TED2003
George Dyson: The birth of the computer
George Dyson: 電腦的誕生
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歷史學家George Dyson講述現代電腦誕生時的故事——從16世紀電腦的起源到一些早期電腦工程師的搞笑筆記本。
George Dyson - Historian of science
In telling stories of technologies and the individuals who created them, George Dyson takes a clear-eyed view of our scientific past -- while illuminating what lies ahead. Full bio
In telling stories of technologies and the individuals who created them, George Dyson takes a clear-eyed view of our scientific past -- while illuminating what lies ahead. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:12
Last year, I told you the story, in seven minutes, of Project Orion,
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去年我花了7分鐘和你們講了“獵戶座計劃”的故事，
00:16
which was this very implausible technology
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那是種令人難以置信的科學技術
00:18
that technically could have worked,
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理論上是可行的
00:22
but it had this one-year political window where it could have happened.
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但由於只有一年的政治窗口期
00:26
So it didn't happen. It was a dream that did not happen.
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所以它成了一個從未實現的夢。
00:28
This year I'm going to tell you the story of the birth of digital computing.
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今年我將和你們談一談數位計算的誕生
00:33
This was a perfect introduction.
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這是一個完美的介紹，
00:35
And it's a story that did work. It did happen,
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並且這是真實發生的故事，
00:37
and the machines are all around us.
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類似的機器在我們身邊無處不在。
00:39
And it was a technology that was inevitable.
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這一技術是歷史的必然產物。
00:43
If the people I'm going to tell you the story about,
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今天我在演講裡提到的這群人
00:45
if they hadn't done it, somebody else would have.
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就算他們沒有研發這一技術，一定會有別的人來研發。
00:47
So, it was sort of the right idea at the right time.
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所以數位計算算是種順應當時的時代的理念。
00:51
This is Barricelli's universe. This is the universe we live in now.
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這是Barricelli世界。這也是今天我們所生活的世界。
00:54
It's the universe in which these machines
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正是在這樣的世界裡，
00:56
are now doing all these things, including changing biology.
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這些機器現在正做著各種各樣的工作，比如改變我們的生物學研究。
01:02
I'm starting the story with the first atomic bomb at Trinity,
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首先我想談一談在Trinity進行的第一次原子彈試驗
01:07
which was the Manhattan Project. It was a little bit like TED:
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也就是曼哈頓計劃，這有點像我們TED
01:09
it brought a whole lot of very smart people together.
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都是把很多絕頂聰明的人匯集在一起。
01:12
And three of the smartest people were
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其中3個最聰明的人是
01:14
Stan Ulam, Richard Feynman and John von Neumann.
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斯塔尼斯拉夫·烏拉姆，理查德·費曼和約翰·馮·紐曼
01:18
And it was Von Neumann who said, after the bomb,
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在研究完原子彈以後，馮紐曼說
01:20
he was working on something much more important than bombs:
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他正研究一件比原子彈更重要的事
01:24
he's thinking about computers.
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那就是電腦。
01:26
So, he wasn't only thinking about them; he built one. This is the machine he built.
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他不僅僅是空想而已，他還造了一台。這就是他造的機器。
01:30
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
01:34
He built this machine,
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他造了這台機器
01:36
and we had a beautiful demonstration of how this thing really works,
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並且他漂亮的演示了這台機器如何以位元為單位運轉
01:39
with these little bits. And it's an idea that goes way back.
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位元這一概念其實很早就有了
01:42
The first person to really explain that
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第一個真正解釋這一概念的人
01:45
was Thomas Hobbes, who, in 1651,
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叫湯馬斯·霍布斯
01:48
explained how arithmetic and logic are the same thing,
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1651年，他解釋了算數和邏輯從某種意義上說其實是一回事
01:51
and if you want to do artificial thinking and artificial logic,
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如果你想實現人工思考和人工邏輯，
01:54
you can do it all with arithmetic.
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你都可以用算數的方法來實現。
01:56
He said you needed addition and subtraction.
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他說你只需要做加法和減法就行了。
02:00
Leibniz, who came a little bit later -- this is 1679 --
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在他之後的萊布尼茨
02:04
showed that you didn't even need subtraction.
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在1679年證明你甚至都不需要做減法
02:06
You could do the whole thing with addition.
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只需要做加法就行了。
02:08
Here, we have all the binary arithmetic and logic
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我們有了所有的二進制運算和邏輯
02:11
that drove the computer revolution.
