the man-machine partnership we have entered, while mutually benevolent, is doomed to instability and that man with his human shortcomings will fall by the wayside, perhaps in space, which may well be the machine’s true medium. What will remain will be the intelligent machine, reduced as time goes on to “pure” intelligence free to roam where it will and do what it wants, a matterless state of affairs that even Clarke modestly disclaims the imagination to speculate upon.

Before writing man off as a lost cause, we should investigate a strong argument against such a take-over by the machine. Man stands apart from other creatures in his consciousness of himself. He alone seems to have the ability to ponder his fate, to reflect, and to write books about his thoughts and dreams. Lesser animals apparently take what comes, do what they have to do, and get through this life with a minimum of changing their environment and themselves. Thus far the machines man has built do not seem to be conscious of themselves. While “rational beings,” perhaps, they do not have the “ability to laugh” or otherwise show conscious awareness of their fate. A term applied to primitive mechanical beings is “plugsuckers.” They learn to seek out a wall socket or other form of energy and nourish themselves much as animals must do. Just where man himself switched from plugsucking and began to rewire his own world is a fuzzy demarcation, but he seems to have accomplished this.

Consciousness is subjective in the extreme, and thus far only in fiction have computers paused to reflect and consider what they have done and its effect on them. However, the machine-builder, if not yet the machine itself, is aware of this consciousness problem. The Hoffman Electronics Corporation recently published an advertisement in the form of a science-fiction story by A. E. Van Vogt. The hero is a defense vehicle, patrolling the Pacific more effectively because it thinks it is king of the Philippine Deep. Its name is Itself, and it has a built-in alter ego. Hoffman admits it has not produced a real Itself—yet, but points out calmly that the company’s business _is_ the conversion of scientific fiction to scientific fact.

It has been suggested that mechanical consciousness may evolve when the computer begins to reproduce itself, a startling conception blessed in theory by logicians and mathematicians, as well as philosophers. A crude self-replicating model has been built by scientists—a toy train that reproduces itself by coupling together the proper cars to copy the parent train, a whimsical reflection of Samuel Butler’s baby engines playing about the roundhouse door.

Self-reproducing machines may depend on a basic “cell” containing a blueprint of what it should look like when complete, which simply hunts around for the proper parts and assembles itself. In the process it may even make an improvement or two. Having finished, it will make a carbon copy of its blueprint and start another “baby” machine on the way. Writers on this subject—some under the guise of science-fiction—wonder at what point the _machines_ will begin to wonder about how _they_ came to be. Will they produce philosophic or religious literature, or will this step in evolution prove that consciousness was a bad mutation, like seven fingers or three heads, and drop it from the list of instructions?

Clarke admits that the take-over by the machines is centuries off; meantime we can enjoy a golden age of intellectronic partnership with the machine. Linus Pauling, pointing out that knowledge of molecular structure has taken away the mystery of life, hopes that a “molecular theory of thinking” will be developed and so improve man that he may remake his thoughts and his world. Mathematician John Williams believes that existing human intelligence can preserve its distinction only by withdrawing from competition with the machine and defining human intelligence rigorously enough to exclude that of the machines. He suggests using the computer not just for a molecular theory of thinking, but also in the science of genetics to _design_ our children!

Whatever lies ahead, it seems obvious that one of the most important things the computer can help us think about is the computer itself. It is a big part of our future.

Index

Abacus, 5, 21, 22, 60, 85, 129, 178, 181

Abstracting computer, 245, 248

Accuracy analog computer, 82 digital computer, 87

Ackerman, 110

ADAM computer, 258

Adaptive principle, 205

Adders, 107, 108, 115

Adding machine, 129

Addition, computer, 106

Address, computer, 63

Advertising, use of computer, 180

AID, 183, 184

AIEE, 254

Aiken, 46

Air Force, 6, 132, 133, 151, 160, 182, 225

Airborne computer, 90, 154, 158, 162

AiResearch Mfg. Co., 69

Airline reservations, computer, 58, 183, 184

Algebra, Boolean, 8, 110, 119

Alpha rhythm, 126

Alphanumeric code, 104

American Premium Systems, Inc., 175

Analog computer, 21, 45, 72, 74, 80, 125, 203 direct, 76, 79 direct-current, 76 discrete, 80 indirect, 76, 79 mechanical differential analyzer, 76 scaling, 76

