Why Computers Use Binary
In short: Why computers use binary: the two-symbol mathematics, the two-state switches that carry it, Shannon's 1938 link between them, and a working ternary computer that keeps the question of necessity open.
A 1:26 short film in the series “From Fingers to Qubits”, narrated by intellect_voice_01.
Sources used in this film: Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Binary code | Definition, Numbers, & Facts | Britannica”; ElectricalFlux (electricalflux.com), an electronics learning-guide website, “Why Do Computers Use the Binary Number System? (Physics & Logic)”; Science Museum (Science Museum Group), “Charles Babbage’s Difference Engines and the Science Museum | Science Museum”; Academia.edu (uploaded copy of Claude E. Shannon's paper for the AIEE, American Institute of Electrical Engineers; the page text is heavily garbled scanned text), “A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits By CLAUDE E. SHANNON AIEE vol”; MIT News (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), “Professor Emeritus Claude Shannon, founder of digital communications, dies at 84”; Springer (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology; paper by N.P. Brusentsov and J. Ramil Alvarez, Moscow State University), “Ternary Computers: The Setun and the Setun 70”; HandWiki, “Setun”.
Sources used in this film
- Encyclopaedia Britannica — Binary code | Definition, Numbers, & Facts | Britannica · View →
- ElectricalFlux (electricalflux.com), an electronics learning-guide website — Why Do Computers Use the Binary Number System? (Physics & Logic) · View →
- Science Museum (Science Museum Group) — Charles Babbage’s Difference Engines and the Science Museum | Science Museum · View →
- Academia.edu (uploaded copy of Claude E. Shannon's paper for the AIEE, American Institute of Electrical Engineers; the page text is heavily garbled scanned text) — A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits By CLAUDE E. SHANNON AIEE vol · View →
- MIT News (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) — Professor Emeritus Claude Shannon, founder of digital communications, dies at 84 · View →
- Springer (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology; paper by N.P. Brusentsov and J. Ramil Alvarez, Moscow State University) — Ternary Computers: The Setun and the Setun 70 · View →
- HandWiki — Setun · View →
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Binary code | Definition, Numbers, & Facts | Britannica
- Also: ElectricalFlux (electricalflux.com), an electronics learning-guide website: Why Do Computers Use the Binary Number System? (Physics & Logic)
- Also: Charles Babbage’s Difference Engines and the Science Museum | Science Museum
- Also: Academia.edu (user upload of a 1938 AIEE paper by Claude E. Shannon): A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits By CLAUDE E. SHANNON AIEE vol
- Also: MIT News (Massachusetts Institute of Technology): Professor Emeritus Claude Shannon, founder of digital communications, dies at 84
- Also: Springer (IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology; paper by N.P. Brusentsov and J. Ramil Alvarez, Mosc: Ternary Computers: The Setun and the Setun 70
- Also: HandWiki: Setun
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