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這些帶來了電腦革命
02:13
And Leibniz was the first person to really talk about building such a machine.
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萊布尼茨是第一個真正討論建造這一機器的人
02:17
He talked about doing it with marbles,
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他想利用大理石讓機器實現這樣的運算和邏輯
02:19
having gates and what we now call shift registers,
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這樣的機器有一種“門”，我們今天稱之為移位寄存器
02:21
where you shift the gates, drop the marbles down the tracks.
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當你打開“門”時，大理石就會從門裡穿過掉在軌道上
02:24
And that's what all these machines are doing,
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其實這就是今天我們所有類似機器的運作原理
02:26
except, instead of doing it with marbles,
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但是用的不是大理石
02:28
they're doing it with electrons.
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而是電子。
02:30
And then we jump to Von Neumann, 1945,
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接著我們跳到1945年
02:34
when he sort of reinvents the whole same thing.
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馮諾曼發明了一個幾乎一樣的東西。
02:36
And 1945, after the war, the electronics existed
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1945年，二戰之後
02:39
to actually try and build such a machine.
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當時的電子工業真正的開始嘗試建造這麼一種機器
02:42
So June 1945 -- actually, the bomb hasn't even been dropped yet --
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所以在1945年的六月，實際上那時候原子彈還沒投下
02:46
and Von Neumann is putting together all the theory to actually build this thing,
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馮諾曼已經把實際生產這種機器所需的一切理論準備好了
02:50
which also goes back to Turing,
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再來看看Turing (圖靈)
02:52
who, before that, gave the idea that you could do all this
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他在之前已經有了一個想法，那就是
02:55
with a very brainless, little, finite state machine,
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你可以用一種非常簡單，有限狀態的機器完成所有的工作
02:59
just reading a tape in and reading a tape out.
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就好比讀取一盤磁帶
03:02
The other sort of genesis of what Von Neumann did
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另一個馮諾曼的天才之處
03:05
was the difficulty of how you would predict the weather.
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就是克服預測天氣的困難
03:09
Lewis Richardson saw how you could do this with a cellular array of people,
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Lewis Richardson發現可以利用單元陣列的人
03:13
giving them each a little chunk, and putting it together.
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給他們每人一小塊，然後拼在一起
03:16
Here, we have an electrical model illustrating a mind having a will,
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這兒我們有一個電子模型，演示了一個有思維的“頭腦”
03:19
but capable of only two ideas.
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但只有兩個想法
03:21
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
03:22
And that's really the simplest computer.
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這真的要算是最簡單的電腦
03:25
It's basically why you need the qubit,
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這基本上解釋了我們為什麼需要量子位元
03:27
because it only has two ideas.
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一個位元只有兩種狀態
03:29
And you put lots of those together,
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一旦你把很多這樣的量子位元組織起來
03:31
you get the essentials of the modern computer:
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就成了我們今天電腦的核心部分
03:34
the arithmetic unit, the central control, the memory,
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運算單元、中央控制器、記憶體
03:37
the recording medium, the input and the output.
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儲存媒介，輸入和輸出
03:40
But, there's one catch. This is the fatal -- you know,
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但是有個很致命的一點
03:44
we saw it in starting these programs up.
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我們在開始這個程序時會發現
03:47
The instructions which govern this operation
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指導這一操作的指令
03:49
must be given in absolutely exhaustive detail.
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必須做到非常非常的詳細
03:51
So, the programming has to be perfect, or it won't work.
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所以程式必須設計得非常完美，否則它就無法執行
03:54
If you look at the origins of this,
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如果你回過頭看，
03:56
the classic history sort of takes it all back to the ENIAC here.
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這一切的起因都可以追溯到ENIAC計算機。
04:00
But actually, the machine I'm going to tell you about,
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但是實際上，今天我將要介紹的機器
04:02
the Institute for Advanced Study machine, which is way up there,
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高等研究所的機器，正是擺在那邊的那台
04:05
really should be down there. So, I'm trying to revise history,
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真的位置應該在這裡。所以，我正在試圖修改歷史。
04:07
and give some of these guys more credit than they've had.
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給這些傢伙更多褒獎。
04:10
Such a computer would open up universes,
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這樣一台電腦開創了一個新的領域
04:12
which are, at the present, outside the range of any instruments.
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這是到目前為止其它任何一台工具所不能比的
04:16
So it opens up a whole new world, and these people saw it.
