The Pattern on the Stone Quotes

“Whether you build a computer out of transistors, hydraulic valves, or a chemistry set, the principles on which it operates are much the same. The key idea of the tic-tac-toe machine is that the And function is implemented by connecting two switches in series and the Or function is implemented by connecting two switches in parallel, but there are many other ways to implement And and Or.”
― William Daniel Hillis, The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work

“These simple patterns of serial and parallel wiring can be used in combinations to form connections that follow various logical rules. In the tic-tac-toe machine, chains of switches connected in series are used to detect patterns, and these chains are connected in parallel to lights, so that several patterns can light the same bulb—that is, produce the same response from the machine.”
― William Daniel Hillis, The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work

“Most important, these switches can be wired either in series or in parallel. For instance, we can put two switches together in series to make a light that works only when both switches are closed. This circuit implements one of the basic switching functions of the computer—the “logic block” known as the And function, so called because the bulb lights only when the first and the second switches are closed. Switches connected in parallel form the Or function, which connects the circuit (and thus lights the bulb) whenever either or both of the switches are closed (see Figure 2”
― William Daniel Hillis, The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work

“Computation is about performing tasks that seem to be complex (like winning a game of tic-tac-toe) by breaking them down into simple operations (like closing a switch).”
― William Daniel Hillis, The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work

“Shannon was interested in building a machine that could play chess—and more generally in building mechanisms that imitated thought. In 1940, he published his master’s thesis, which was titled “A Symbolic Analysis of Relay Switching Circuits.” In it, he showed that it was possible to build electrical circuits equivalent to expressions in Boolean algebra. In Shannon’s circuits, switches that were open or closed corresponded to logical variables of Boolean algebra that were true or false. Shannon demonstrated a way of converting any expression in Boolean algebra into an arrangement of switches.”
― William Daniel Hillis, The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work

“Computers are the most complex objects we human beings have ever created, but in a fundamental sense they are remarkably simple.”
― William Daniel Hillis, The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work

“Building a computer out of any technology requires a large supply of only two kinds of elements: switches and connectors.”
― W. Daniel Hillis, The Pattern on the Stone: The Simple Ideas that Make Computers Work