Analytical engine, 36, 37

AND gate, 112, 113, 117, 119

Antikythera computer, 25

Apollo computer, 182 space vehicle, 169

Applications, digital computer, 92

_A priori_ concept, 126, 135

APT computer, 209

Aquinas, St. Thomas, 235

Arabic numbers, 23

Archytas, 25

Arithmetic unit, computer, 51, 60

Aristotle, 26

Aristotelian logic, 109

_Arizona Journal_, 179

Army, U. S., 21, 78, 146, 259

_Ars Magna_, 28, 29

ARTOC, 157

Artron, 136

Ashby, W. Ross, 51, 124, 128, 251

ASC computer, 155

Associated Press computer system, 177

Asynchronous computer, 255

Athena computer, 52

Atlas missile, 4, 168

Atlas-Centaur missile, 169

Atomic Energy Commission, U. S., 149

Automatic control, 80, 203 pilot, 203

Automation, 26, 80, 173, 181, 201, 202, 203, 211, 217

Automaton, 26

Auto-parking, use of computer, 178

Autonetics, 207

AUTOPROMPT computer, 210

AUTOTAG, 156

AutoTutor teaching machine, 213, 225

B-29, 45, 77, 82

Babbage, 5, 35, 37, 41, 51

Babylonian arithmetic, 23

Ballistic computer, 83

Banking, 1, 172, 173

Bar Association, American, 152, 249

Battelle Memorial Institute, 195

Batten, Barton, Durstine, & Osborn, 180

Bell Telephone Laboratories, 4, 147, 241

Bendix Corp., 182, 190, 218

Bendix G-15 computer, 183, 188

Bernal, J. D., 264

Bernstein, Alex, 141

Bettelheim, Bruno, 144

BIAX memory units, 10

Bierce, Ambrose, 43, 121

BINAC computer, 7, 47

Binary, 98 digit, 55, 104 notation, 101, 103 pure, 102, 104 system, 85, 97, 99 variables, 114

Bionics, 7, 132, 135, 255

BIRDIE, 259

Birds, counting, 18

Bit, 55, 104

“Black box” concept, 50, 115

BLADES system, 191

Block diagram, 58

BMEWS, 159

Boeing Airplane Co., 186

Boltzmann equation, 158

Bomarc missile, 186

_Book of Contemplation_, 27

Book of Knowledge, 6, 226

Boole, George, 38, 110

Boolean algebra, 38, 110, 119

Bradbury, Ray, 153, 257

_Brain_, 121

Brain computer, 128, 129, 130 human, 87, 125, 128

BRAINIAC computer, 88, 117

Britton, Lionel, 121

Buffer computer, 55 lexical, 238

Buildings, automation of, 217

Burack, Benjamin, 44

Bureau of Mines, U. S., 189

Bureau of Ships, U. S., 255

Burke, Edmund, 32

Burkhart, William, 45

Bush, Vannevar, 13, 45, 76

Business, computer in, 171

Business management, use of computer, 12, 143

Butler, Samuel, 32, 33, 121, 252, 268

CALCULO computer, 75

_Calculus Ratiocinator_, 109

Calendars as computers, 24

California Institute of Technology, 169

Cancer Society, American, 193

_Candide_, 30

Capek, Karel, 43, 121, 215

Caplin, Mortimer, 150

Carroll, Lewis, 38, 118

CDC 1604 computer, 165

Celanese Corp. of America, 207

Celestial simulator, 85

Census, 41

Census Bureau, U. S., 149

Chain circuit, 127

_Characteristica Universalis_, 109

Charactron tube, 66

Checkers (game), 8, 143

Checking, computer, 60

Checkout computer, 183

Chemical Corp., 249

Chess, 8, 9, 16, 35, 99, 142, 156

Circuit chain, 127 delay-line, 63 flip-flop, 63, 115 molecular, 9, 253 printed, 62 reverberation, 128

Clapp, Verner, 248

Clarke, Arthur C., 265

CLASS teaching machine system, 226-228

Clock, 20, 24, 56, 85

COBOL language, 234

Code, computer binary-coded decimal, 103, 106 binary-octal, 106 economy, 106 excess-3, 105, 114 “Gray,” 106 reflected binary, 106 self-checking, 105

Color computer, 4

_Commercial Art_, 175

Commission on Professional and Hospital Activity, 194

Communication, use of computers, 179

Computer ADAM, 258 addition, 106 airborne, 90, 154, 158, 162 analog, 21, 45, 72, 74, 80, 125, 203 direct, 76, 79 direct-current, 76 discrete, 80 indirect, 76, 79 mechanical differential analyzer, 76 scaling, 76 Antikythera, 25 Apollo, 182 space vehicle, 169 applications, digital, 92 ASCC, 155 asynchronous, 255 Athena, 52 ballistic, 83 Bendix G-15, 183, 188 BINAC, 7, 47 BRAINIAC, 88, 117 CALCULO, 75 CLASS, 226-228 code, binary-coded decimal, 103, 106 color, 4 definition, 129 dictionary, 49, 50 difference engine, 5, 35 digital, 18, 45, 73, 84, 125, 203 division, 107 do-it-yourself, 75, 88, 117, 147 electrical-analog, 75 electronic, 1, 46, 122, 151 ENIAC, 7, 40, 46, 85, 215 ERMA, 173 family tree, 86 FINDER system, 161 flow chart, 58, 59 GE 210, 172 GE 225, 245 general-purpose, 54, 81, 191 gigacycle, 254 “Hand,” 132, 214, 215 household, 15, 257 hybrid, 80, 84, 92 ILLIAC, 197 input, 51, 54, 125 JOHNNIAC, 11, 47, 129, 140, 142 language, 233 LARC, 47, 162, 191 LGP-30, 198 limitations, 89 MANIAC, 47, 156, 165 Memex, 13 mill, 38, 51, 60 MIPS, 159 MOBIDIC, 157 MUSE, 48 music, 11, 92, 196, 257 on-line, 81, 205 on-stream, 83, 207 output, 51, 65, 125 parts, 50, 52, 53 problem-solving, 140, 143 Psychological Matrix Rotation, 78, 94 Q-5, 77 RAMAC, 150, 151, 198, 199 Range Keeper Mark I, 42 RAYDAC, 260 RCA 501, 151 “real-time,” 78, 168, 202, 205 RECOMP, 47 revolution, 251 Sabre, 183 SAGE, 3, 12, 37, 53, 158, 159, 226, 259 sequential, 126 “Shoebox,” 242 “software,” 54 spaceborne, 167 special-purpose, 79 SSEC, 155, 156 Stone Age, 21 store, 36, 62 STRETCH, 47, 48 subtraction, 106 testing, 117 UNIVAC, 47, 149, 151, 171, 221 VIDIAC, character-generator, 242 Zuse L23, 199

Computer Control Co., 260

Conjunctive operation, 37, 51, 110

Consciousness, 144, 145, 267

Continuous analog computer, 80

Continuous digital computer, 80

Continuous quantity, 73

Control, computer, 51, 56

Control Data Corp., 194

Conversion analog-to-digital, 74 digital-to-analog, 74

Converters, 94

Cook, William W., 29

Copland, Aaron, 11, 196

Cornell Medical College, 123

Cornell University, 133

Corrigan Communications, 231

Council on Library Resources, 248

Counting Australian, 20 birds, 18 boards, 20 digital, 84 machines, 20 man, 19 modulo-, 97, 101

Credit card, 13, 256

Cryogenics, 70 components, 63

Cryotron, 9, 88, 141, 254, 255

Cybertron, 135, 139

Cyborg, 265

Daedalus, 18

Darwin, Charles, 32, 137, 252

Data link, 14, 185, 256 logger, 205 processing, 22, 171, 264 recording media, 57

Daystrom, Inc., 211

Dead Sea Scrolls, 235

Decimal system, 19

Decision-making, 91

Defense, use of computer, 259

Delay-line circuit, 63

DeMorgan, Augustus, 38, 110, 115

Department of Commerce, U. S., 149, 221

Department of Defense, U. S., 148, 234

Design, use of computer, 14, 172, 186, 268

Desk calculator, 51

Diagnostic use of computer, 194

Diamond Ordnance Fuze Laboratory, U. S. Army, 69

Dictionary, computer, 49, 50

DIDAK teaching machine, 224

Difference engine, 5, 35

Digiflex trainer, 225

Digital computer, 18, 45, 73, 84, 125, 203

Digital differential analyzer, 94

Digitronics, 236

Discrete quantity, 73

Disjunctive operation, 110

Division, computer, 107

Dodgson, Charles L., 38

Do-it-yourself computer, 75, 88, 117, 147

Douglas Aircraft Co., 65

Dow Chemical Corp., 208

Du Pont Corp., 208

Dunsany, Lord, 108

Eccles-Jordan circuit, 47

Eckert, J. Presper, 47, 85

EDGE computer system, 185

Education, use of computers, 219

_Elan vital_, 127

Election, use of computers, 150

Electric Questionnaire, 133

Electric utilities, use of computers, 93, 208

Electrical-analog computer, 75

Electrical logic machine, 44

Electronic computers, 1, 46, 122, 151

Elephant, compared with computer, 56

Encyclopedia Britannica, 6, 226

ENIAC computer, 7, 40, 46, 85, 215

_Erewhon_, 32, 121

ERMA computer, 173

Ernst, Heinrich, 132, 215

Euler, 142, 143, 163

EURATOM, 158

Family tree, computer, 86

Farnsworth Car Pool logic problem, 116, 118

Farrington Electronics, Inc., 240

Federal Aviation Authority, 149, 161

Federal Government, 148

Feedback principle, 36, 204

Fein, Louis, 260

Fermat’s theorem, 56

Ferranti, Ltd., 182

Ferrite cores, 9, 63, 131, 253

FIELDATA computer family, 157

FINDER computer system, 161

Finn, James D., 224

Flexibility of digital computer, 89

Flight simulator, 83

Flip-flop circuit, 47, 63, 115 fluid, 70

Floating-point arithmetic, 108

Flow chart, computer, 58, 59

Flyball governor, 36, 203

Fluid computer, 70

Food Machinery Corp., 249

Ford Instrument Co., 42

Forrester, J. W., 199

_Fortune_, 245

_Frankenstein_, 42, 212

Freed, Roy, 152

Free learning, 7

Freight trains controlled by computer, 211

Game-playing, 8, 12, 143

Gaming theory, 92

Gardner, Martin, 140

GE 210 computer, 172

GE 225 computer, 245

General Dynamics Corp., 169, 183, 256

General Electric Co., 10, 45, 67, 76, 77, 79, 171, 172, 240

General Motors Corp., 218

General Precision, Inc., 69

General-purpose computer, 81, 85, 191

_Gestalt_ principle, 241

_Giant Brain_, 121

Gigacycle computer, 254

Gilfillan Radio, 67

Glenn, John, 3

Go (game), 143

Goal-seeking behavior, 124

Gödel, Kurt, 135

“Golem,” 27

Goodrich Tire & Rubber Co., 188

Goodyear Aircraft Corp., 77 Tire & Rubber Co., 208

Goren, Charles, 226

Government, 258, 263

Greek numbers, 23

Grieg, 11

Grimaldi, 99

_Gulliver’s Travels_, 30

Half-adder, 107, 115

Hamilton, Sir William, 109

“Hand” computer, 132, 214, 215

Handwriting reader, 241

Harcourt-Brace, 226

_Harvard Business Review_, 171, 172

Harvard University, 132, 217, 224

Hawkeye aircraft computer, 162

Heath, D. C., and Co., 226

HAYSTAQ, 249

Heikolator computer, 195

Hero, 18

Heuristics, 56, 142

High-school computer training, 15, 220

High-temperature susceptibility, 69

Hilbert, David, 110

Hiller, Lejaren A., Jr., 197

Hindu numbers, 23

HIPO system, 195

Hippo problem, 155

Hoffman Electronics Corp., 267

Holland, James, 224

Hollerith coding, 42

Hollerith, Herman, 2, 41, 54, 148

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, 109

Homeostat, 124

Homer, 26, 47

Hood, H. P. & Sons, 206

Hoover Commission, 149

Hourglass, 24

Household computer, 15, 257

Hughes Aircraft Co., 203, 215, 222

Hugo, Victor, 251

Hybrid computer, 80, 84, 92

IBM cards, 41

IBM 704 computer, 8

IBM 1401 computer, 175

IBM 1620 computer, 177

IBM 7074 computer, 175

Icarus, 18

Ice cream, computer-made, 206

ILLIAC computer, 197

“Illiac Suite,” 196, 197

_Iliad_, 26, 235

India, chess legend, 99

Industrial Advertising Research Institute, 180

Industrial revolution, 173

Industry, 181

