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> If I had to say one text that is the fundamental one, I would go with a paper: “On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem” [1], b
by cr0sh 7y ago
> If I had to say one text that is the fundamental one, I would go with a paper: “On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem” [1], by Alan Turing
Certainly that one, but I would add a couple of others:
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Laws_of_Thought" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Laws_of_Thought" (George Boole) - lays out boolean algebra; fundamental to everything in computing
"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Symbolic_Analysis_of_Relay_and_Switching_Circuits" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Symbolic_Analysis_of_Relay_a... (Claude E. Shannon) - basically lays out the equivalence of switching circuits to boolean algebra, fundamental to electronic computing
Note in fact many of Shannon's works and research could be considered "fundamental"...
- j1vms 7y agoBy the currently accepted definition of Computer Science (at the nexus of its core basis in mathematics and philosophy), I would say “On Computable Numbers, with an Application to the Entscheidungsproblem” by Alan Turing, without any close peer to date. It is the first paper that invoked the most all-encompassing idea of a computer (e.g. not necessarily having to be a physically realizable electronic computer, which one could consider more of a matter for engineering). Its contents have had continued relevance as computer scientists study the properties and capabilities of non-deterministic computers.
- gshubert17 7y agoCharles Petzold (who wrote "Code") has written a very good book which goes through Turing's paper in small sections: The Annotated Turing: A Guided Tour Through Alan Turing's Historic Paper on Computability and the Turing Machine