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它開啟了一個嶄新的世界，這樣一群人預見到了。
04:19
The guy who was supposed to build this machine
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被認為是製造這台機器的人
04:21
was the guy in the middle, Vladimir Zworykin, from RCA.
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就站在中間，他名叫弗拉迪米爾 佐利金，來自美國廣播公司
04:24
RCA, in probably one of the lousiest business decisions
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美國廣播公司，當時可能做了有史以來最糟糕的決定
04:27
of all time, decided not to go into computers.
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那就是放棄研發電腦。
04:30
But the first meetings, November 1945, were at RCA's offices.
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在1945年11月，在美國廣播公司的辦公室召開了第一次會議
04:35
RCA started this whole thing off, and said, you know,
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經過了一番研究，說
04:39
televisions are the future, not computers.
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電視才是未來發展的趨勢，不是電腦。
04:42
The essentials were all there --
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所有的必要元件都在這裡
04:44
all the things that make these machines run.
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所有可以使這些機器運行的元件。
04:48
Von Neumann, and a logician, and a mathematician from the army
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馮諾曼，和一位邏輯學家以及一位軍人數學家
04:51
put this together. Then, they needed a place to build it.
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把這些元件組裝在一起。接下來他們需要一個地方來建造
04:53
When RCA said no, that's when they decided to build it in Princeton,
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美國廣告公司拒絕了以後，他們才決定把機器建在
04:57
where Freeman works at the Institute.
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弗里曼工作的普林斯頓研究所。
04:59
That's where I grew up as a kid.
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我從小在那長大
05:01
That's me, that's my sister Esther, who's talked to you before,
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這是我和我姐姐Esther，她之前在這裡演講過
05:05
so we both go back to the birth of this thing.
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所以我們都追溯了這一機器的誕生
05:08
That's Freeman, a long time ago,
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這是弗里曼很久以前的樣子
05:10
and that was me.
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這是我
05:11
And this is Von Neumann and Morgenstern,
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這是馮諾曼和Morgenstern
05:14
who wrote the "Theory of Games."
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他們是博弈理論的創始人
05:16
All these forces came together there, in Princeton.
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各方的力量都匯集在普林斯頓
05:20
Oppenheimer, who had built the bomb.
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奧本哈默，製造原子彈的人
05:22
The machine was actually used mainly for doing bomb calculations.
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這台機器主要用來進行原子彈相關的運算
05:26
And Julian Bigelow, who took
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比戈洛（John Bigelow）
05:28
Zworkykin's place as the engineer, to actually figure out, using electronics,
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他是工程師，他用電子元件，
05:32
how you would build this thing. The whole gang of people who came to work on this,
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找出了製造這一機器的真正方法。這一幫人，
05:35
and women in front, who actually did most of the coding, were the first programmers.
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包括那個站在前面的女士們，他們編寫了大部分的代碼。所有的這一幫人是歷史上第一批程式設計師。
05:40
These were the prototype geeks, the nerds.
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他們也是那些網路怪人，技術狂人的老祖宗
05:44
They didn't fit in at the Institute.
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研究所不適合他們
05:46
This is a letter from the director, concerned about --
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這是一封來自主任的信，主題為
05:49
"especially unfair on the matter of sugar."
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“關於實驗室裏砂糖分配不平均的問題”
05:52
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
05:53
You can read the text.
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你們可以自己讀讀原文
05:54
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
06:00
This is hackers getting in trouble for the first time.
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這是黑客們第一次遇到麻煩
06:04
(Laughter).
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（笑聲）
06:09
These were not theoretical physicists.
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這些不是理論物理學家
06:11
They were real soldering-gun type guys, and they actually built this thing.
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他們是真正的實踐者，是他們親手製造了這一機器。
06:16
And we take it for granted now, that each of these machines
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現在我們想當然而地認為
06:18
has billions of transistors, doing billions of cycles per second without failing.
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這些含有幾十億個電晶體，每秒進行幾十億次計算的機器不會出現差錯。
06:23
They were using vacuum tubes, very narrow, sloppy techniques
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他們當時用真空管，非常不成熟的技術
06:27
to get actually binary behavior out of these radio vacuum tubes.
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運用無線電真空管實現了二進制運算
06:32
They actually used 6J6, the common radio tube,
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他們用的是6J6，也就是通用電子管
06:35
because they found they were more reliable than the more expensive tubes.
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因為他們發現這比那些價錢更貴的電子管更可靠。
06:39
And what they did at the Institute was publish every step of the way.
