The Science of Everything Podcast Episode 91: How Computers Work Part I - What is a Computer?
Dec 30, 2017
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Computation Is Symbol Manipulation
- A computer is any device that automates formal operations on symbols to produce outputs.
- Slide rules and abaci qualify as computers because they systematically map physical states to computations.
Slide Rule As An Early Computer
- The slide rule is a classic mechanical analogue computer used for multiplication and functions.
- It maps physical dial positions to mathematical relationships you can read off directly.
Turing Machine As Computation Model
- The Turing machine abstracts computation with a head, tape, finite symbols and states.
- Church–Turing thesis claims any effectively calculable function can be computed by some Turing machine.