Skip to content

Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata. Edited and Compiled by Arthur W. Banks.

Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata. Edited and Compiled by Arthur W. Banks.

Click for full-size.

Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata. Edited and Compiled by Arthur W. Banks.

by Von Neumann, John

  • Used
  • Hardcover
Condition
See description
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Moray, United Kingdom
Item Price
NZ$2,570.88
Or just NZ$2,528.03 with a
Bibliophiles Club Membership
NZ$57.84 Shipping to USA
Standard delivery: 5 to 7 days

More Shipping Options

Payment Methods Accepted

  • Visa
  • Mastercard
  • American Express
  • Discover
  • PayPal

About This Item

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 successively higher-level languages - or by which Gödel was able to encode mathematical statements within ordinary arithmetic - it was possible to design Turing machines whose coded instructions addressed physical components, not memory locations, and whose output could be translated into physical objects, not just zeros and ones... Von Neumann compared the behaviour of such automata to what, in biology, characterises the 'typical gene function, self-reproduction plus production - or stimulation of production - of certain specific enzymes. Viewing the logic of self-replication and self-reproduction through the lens of formal logic and self-referential systems, von Neumann applied the results of Gödel and Turing to the foundations of biology" with his conjectures hitting "the heart of the probability or improbability of the origin of life" (Dyson, Turing's Cathedral, pp. 283-285). Together with Stanislaw Ulam, von Neumann attempted to develop these ideas for publication, but the text remained unfinished at his death. "The incomplete manuscript, including a lengthy introduction based on a series of five lectures given by von Neumann at the University of Illinois in 1949, was eventually assembled, with careful editing by Arthur Burks, and published as Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata almost ten years after von neumann's death... Our understanding of self-reproduction in biology, and our development of self-reproducing technology, proceeded almost exactly as the proposed theory described" (Dyson, p. 286).

Reviews

(Log in or Create an Account first!)

You’re rating the book as a work, not the seller or the specific copy you purchased!

Details

Bookseller
Alembic Rare Books GB (GB)
Bookseller's Inventory #
233
Title
Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata. Edited and Compiled by Arthur W. Banks.
Author
Von Neumann, John
Book Condition
Used
Quantity Available
1
Binding
Hardcover
Publisher
University of Illinois Press
Place of Publication
Urbana & London
Date Published
1966
Weight
0.00 lbs
Keywords
Science|Technology|Biology|Origin of Life|DNA & Heredity|Computers|Information Science|Mathematics|Logic

Terms of Sale

Alembic Rare Books

30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.

About the Seller

Alembic Rare Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2018
Moray

About Alembic Rare Books

We specialise in rare science books dating from the late Middle Ages to the 20th century, including first editions, signed copies, manuscripts, objects, and ephemera. We have particular expertise in natural history, genetics and evolution, anatomy, nuclear physics and the Manhattan Project, early computing, and women in science. We also carry books related to women's history and literature.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Edges
The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Jacket
Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
Octavo
Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...

This Book’s Categories

tracking-