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他們把研究結果的每一步都巨細糜遺地發表
06:43
Reports were issued, so that this machine was cloned
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隨著研究報告的發布，
06:46
at 15 other places around the world.
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使得世界其他15個地方也可以製造出相同的機器
06:49
And it really was. It was the original microprocessor.
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這台機器真的是微處理器的鼻祖
06:53
All the computers now are copies of that machine.
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現在所有的電腦都是仿照這台機器。
06:55
The memory was in cathode ray tubes --
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存儲器用的是陰極射線管
06:58
a whole bunch of spots on the face of the tube --
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陰極射線管表面的一簇點
07:01
very, very sensitive to electromagnetic disturbances.
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對電磁干擾十分敏感
07:04
So, there's 40 of these tubes,
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所以就有了40個這樣的陰極射線管
07:06
like a V-40 engine running the memory.
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就好像一個用V-40發動機來跑的存儲器
07:09
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
07:10
The input and the output was by teletype tape at first.
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起初的輸入和輸出是靠電傳打字帶
07:15
This is a wire drive, using bicycle wheels.
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使用腳踏車輪，有線驅動
07:17
This is the archetype of the hard disk that's in your machine now.
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這就是我們今天電腦裡硬碟的原型。
07:22
Then they switched to a magnetic drum.
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後來他們改用磁鼓
07:24
This is modifying IBM equipment,
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這是一種改良的IBM的設備
07:26
which is the origins of the whole data-processing industry, later at IBM.
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也是後來IBM整個數據處理行業的起源。
07:30
And this is the beginning of computer graphics.
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這也是電腦圖學的開端
07:33
The "Graph'g-Beam Turn On." This next slide,
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下一張幻燈片
07:36
that's the -- as far as I know -- the first digital bitmap display, 1954.
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這是我所知道的最早的數字位圖，誕生於1954年
07:43
So, Von Neumann was already off in a theoretical cloud,
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所以馮諾曼那時已經不再是純理論研究
07:46
doing abstract sorts of studies of how you could build
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而是進行一種抽象性的研究
07:49
reliable machines out of unreliable components.
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希望利用不穩定的部件製造出可靠的機器。
07:52
Those guys drinking all the tea with sugar in it
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這些喝著摻了糖的茶的人
07:54
were writing in their logbooks, trying to get this thing to work, with all
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正在他們的記錄本上記錄，試圖讓這一想法實現
07:58
these 2,600 vacuum tubes that failed half the time.
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他們試驗的2600個真空管，有一半時間都是閒置的
08:01
And that's what I've been doing, this last six months, is going through the logs.
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我過去6個月就一直在看這些記錄
08:06
"Running time: two minutes. Input, output: 90 minutes."
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“執行時間：2分鐘。輸入，輸出：90分鐘。”
08:09
This includes a large amount of human error.
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這包含了大量的人為錯誤
08:12
So they are always trying to figure out, what's machine error? What's human error?
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所以他們一直試著辨別到底哪些是機器故障，哪些是人為錯誤
08:15
What's code, what's hardware?
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是程式碼問題 還是硬體的問題
08:17
That's an engineer gazing at tube number 36,
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這是一位工程師正盯著36號電子管
08:19
trying to figure out why the memory's not in focus.
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試圖找出內存位置不對的原因
08:21
He had to focus the memory -- seems OK.
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他不得不親自對位 —— 看上去還行
08:24
So, he had to focus each tube just to get the memory up and running,
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所以他必須對位每一個電子管，僅僅為了使內存能恢復執行
08:28
let alone having, you know, software problems.
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更不用說遇到軟體問題時他會有多麼手忙腳亂了
08:30
"No use, went home." (Laughter)
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“沒用，回家。”（笑聲）
08:32
"Impossible to follow the damn thing, where's a directory?"
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“完全不可能搞定這該死的東西，電話薄在那？“
08:35
So, already, they're complaining about the manuals:
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他們那時已經在抱怨（沒人看得懂的）使用說明書了
08:37
"before closing down in disgust ... "
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”這（説明書）實在是讀不下去"
08:41
"The General Arithmetic: Operating Logs."
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“通用算法 —— 運行日誌”
08:43
Burning lots of midnight oil.
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開了很多夜車
08:46
"MANIAC," which became the acronym for the machine,
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MANIAC，成了這台機器的縮寫
08:48
Mathematical and Numerical Integrator and Calculator, "lost its memory."
