'the universal computer' by martin davis

Will do. Thanks. Looking for a new book. I'm actually muddling
through Bertrand Russells History of Philosophy at the moment, long
overdue as the book was printed in 1948 (map of Switserland printed
on the inside of the flap – wonder why – always [stupidly] thought:
"paper shortage after the war") and I have had my copy – well, for
ages…
Anyway, just reached Liebniz…

Cheers
Geert
http://nznl.com


On 11-jul-2005, at 2:52, Jim Andrews wrote:

> am muddling through a pretty good book at the mo i thought i'd
> mention: 'the
> universal computer' by martin davis (subtitled 'the road from
> leibniz to
> turing'). published in the year 2000.
>
> each chapter looks at the work of a particular mathematician/logician,
> starting with leibniz (1646-1716); then George Boole (b. 1822);
> Gottlob
> Frege (b. 1848); Georg Cantor (b. 1845); David Hilbert (b. 1862);
> Kurt Godel
> (b. 1906); Alan Turing (b. 1912). With brief mention of a few other
> cats
> like Charles Babbage (b. 1791).
>
> the book traces the contribution of each of these logicians to
> "leibniz's
> dream" of a machine that can reason. so the book has a great deal
> to do with
> logic and language. it has a lot to do with language since the work
> of the
> above logicians can be seen as advances towards languages in which the
> reasoning can take place.
>
> this book also looks, toward the end, at the unfortunate
> misunderstandings
> of searle and penrose. whether or not it is the case that there are
> thought
> processes of which humans are capable but computers are not remains
> an open
> question, notwithstanding things like penrose's simply fallacious
> proofs
> that there are.
>
> we be language machines, to some extent, in our reasoning/thinking.
> the
> degree has not been settled.
>
> i would recommend this book to digital artists interested in the
> historical
> and philosophical/epistemological underpinnings of computing. i would
> particularly recommend it to writers involved intensely in the
> digital,
> since it concerns the contemporary interpenetration of language,
> logic and
> reasoning/thinking. digital artists tend to be interested in the
> confluence
> of arts and media. i suggest that the philosophical underpinnings
> of this
> confluence concern language in an extrordinary manner.
>
> martin davis, the author, is a distinguished logician and knows the
> subject
> well. he is a prof emeritus of the courant institute in ny. he has
> written a
> related but more technical book on 'Computability and
> Unsolvability' and has
> put together a book of early papers by logicians on 'The Undecidable'.
>
> the mathematical background required to read 'the universal
> computer' is
> minimal.
>
> ja
> http://vispo.com
>
>
> +
> -> post: [email protected]
> -> questions: [email protected]
> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/
> subscribe.rhiz
> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
> +
> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/
> 29.php
>

Hmmmm, how about a Wittgenstein maschine??????

bliss
l


— Geert Dekkers <[email protected]> wrote:

