Giant brains; or, Machines that think

by Edmund Callis Berkeley

In the language of the algebra of logic ([see Supplement 2] and [Chapter 9]), let the pieces of information coming into the comparer be a and b, and let the information coming out of the comparer be p. Then the equation of the comparer is:

p = T(a ≠ b)

where “T (···)” is “the truth value of ···” and “···” is a statement, and where the truth value is 1 if true and 0 if false.

In wiring the tabulator so that it can tell when to total, we use the comparer. We feed into it the county from the current card and the county from the previous card. Out of the comparer we get an impulse if and only if these two pieces of information are different. This is just what happens when the county changes. The impulse from the comparer is then used in further wiring of the tabulator: it makes the counter that is busy totaling the number of persons in the county print its total and then clear. In the same way, another comparer, which watches state instead of county, takes care of major totals when the state changes.

Selecting

The next operation of reasoning which punch-card machines can do is selecting. The tabulator, collator, interpreter, reproducer, and calculating punch all may contain mechanisms that can select information. These mechanisms are called selectors.

For example, suppose that we are using the tabulator to make a table showing for each city the number of males and the number of females. In the table we shall have three columns: first, city; second, males; third, females. Suppose that each punch card in columns 30 to 36 shows the total of males or females in a city. Suppose that, if and only if the card is for females, it has an X punch (or 11 punch) in column 79. What do we want to have happen? We want the number in columns 30 to 36 to go into the second column of the table if there is no X in column 79, and we want it to go into the third column of the table if there is an X in column 79. This is just another way of saying that we want the number to go into the males column if it is a number of males, and into the females column if it is a number of females. We make this happen by using a selector.

A selector ([Fig. 14]) is a mechanism with 2 inputs and 2 outputs. The 2 inputs are called X Pickup and Common. The 2 outputs are called X and No X. The X Pickup, as its name implies, watches for X’s. The Common takes in information. What comes out of X is what goes into Common if and only if an X punch is picked up; otherwise nothing comes out. What comes out of No X is what goes into Common if and only if an X punch is not picked up; otherwise nothing comes out. From the point of view of ordering punch-card equipment, we should note that there are two types of selectors: X selectors or X distributors, which have a selecting capacity of one column—that is, one decimal digit—and class selectors, which ordinarily have a selecting capacity of 10 columns or 10 decimal digits. But we shall disregard this difference here, as we have disregarded most other questions of capacity in multiplication, division, etc.

Fig. 14. Selector.