“Inflexible Logic,” 32

Information explosion, 245

Information retrieval, 14, 243, 246, 247

Input, computer, 51, 54, 125

Instamatic computer system, 183

Insurance, use of computer, 92, 173

Intellectronics, 258, 262

Intelligence, 124, 135

Interagency Data Processing Committee, 148

Internal Revenue Department, U. S., 150

International Air Transport Association, 235

International Association of Machinists, 218

International Business Machines Corp., 69, 237, 247, 255

Interlingua, 237

Inventory, 176, 185

Inverter, 114, 119

IRE, 170

Isaacson, L. M., 197

Jacquard, Joseph M., 4, 34, 41, 54, 202, 242

Jet engine simulator, 78

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 169

Jevons, William S., 40

JOHNNIAC computer, 11, 47, 129, 140, 142

Johnson’s Wax Co., 178

Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp., 188, 189, 205

Journalistor, 64, 252

Kalin, Theodore, 45, 135

Kalin-Burkhart machine, 45

Kane, Sydney, 193

Kant, Immanuel, 135

Kelvin, Lord, 75

Kelvin wheels, 76

Khayyám, Omar, 108

KNXT, television station, 179

Kresge Eye Institute, 195

Kyoto University, 243

Lamb, Sydney, 238

Language, computer, 233

LARC computer, 47, 162, 191

Law, 232

Law Institute, American, 152

Learning, 123 forced, 133, 134 free, 7, 133 reinforced, 134 soldered, 7, 133

Learning, Inc., 226

Leibnitz, Gottfried, 24, 29, 85, 99, 109, 120

Lenkurt Electric Co., Inc., 190

LGP-30 computer, 198

Library, use of computers, 231

Limitations of computers, 89

Lincoln Laboratory, 124

Lindgren, Astrid, 3

Literature, computers in, 30

Litton Industries, 128

Livanov, M., 133

Lockheed Aircraft Corp., 185, 248

Logarithms, 30

Logic, 38, 90, 108, 229 Aristotelian, 109 Farnsworth problem, 116, 118 mathematical, 110 symbolic, 38, 109, 110, 115, 248, 255 unit, 60

Logical algebra, 40, 108 piano, 40

Loom, Jacquard, 34

Loy, W. D., 23

Luhn, H. P., 247

Lull, Ramon, 27, 28, 122

Lull’s wheel, 28

_Machine Design_, 180

Machine shop, use of computers, 209

Machine Translations, Inc., 239

MAD, computer language, 220

Maelzel chess automaton, 35

Magic squares, 142

Magnetic cores, 64

Magnetic disc, 63

Magnetic drum, 63

Magnetic films, 88, 255

Magnetic ink, 3, 240

Magnetic tape, 55

Majority rule checking, 60

Malin, David, 220, 221

Maloney, Russell, 32

Management games, 199

MANIAC computer, 47, 156, 165

Man-machine relationship, 258

Mark I computer, 46, 219

Marquand, Allan, 40, 44

Matsuzake, Kiyoshi, 21

Mauchly, John, 47, 85

Mayans, 24, 97

McCarthy, John, 170

McDonnell Aircraft Corp., 186

McDonough, James, 235

McDougall, W., 124

McGraw-Hill Book Co., 226

Mechanical-relay, 122

Mediation principle, 102

Medical diagnosis, 257

Medical Research Foundation, American, 193

Medical use of computers, 193

MEDLARS system, 194

Memex computer, 13

“Memistor,” 137

Memory computer, 51, 63, 254 BIAX, 10 MIND, 137 molecular, 64 scratch-pad, 63 unit, 62

Mercury space capsule, 168, 249

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, 236

Michigan State University, 151

MICR, 240

“Mill,” computer, 38, 51, 60

MIND memory unit, 137

Minneapolis-Honeywell Co., 162, 206, 208, 216

Minimax theory, 156

Minuteman missile, 4, 137, 168

MIPS computer, 159

MIT, 44, 169, 209, 215, 220

Mobot, 145, 215, 216, 266

MOBIDIC computer, 157

Modeling principle, 83

Modular approach, 115, 116

Molecular block memory, 64

Molecular circuit, 9, 253

Molecular electronics, 9

Monsanto Chemical Corp., 208

“Mooer’s” Law, 245

Morse code, 99

Mozart, 11, 197

Multiplication computer, 61, 107 Russian peasant, 103

MUSE computer, 48

Music, 11, 92, 196, 257

Nanosecond, 61

NANWEP, 165

Napier, John, 30

“Napier’s bones,” 30

National Library of Medicine, 194

NASA, 149

National Bureau of Standards, 94, 239, 249, 258

National Cash Register Co., The, 240

National Science Foundation, 158, 249

Navigation, use of computer, 182

Navy, U. S., 162

Negation principle, 113, 114

Neuristor, 137

Neurons human, 91, 125, 128, 135 artificial, 136, 138

Newell, Allen, 141, 251

Newton, Isaac, 30

New York University, 194, 220

Nike missile, 119, 157, 191

Nim (game), 8, 143

NORAD, 3, 160, 258

North American Aviation Corp., 65, 185

Numbers cuneiform, 23 Arabic, 23 Babylonian, 23 binary, 55 discrete, 73 Greek, 23 Hindu, 23 pure binary, 102, 104 Roman, 23, 97