> Will do. Thanks. Looking for a new book. I'm
> actually muddling
> through Bertrand Russells History of Philosophy at
> the moment, long
> overdue as the book was printed in 1948 (map of
> Switserland printed
> on the inside of the flap – wonder why – always
> [stupidly] thought:
> "paper shortage after the war") and I have had my
> copy – well, for
> ages…
> Anyway, just reached Liebniz…
>
> Cheers
> Geert
> http://nznl.com
>
>
> On 11-jul-2005, at 2:52, Jim Andrews wrote:
>
> > am muddling through a pretty good book at the mo i
> thought i'd
> > mention: 'the
> > universal computer' by martin davis (subtitled
> 'the road from
> > leibniz to
> > turing'). published in the year 2000.
> >
> > each chapter looks at the work of a particular
> mathematician/logician,
> > starting with leibniz (1646-1716); then George
> Boole (b. 1822);
> > Gottlob
> > Frege (b. 1848); Georg Cantor (b. 1845); David
> Hilbert (b. 1862);
> > Kurt Godel
> > (b. 1906); Alan Turing (b. 1912). With brief
> mention of a few other
> > cats
> > like Charles Babbage (b. 1791).
> >
> > the book traces the contribution of each of these
> logicians to
> > "leibniz's
> > dream" of a machine that can reason. so the book
> has a great deal
> > to do with
> > logic and language. it has a lot to do with
> language since the work
> > of the
> > above logicians can be seen as advances towards
> languages in which the
> > reasoning can take place.
> >
> > this book also looks, toward the end, at the
> unfortunate
> > misunderstandings
> > of searle and penrose. whether or not it is the
> case that there are
> > thought
> > processes of which humans are capable but
> computers are not remains
> > an open
> > question, notwithstanding things like penrose's
> simply fallacious
> > proofs
> > that there are.
> >
> > we be language machines, to some extent, in our
> reasoning/thinking.
> > the
> > degree has not been settled.
> >
> > i would recommend this book to digital artists
> interested in the
> > historical
> > and philosophical/epistemological underpinnings of
> computing. i would
> > particularly recommend it to writers involved
> intensely in the
> > digital,
> > since it concerns the contemporary
> interpenetration of language,
> > logic and
> > reasoning/thinking. digital artists tend to be
> interested in the
> > confluence
> > of arts and media. i suggest that the
> philosophical underpinnings
> > of this
> > confluence concern language in an extrordinary
> manner.
> >
> > martin davis, the author, is a distinguished
> logician and knows the
> > subject
> > well. he is a prof emeritus of the courant
> institute in ny. he has
> > written a
> > related but more technical book on 'Computability
> and
> > Unsolvability' and has
> > put together a book of early papers by logicians
> on 'The Undecidable'.
> >
> > the mathematical background required to read 'the
> universal
> > computer' is
> > minimal.
> >
> > ja
> > http://vispo.com
> >
> >
> > +
> > -> post: [email protected]
> > -> questions: [email protected]
> > -> subscribe/unsubscribe:
> http://rhizome.org/preferences/
> > subscribe.rhiz
> > -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> > -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is
> open to non-members
> > +
> > Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms
> set out in the
> > Membership Agreement available online at
> http://rhizome.org/info/
> > 29.php
> >
>
> +
> -> post: [email protected]
> -> questions: [email protected]
> -> subscribe/unsubscribe:
> http://rhizome.org/preferences/subscribe.rhiz
> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
> -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is
> open to non-members
> +
> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set
> out in the
> Membership Agreement available online at
> http://rhizome.org/info/29.php
>


***************************************************************************
No More Movements…

Lewis LaCook –>Poet-Programmer|||http://lewislacook.corporatepa.com/|||




____________________________________________________
Sell on Yahoo! Auctions

Aha, summer readings (sr). Here are my sr

> Deleuze himself wrote a wonderful book on Leibniz, kinda heavy, but if the
> kids are out playing, when they get out playing, reading Deleuze
> is always a
> sublime & doubling joy. Le Pli: Leibniz et le Baraoque, Paris 1988 (sr2)
>
> Don't know whether the Martin Davis book expands on that, but
> it's in those
> writings that Leibniz gives a first

Could you post the isbn no. of this book?? Can't seem to find it on
amazon.com using ISBN 0-393-04785-7 I found on http://
www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall00/004785.htm

Geert
http://nznl.com


On 12-jul-2005, at 7:15, Jim Andrews wrote:

>> Deleuze himself wrote a wonderful book on Leibniz, kinda heavy,
>> but if the
>> kids are out playing, when they get out playing, reading Deleuze
>> is always a
>> sublime & doubling joy. Le Pli: Leibniz et le Baraoque, Paris
>> 1988 (sr2)
>>
>> Don't know whether the Martin Davis book expands on that, but
>> it's in those
>> writings that Leibniz gives a first

> Could you post the isbn no. of this book?? Can't seem to find it on
> amazon.com using ISBN 0-393-04785-7 I found on http://
> www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall00/004785.htm

The Universal Computer
Martin Davis
ISBN 0-393-04785-7
published by W.W. Norton

Got it! Thanks!

Geert
http://nznl.com

On 25-jul-2005, at 6:45, <[email protected]>
<[email protected]> wrote:

