“Much of the early engineering development of digital computers was done in universities. A few years ago, the view was commonly expressed that universities had played their part in computer design, and that the matter could now safely be left to industry. [...] Apart from the obvious functions of keeping in the public domain material that might otherwise be hidden, universities can make a special contribution by reason of their freedom from commercial considerations, including freedom from the need to follow the fashion.” NeedsYearsMatterReasonDoneMightLeftViewsSpecialFashionDesignMaterialsDevelopmentIndustryComputerYears AgoFunctionIncludingUniversityObviousContributionConsiderationDigitalEngineeringDomainPublic Domain Author:Maurice Wilkes
“In the judgment of design engineers, the ordinary means of communicating with a computer are entirely inadequate. [...] Graphical communication in some form or other is of vital importance in engineering as that subject is now conducted; we must either provide the capability in our computer systems, or take on the impossible task of training up a future race of engineers conditioned to think in a different way.” ThinkingWayMeanDifferentFormRaceImpossibleSubjectsDesignCommunicationJudgmentComputerTrainingOrdinaryTasksImportanceCommunicateDifferent WaysCapabilityEngineeringEngineersInadequateComputer Systems Author:Maurice Wilkes
“The artificial intelligence approach may not be altogether the right one to make to the problem of designing automatic assembly devices. Animals and machines are constructed from entirely different materials and on quite different principles. When engineers have tried to draw inspiration from a study of the way animals work they have usually been misled; the history of early attempts to construct flying machines with flapping wings illustrates this very clearly.” WayMayDifferentProblemInspirationAnimalPrinciplesStudyDesignMaterialsApproachDrawsMachinesWingsFlyingDevicesArtificial IntelligenceArtificialEngineersConstructsAssemblyMisledFlappingFlying Machines Author:Maurice Wilkes