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數學和數值整合器與計算器，“內存記憶遺失。”
08:51
"MANIAC regained its memory, when the power went off." "Machine or human?"
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“MANIAC在斷電後重新找回內存記憶” “機器故障還是人為錯誤？”
08:57
"Aha!" So, they figured out it's a code problem.
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“啊哈！” 結果是程式碼的問題
09:00
"Found trouble in code, I hope."
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“程式碼有問題，但願是如此。”
09:02
"Code error, machine not guilty."
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“程式碼錯誤，機器是無辜的。”
09:05
"Damn it, I can be just as stubborn as this thing."
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“該死，我竟變得和這機器一樣難纏”
09:08
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
09:13
"And the dawn came." So they ran all night.
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“黎明來了。” 看來他們熬了一整夜。
09:15
Twenty-four hours a day, this thing was running, mainly running bomb calculations.
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這台機器一天24小時不停的運轉，主要是進行核彈相關的運算
09:19
"Everything up to this point is wasted time." "What's the use? Good night."
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“到目前為止所有的工作都是在浪費時間。” “這有什麼用？晚安。”
09:24
"Master control off. The hell with it. Way off." (Laughter)
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“主控關閉。搞什麼鬼。太離譜了。”
09:28
"Something's wrong with the air conditioner --
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“空調出問題了——
09:30
smell of burning V-belts in the air."
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聞到空氣中皮帶燒焦的味道”
09:33
"A short -- do not turn the machine on."
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“不要開機”
09:35
"IBM machine putting a tar-like substance on the cards. The tar is from the roof."
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“IBM機器的卡片上有了像焦油一樣的油漬，從屋頂掉下來的。”
09:40
So they really were working under tough conditions.
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看來他們的工作環境真的很艱苦
09:42
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
09:43
Here, "A mouse has climbed into the blower
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看這個，“一隻老鼠爬進了鼓風機
09:45
behind the regulator rack, set blower to vibrating. Result: no more mouse."
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使得鼓風機震動。結果：老鼠不見了。”
09:49
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
09:54
"Here lies mouse. Born: ?. Died: 4:50 a.m., May 1953."
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“老鼠躺在這裡。出生年月：未知。死於：4:50am, 1953年5月。”
10:01
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
10:02
There's an inside joke someone has penciled in:
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有人在這寫了個內部人才能理解的玩笑：
10:04
"Here lies Marston Mouse."
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“Marston老鼠在此安息。”
10:06
If you're a mathematician, you get that,
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如果你是個數學家，你就會明白
10:08
because Marston was a mathematician who
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因為Marston是一位
10:09
objected to the computer being there.
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反對電腦的數學家
10:12
"Picked a lightning bug off the drum." "Running at two kilocycles."
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“把一只螢火蟲從磁鼓上拿開。” “以兩千赫茲的頻率運行。”
10:16
That's two thousand cycles per second --
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那是一秒鐘兩千次的循環
10:18
"yes, I'm chicken" -- so two kilocycles was slow speed.
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“是的，我很膽小" -- 所以兩千次是很慢的速度
10:21
The high speed was 16 kilocycles.
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1萬6千次每秒才是高速
10:24
I don't know if you remember a Mac that was 16 Megahertz,
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我不知道你們是否還記得過去Mac的主頻是16兆赫茲
10:27
that's slow speed.
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那是很慢的速度
10:29
"I have now duplicated both results.
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”我現在有了兩種結果。
10:32
How will I know which is right, assuming one result is correct?
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假設其中一個結果是正確的，我怎麼才能知道哪一個是正確的呢？
10:35
This now is the third different output.
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現在有了第三種不同的結果
10:37
I know when I'm licked."
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我知道我失敗了“
10:39
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
10:41
"We've duplicated errors before."
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”我們之前犯過錯誤“
10:43
"Machine run, fine. Code isn't."
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”機器運行正常，程式碼有誤。“
10:46
"Only happens when the machine is running."
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”只在機器運行時發生。“
10:48
And sometimes things are okay.
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有時一切正常。
10:52
"Machine a thing of beauty, and a joy forever." "Perfect running."
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“機器是件美好的事物，是永恆的快樂。” “完美運行。”
10:56
"Parting thought: when there's bigger and better errors, we'll have them."
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“臨別思考：當出現更大的錯誤時，我們會解決的。”
11:00
So, nobody was supposed to know they were actually designing bombs.
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所以沒有人知道他們在設計核彈。
11:03
They're designing hydrogen bombs. But someone in the logbook,
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他們在設計氫彈。但是有人在日誌本上，
11:05
late one night, finally drew a bomb.
