Computer Logic and Memory
A large modern computer can contain nearly half a million switching elements and 10 million high-speed memory elements. They operate with the simplest of all logics: the binary logic based on 0 and 1
Features
Computer Inputs and Outputs
The input-output system of a computer consists of the programs and devices that allow the machine and its user to communicate. Recently graphical devices for this purpose have evolved rapidly
System Analysis and Programming
The process of stating a problem in a language that is acceptable to a computer is primarily intuitive rather than formal. A specific example of the process is given
Time-Sharing on Computers
This technique, whereby a computer serves a large number of people at once, does more than save time and money. It sets up a dialogue between user and machine and allows communication among users
The Transmission of Computer Data
Computer users are sending an increasing volume of digital data over the nation's electrical communication network. To transmit such data efficiently at high speed, the network is being modified
The Uses of Computers in Science
The main impact of the computer on science promises to come not in its role as a powerful research instrument but rather as an active participant in the development of scientific theories
The Uses of Computers in Technology
In most technological applications computers have been used to execute a specific program of instructions. Now they are beginning to fulfill their promise of interacting directly with men in engineering design
The Uses of Computers in Organizations
As computer systems take up more tasks in human organizations they come to resemble the organizations themselves. Ultimately they will serve the organization's key functions of communication and control
The Uses of Computers in Education
The huge information-processing capacities of computers make it possible to use them to adapt mechanical teaching routines to the needs and the past performance of the individual student
Information Storage and Retrieval
Computers and various means of storing information in highly reduced form are making libraries more efficient, but the goal of providing instant access to almost everything ever published remains distant
Artificial Intelligence
Can a machine be made to exhibit intelligence? An affirmative answer is indicated by programs that enable a computer to do such things as set up goals, make plans, consider hypotheses and recognize analogies
Departments
50 and 100 Years Ago: September 1966
Science and the Citizen: September 1966
- Letters
Letters to the Editors, September 1966
- Recommended
Books
- Mathematical Recreation
Mathematical Games
- Amateur Scientist
The Amateur Scientist
- Departments
The Authors
Bibliography
