Search Results: theory of self reproducing automata by von neumann john

Urbana & London: University of Illinois Press, 1966. Octavo. Original green cloth, titles to spine and upper board in black. With the dust jacket. Contemporary ownership signature in blue ink to the front free endpaper. An excellent, fresh copy in the lightly rubbed jacket that is tanned, particularly along the spine panel, and has some nicks and short splits at the edges. First edition of this important work on self-reproduction in machines and life forms, scare in the dust jacket. Von Neumann became interested in the abilities of computers to self-reproduce during his work on the Institute for Advanced Studies computer project - noting that, since a Turing machine can make exact copies of any readable sequence, it can copy itself. He hoped to formulate a theory of self-reproduction that would be general enough to explain and predict self-reproduction in both machines and living things. "Using the same method of logical substitution by which a Turing machine can be instructed to interpret… Read More