Numerical control, 210

Numerical weather prediction, 163

_Odyssey_, 235

Ohio State University, 222

On-line computers, 81, 205

On-stream computers, 83, 207

_On the Origin of Species_, 32

Operant reinforcement, 223

Operations research, 36, 155, 256

Optical scanning, 240

OR gate, 112, 113, 117, 119

_Outline of Psychology_, 124

Output, computer, 51, 65, 125

Packaging density, 9, 140

Paper tape, 54

Papermaking, 209

Paradox, 45

Parallel addition, 107

Parallel operation, 126

Parametron, 255

Parity bit checking, 105

Parrish, Stephen Maxfield, 235

Pascal, Blaise, 30, 85

Patent Office, U. S., 249

Pauling, Linus, 7, 268

Pavlov, 133

Peace Corps, 149, 258

Peale, Mundy, 125

PEP system, 186

Perceptron, 7, 8, 134, 135

PERT system, 186

Petroleum industry, 208

Philadelphia Electric Co., 208

Philco Corp., 240

Phillips Petroleum Co., 207

Phonetic typewriter, 56

Picatinny Arsenal, 157

Pierce, John R., 147, 197

Pitt, William, 39

Plato, 25, 30

PLATO computer system, 25, 226

Player-piano, 54, 68

“Plot Genii,” 29

Plotto, 29

Pneumatic buffering, 69

Pneumatic capacitor, 69

Pneumatic computer, 54, 68, 69

Pneumatic diode, 69

Pneumatic flip-flop, 69

Pneumatic inductor, 69

Poetry computer, 144

Polaris missile, 4, 162, 168

Polymorphic data-processing, 264

Post office, 55, 149, 225

Potentiometers, 76

Predictive analysis, 238

Predictive control, 205

Prentice-Hall, Inc., 226

President, 16, 258

Pressey, Sydney, 222

Prices, computer, 5, 48, 147

Primitive equations, 163

_Principia Mathematica_, 110

Printed-circuit, 62

Printers, 65, 66

Prison, use of computers, 221

Problem-solving computer, 140, 143

Process control, 83

Procter & Gamble, 249

Program, 52, 226

Programmer, 55, 56, 103, 104, 128, 233

Programming, 36, 55

Psychological Matrix Rotation Computer, 78, 94

Public Health Service, U. S., 194

Pueblo Indians, 97

Punched cards, 2, 34, 41, 42, 43, 54

Purdue University, 76, 220

Pure binary, 102, 104

Q-5 computer, 77

Radcliffe College, 224

Radiation effects, 69

RAMAC computer, 150, 151, 198, 199

Ramo, Simon, 258, 262

Rand Corp., 11, 129

Random-access memory, 63, 131

Random net, 136

Range Keeper Mark I computer, 42

RAYDAC computer, 260

Raytheon Co., 135, 136

RCA, 205, 218, 255

RCA 501 computer, 151

Reading, by computer, 3, 55, 229

_Reader’s Digest_, 236

Real estate, 179

“Real-time” computers, 78, 168, 202, 205

RECOMP computer, 47

Reeves Instrument Co., 77

Republic Aviation Corp., 125

Reservations, airline, 3

Reverberation circuit, 128

Revolution, computer, 251

Rheem Califone, 224

Richardson, L. F., 163

_Road to Oz, The_, 27

Robot, 44, 212

Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, 194

Roman numerals, 23, 97

Rosenblatt, Frank, 133, 135

Ross, Douglas, 209

Rossby, C. G., 165

Royal McBee, Corp., 220

Royal Society, 251

_Rubáiyát_, 108

R.U.R., 44, 121

Russia, 11, 77, 133, 143, 195, 207, 215, 221, 236, 242

Russian peasant multiplication, 103

Russell, Bertrand, 110, 111, 130