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有一天晚上最終畫了一個炸彈。
11:07
So, that was the result. It was Mike,
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那就是成果。氫彈Mike
11:09
the first thermonuclear bomb, in 1952.
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1952年，第一顆熱核彈
11:12
That was designed on that machine,
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正是在那台電腦上被設計出來的。
11:14
in the woods behind the Institute.
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在研究所後面的樹林中
11:16
So Von Neumann invited a whole gang of weirdos
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所以馮諾曼邀請了這麼一幫來自世界各地的怪人
11:20
from all over the world to work on all these problems.
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來研究所有這些問題。
11:23
Barricelli, he came to do what we now call, really, artificial life,
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Barricelli，他當時被邀請過來從事我們現在稱為人造生命的研究
11:27
trying to see if, in this artificial universe --
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要試著去弄清楚，在這個人造的宇宙裏能否實現人造生命
11:30
he was a viral-geneticist, way, way, way ahead of his time.
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他是病毒遺傳學家 —— 他的理論在那個時代大大的超前
11:33
He's still ahead of some of the stuff that's being done now.
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有些方面甚至比今天的研究還要超前。
11:36
Trying to start an artificial genetic system running in the computer.
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他試圖在電腦上開始執行一個人造基因系統
11:41
Began -- his universe started March 3, '53.
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他的計劃開始於1953年3月3日
11:44
So it's almost exactly -- it's 50 years ago next Tuesday, I guess.
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如果算到下週二的話，基本上就是剛剛好50年前了。
11:49
And he saw everything in terms of --
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他看事物的方式很特別
11:51
he could read the binary code straight off the machine.
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他可以直接看懂機器上用的二進制語言
11:53
He had a wonderful rapport.
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他同機器有著良好的關係
11:55
Other people couldn't get the machine running. It always worked for him.
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其他人無法讓機器運轉時，他總是能夠搞定
11:58
Even errors were duplicated.
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甚至錯誤都可以一模一樣地複製出來
12:00
(Laughter)
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（笑聲）
12:01
"Dr. Barricelli claims machine is wrong, code is right."
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“Barricelli博士稱機器是錯的，程式碼是正確的。”
12:04
So he designed this universe, and ran it.
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所以他設計了這個宇宙，並且使其自行運行
12:07
When the bomb people went home, he was allowed in there.
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當研究原子彈的人回家時，他就可以進來用
12:10
He would run that thing all night long, running these things,
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他可以整晚使用這些系統
12:13
if anybody remembers Stephen Wolfram,
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有誰記得Stephen Wolfram
12:15
who reinvented this stuff.
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他重新發明了這個東西
12:17
And he published it. It wasn't locked up and disappeared.
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他發表了出來，結果後來被鎖在櫃子裡找不到了
12:19
It was published in the literature.
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這些都發布在文獻中
12:21
"If it's that easy to create living organisms, why not create a few yourself?"
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“如果創造活的有機體很容易的話，為什麼不造幾個自己？”
12:24
So, he decided to give it a try,
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所以他決定試一試
12:26
to start this artificial biology going in the machines.
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他開始在機器上進行人造生物試驗。
12:30
And he found all these, sort of --
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他發現了所有這些
12:32
it was like a naturalist coming in
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就好像一個自然學家
12:34
and looking at this tiny, 5,000-byte universe,
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跑進來觀察這個微小的，5000位元組的世界
12:37
and seeing all these things happening
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觀察所有的變化
12:39
that we see in the outside world, in biology.
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就好比我們從生物的角度看世界一樣
12:42
This is some of the generations of his universe.
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這是他創造的世界的幾個版本。
12:48
But they're just going to stay numbers;
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但是他們僅僅停留在數字上
12:50
they're not going to become organisms.
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數字不會變成有機體
12:52
They have to have something.
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他們必須具備某些東西
12:53
You have a genotype and you have to have a phenotype.
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你有一個基因型，你就比喻有個表型
12:55
They have to go out and do something. And he started doing that,
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他們必須走出去做些事，所以他就開始做這些
12:58
started giving these little numerical organisms things they could play with --
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他開始賦予這些數字有機體一些可以工作的事情
13:01
playing chess with other machines and so on.
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比如和其他機器下棋等等。
13:03
And they did start to evolve.
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接著，這些有機體確實開始進化了
13:05
And he went around the country after that.
