Harold Jeffreys once said that the brain may be an imperfect thinking machine, but is the only one available. For over 2, 000 years men have devised tools that aid or to some extent replace thought. Most of these men were philosophers. There were Aristotle's logic; Boole's "Laws of Thought"; the theory of probability founded by Cardan, Leibnitz, Pascal, Fermat and others; simple calculating machines designed by Leibnitz and Pascal; and a complicated calculating machine designed by Charles Babbage but never completed, owing to the short-sightedness of the British Treasury. But it was not until the advent of electronic computers that many scientists began to suspect that robots may be feasible. The justification for this view is not so much that existing electronic computers have yet been programmed to do much that is very close to thinking, as that electronics provides a very rapid and reliable method of handing information.
By: I. J. Good
Published in: RC115 in 1959
LIMITED DISTRIBUTION NOTICE:
This Research Report is available. This report has been submitted for publication outside of IBM and will probably be copyrighted if accepted for publication. It has been issued as a Research Report for early dissemination of its contents. In view of the transfer of copyright to the outside publisher, its distribution outside of IBM prior to publication should be limited to peer communications and specific requests. After outside publication, requests should be filled only by reprints or legally obtained copies of the article (e.g., payment of royalties). I have read and understand this notice and am a member of the scientific community outside or inside of IBM seeking a single copy only.
Questions about this service can be mailed to reports@us.ibm.com .