Re: YAC (Yet Another Challenge): Oldest Useful Computer Text

The oldest citation I've put in a computing related essay was to John Locke (1632-1704) but that's a bit of a cheat - I was referring to the notion of 'tabula rasa' in neural network learning.

The oldest computing/programming related books that I keep to hand and refer to occasionally are:

"Cybernetics and Society", Wiener N., 1950.

"The Mathematical Theory of Communication", Shannon C. & Weaver W., 1949

(although my copies of both are 90's reprints). Wiener in particular has some interesting discussion of the nature of feedback.

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Comment on Re: YAC (Yet Another Challenge): Oldest Useful Computer Text

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Re^2: YAC (Yet Another Challenge): Oldest Useful Computer Text by samizdat (Vicar) on Apr 25, 2006 at 13:35 UTC
I second the Norbert Wiener reference, it's a keeper. His notation is crystal clear, and a must for anybody doing feedback systems or any kind of analog electronics. g0n++ Don Wilde "There's more than one level to any answer."	[reply]