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他之後跑遍了全國
13:07
Every time there was a new, fast machine, he started using it,
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每次出來一種新型快速的機器時，他都要試用一下
13:11
and saw exactly what's happening now.
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他都會觀察同樣的結果：
13:13
That the programs, instead of being turned off -- when you quit the program,
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程式在你退出的時候並不會停止執行
13:19
you'd keep running
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而是繼續執行
13:21
and, basically, all the sorts of things like Windows is doing,
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基本上，所有這些，比如說Windows所做的事情
13:25
running as a multi-cellular organism on many machines,
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這種多機的多任務處理
13:27
he envisioned all that happening.
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他全都預見到了。
13:28
And he saw that evolution itself was an intelligent process.
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他並且認為進化本身是一個智能過程
13:31
It wasn't any sort of creator intelligence,
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並不是那種創造者（上帝）才有的智能
13:34
but the thing itself was a giant parallel computation
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而是，進化本是就是一個龐大的平行運算
13:37
that would have some intelligence.
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有著一定的智能。
13:39
And he went out of his way to say
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他特別指出
13:41
that he was not saying this was lifelike,
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他不認為這是生命
13:44
or a new kind of life.
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或者是一種新的生命
13:46
It just was another version of the same thing happening.
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這僅僅是同一樣正在發生的事情的另一個版本
13:49
And there's really no difference between what he was doing in the computer
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他正在電腦上做的
13:52
and what nature did billions of years ago.
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和自然界過去幾十億年以來發生的沒有區別。
13:55
And could you do it again now?
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現在可以再重作一遍嗎？
13:57
So, when I went into these archives looking at this stuff, lo and behold,
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當我看所有這些檔案資料的時候
14:01
the archivist came up one day, saying,
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檔案員有一天走過來說
14:03
"I think we found another box that had been thrown out."
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“我們發現了另一個之前被廢棄的盒子。”
14:06
And it was his universe on punch cards.
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盒子裡裝著他打在卡片上的小宇宙（程式碼）
14:08
So there it is, 50 years later, sitting there -- sort of suspended animation.
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所以50年以後，有點像暫停的動畫
14:14
That's the instructions for running --
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這是執行的指令
14:16
this is actually the source code
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這實際上是原始碼
14:18
for one of those universes,
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是給其中一個系統使用的
14:20
with a note from the engineers
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還附帶一張工程師的便條
14:22
saying they're having some problems.
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上面寫著這些碼有些問題
14:23
"There must be something about this code that you haven't explained yet."
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“一定是一些關於程式碼你還沒有解釋的問題”
14:28
And I think that's really the truth. We still don't understand
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我想這是真的。我們仍然無法理解
14:31
how these very simple instructions can lead to increasing complexity.
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這些十分簡單的指令是如何實現如此的複雜的系統的？
14:35
What's the dividing line between
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類生命和真實的生命之間
14:37
when that is lifelike and when it really is alive?
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到底怎麼區分？
14:41
These cards, now, thanks to me showing up, are being saved.
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這些卡片，現在因為我的發現，得以保存下來。
14:45
And the question is, should we run them or not?
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問題是，我們是否應該去再一次跑這些程式？
14:47
You know, could we get them running?
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還跑得起來嗎？
14:49
Do you want to let it loose on the Internet?
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是否要將他們放在網上？
14:50
These machines would think they --
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這些機器會想
14:52
these organisms, if they came back to life now --
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如果他們現在復活
14:55
whether they've died and gone to heaven, there's a universe.
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無論他們是不是死去後去了天堂，那總有一個世界
14:57
My laptop is 10 thousand million times
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我的筆記本比起Barricelli退出這一計劃時留下來的系統
15:02
the size of the universe that they lived in when Barricelli quit the project.
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大了一萬倍。
15:07
He was thinking far ahead, to
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他當時大膽的設想
15:09
how this would really grow into a new kind of life.
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這些系統怎樣真正發展成一種新的生命體。
15:12
And that's what's happening!
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這也是現在正在發生的
15:14
When Juan Enriquez told us about
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當Juan Enriquez告訴我們
15:16
these 12 trillion bits being transferred back and forth,
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有12萬億位元正在被來回傳輸
15:20
of all this genomics data going to the proteomics lab,
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以染色體數據的形式聚集到蛋白質組學實驗室
15:24
that's what Barricelli imagined:
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這正是Barricelli所設想的
15:26
that this digital code in these machines
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那就是這些機器裡的數位碼
15:29
is actually starting to code --
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已經開始編碼
15:31
it already is coding from nucleic acids.