> http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0393047857
>
> gr,
> dv
>
>>
>> van: Geert Dekkers <[email protected]>
>> datum: 2005/07/24 zo PM 10:17:45 CEST
>> aan: Rhizome <[email protected]>
>> onderwerp: Re: RHIZOME_RAW: 'the universal computer' by martin davis
>>
>> Could you post the isbn no. of this book?? Can't seem to find it on
>> amazon.com using ISBN 0-393-04785-7 I found on http://
>> www.wwnorton.com/catalog/fall00/004785.htm
>>
>> Geert
>> http://nznl.com
>>
>>
>> On 12-jul-2005, at 7:15, Jim Andrews wrote:
>>
>>
>>>> Deleuze himself wrote a wonderful book on Leibniz, kinda heavy,
>>>> but if the
>>>> kids are out playing, when they get out playing, reading Deleuze
>>>> is always a
>>>> sublime & doubling joy. Le Pli: Leibniz et le Baraoque, Paris
>>>> 1988 (sr2)
>>>>
>>>> Don?t know whether the Martin Davis book expands on that, but
>>>> it?s in those
>>>> writings that Leibniz gives a first ?modern? way of looking at the
>>>> generation of meaning in a dynamic way, in contrast with (and at
>>>> the time:
>>>> in a heavy scholarly battle with) the static views held by
>>>> Descartes.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> No, Davis's treatment of Leibniz focusses on Leibniz's belief in the
>>> possibility of constructing a language in which accurate (perhaps
>>> even
>>> infallible) reasoning could transpire; and a machine that allowed
>>> the
>>> generation of true propositions using the language. Also, Davis
>>> gives some
>>> indication of the events of Leibniz's life. For instance, we learn
>>> that he
>>> was in the employ of the Hanover family. And what did this noble
>>> family
>>> employ Leibniz, one of the great minds of all history, to do? Take
>>> note. He
>>> was employed by them to write the Hanover family history. This was
>>> apparently of more importance to them than Leibniz's visionary work
>>> on any
>>> number of subjects. There is a lesson of some sort in there, it
>>> seems,
>>> concerning employment and life work.
>>>
>>> He obviously did quite a bit of exactly what he wanted to do. But
>>> his
>>> employers could not really appreciate the stature of his own work.
>>> Would he
>>> have been better off without them? Hard to say, isn't it. He did
>>> just fine
>>> as it was. But what other wonders could the man have produced in a
>>> more
>>> appreciative situation?
>>>
>>> Many of the logicians featured in Davis's book had difficult lives.
>>> Cantor
>>> suffered from mental instability. That his work was spat upon by
>>> fellow
>>> mathematicians of the stature of Kronecker and Poincare surely did
>>> not help.
>>> Poincare said Cantor's work was a disease from which mathematics
>>> would
>>> eventually recover. All of which had to do with Cantor's assumption
>>> of the
>>> 'actually infinite' versus the more conservative 'potentially
>>> infinite'. He
>>> never did find a position in a good university, was always in a
>>> backwater.
>>> Godel also suffered from mental illness and paranoia. He starved
>>> himself to
>>> death. He spent periods of his life in sanatoria. And of course
>>> Turing
>>> committed suicide after becoming unbalanced probably by the
>>> hormonal drugs
>>> he was forced to take, having been criminally convicted of being
>>> homosexual.
>>> Even the most brilliant of logicians, paragons of penetrating
>>> rationality,
>>> are not immune from mental affliction. Nor, apparently, is the
>>> value of the
>>> work of even the best logicians necessarily self-evident to those
>>> of their
>>> generation.
>>>
>>> So Martin Davis's book is about their work but also about their
>>> lives.
>>> Davis, a fellow logician, ponders their work and the more ambiguous
>>> nebulae
>>> of their lives and how they were all, in some sense, important to
>>> the theory
>>> of computation. And he always keeps in view the relation of the
>>> work of
>>> these logicians to understanding rationality and human thought. In
>>> this
>>> sense, computing is all about us, is a troubled human enterprise
>>> fraught
>>> with the difficulties of self-understanding and understanding of
>>> what is
>>> beyond the individual.
>>>
>>> ja
>>> http://vispo.com
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> +
>>> -> post: [email protected]
>>> -> questions: [email protected]
>>> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/
>>> subscribe.rhiz
>>> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>>> -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
>>> +
>>> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>>> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/
>>> 29.php
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> +
>> -> post: [email protected]
>> -> questions: [email protected]
>> -> subscribe/unsubscribe: http://rhizome.org/preferences/
>> subscribe.rhiz
>> -> give: http://rhizome.org/support
>> -> visit: on Fridays the Rhizome.org web site is open to non-members
>> +
>> Subscribers to Rhizome are subject to the terms set out in the
>> Membership Agreement available online at http://rhizome.org/info/
>> 29.php
>>
>>
>
>