Arbib Michael. Brains Machines And Mathematics

McGraw-Hill, 1964. — 163 p.This book forms an introduction to the common ground of brains, machines, and mathematics, where mathematics is used to exploit analogies between the working of brains and the control - computation - communication aspects of machines. It is designed for a reader who has heard of such currently fashionable topics as cybernetics and Godel’s theorem and wants to gain from one source more of an understanding of them than is afforded by popularizations. Here the reader will find not only what certain results are, but also why. A lot of ground is covered, and the reader who wants to go further should find himself reasonably well prepared to go on to study the technical literature. To make full use of this book requires a moderate mathematical background—a year of college mathematics (or the equivalent “mathematical maturity”). However, much of the book should be intelligible to the reader who chooses to skip the mathematical proofs, and no previous study of biology or computers is required at all.