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它已經從核酸開始編碼
15:34
We've been doing that since, you know, since we started PCR
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我們從聚合酶鏈式反應(PCR)開始就一直在做了
15:37
and synthesizing small strings of DNA.
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並且合成小段的DNA
15:43
And real soon, we're actually going to be synthesizing the proteins,
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不久我們將會合成蛋白質
15:46
and, like Steve showed us, that just opens an entirely new world.
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正如Steve所展示的，這開啟了一個嶄新的世界。
15:51
It's a world that Von Neumann himself envisioned.
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這是馮諾曼所設想的世界
15:54
This was published after he died: his sort of unfinished notes
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這在他死後得以發表，是一些他未完成的手稿
15:57
on self-reproducing machines,
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內容是關於自我繁殖的機器
15:59
what it takes to get the machines sort of jump-started
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以及是什麼能夠讓機器一下開始
16:02
to where they begin to reproduce.
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進行自我繁殖。
16:04
It took really three people:
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有這麼三個人：
16:06
Barricelli had the concept of the code as a living thing;
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Barricelli提出了程式碼是活的這一概念
16:09
Von Neumann saw how you could build the machines --
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馮諾曼發現了怎樣建構這種機器
16:12
that now, last count, four million
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現在，每24小時
16:15
of these Von Neumann machines is built every 24 hours;
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就有四百萬的馮諾曼式機器生產出來。
16:18
and Julian Bigelow, who died 10 days ago --
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Julian Bigelow，他10天前去世
16:22
this is John Markoff's obituary for him --
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這是John Markoff寫的追思文：
16:25
he was the important missing link,
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他是被忽視但卻十分重要的一環
16:27
the engineer who came in
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身為一個工程師
16:29
and knew how to put those vacuum tubes together and make it work.
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他知道怎樣把這些真空管組裝在一起使他們運行。
16:32
And all our computers have, inside them,
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我們今天所有的電腦內部
16:34
the copies of the architecture that he had to just design
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都有著當初他所設計的結構
16:38
one day, sort of on pencil and paper.
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這些結構都是他親手用紙筆畫出草稿的。
16:41
And we owe a tremendous credit to that.
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我們欠他很多
16:43
And he explained, in a very generous way,
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他以一種慷慨的方式
16:47
the spirit that brought all these different people to
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詮釋了一種精神，使得他可以號召所有的人
16:49
the Institute for Advanced Study in the '40s to do this project,
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在40年代來到高等研究院做這個項目的精神
16:52
and make it freely available with no patents, no restrictions,
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並且完全公開結果，不設專利，沒有任何限制
16:55
no intellectual property disputes to the rest of the world.
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沒有任何智慧產權爭議。
16:58
That's the last entry in the logbook
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這是這本日誌的最後幾行
17:01
when the machine was shut down, July 1958.
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寫於1958年7月，機器停止運行的那天。
17:04
And it's Julian Bigelow who was running it until midnight
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正是Julian Bigelow
17:07
when the machine was officially turned off.
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在機器正式關閉時，一直守著機器運行到午夜
17:09
And that's the end.
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我的演講完了。
17:11
Thank you very much.
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謝謝大家
17:13
(Applause)
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（掌聲）
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
George Dyson - Historian of scienceIn telling stories of technologies and the individuals who created them, George Dyson takes a clear-eyed view of our scientific past -- while illuminating what lies ahead.
Why you should listen
The development of the Aleutian kayak, its adaptation by Russians in the 18th and 19th centuries, and his own redevelopment of the craft in the 1970s was chronicled in George Dyson’s Baidarka: The Kayak of 1986. His 1997 Darwin Among the Machines: The Evolution of Global Intelligence (“the last book about the Internet written without the Internet”) explored the history and prehistory of digital computing and telecommunications as a manifestation of the convergent destiny of organisms and machines.
Project Orion: The True Story of the Atomic Spaceship, published in 2002, assembled first-person interviews and recently declassified documents to tell the story of a path not taken into space: a nuclear-powered spaceship whose objective was to land a party of 100 people on Mars four years before we landed two people on the Moon. Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital Universe, published in 2012, illuminated the transition from numbers that mean things to numbers that do things in the aftermath of World War II.
Dyson’s current project, Analogia, is a semi-autobiographical reflection on how analog computation is re-establishing control over the digital world.
George Dyson | Speaker | TED.com