We Wish To Incorporate Into The Machine -- In The Form Of Circuits -- Only Such Logical Concepts As Are Either Necessary To Have A Complete System Or Highly Convenient Because Of The Frequency With Which They Occur And The Influence They Exert In The Relevant Mathematical Situations.

Home › Fortune Cookies › Miscellaneous Collections

"We wish to incorporate into the machine -- in the form of circuits --
only such logical concepts as are either necessary to have a complete
system or highly convenient because of the frequency with which they
occur and the influence they exert in the relevant mathematical
situations."
-- Burks, Goldstine, and von Neumann (1946)
-- (from "Computer Structures: Readings and Examples", C. Gordon Bell (ed)
-- McGraw-Hill Book Company, (c) 1971, page 97)

Related: