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Why doesn’t the author think much of Stephen Mackay?

When did they start their trip down the Klondike?

How much did they pay for Spot?

Why did the author left Klondike in 1899?

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Electronic computers

Electronic circuits work a thousand times more rapidly than nerve cells in the human brain. A problem that takes the “human brain 2 years in order to solve it can be solved by a computer in one minute. The heart of the electronic computer is its vacuum tubes or transistors. In order to work a computer must have instructions; this is called “programming”.

There are two main types of electronic computers: analogue and digital. In analogue computers problems are solved by analogy, the problems which analogue computers can solve are the following: mechanical forces, speeds, rotations, etc. Analogue computers are used for investigation of mechanical processes, in general, they are used for scientific and engineering problems in which great accuracy is not required but answers accurate enough are required quickly.

In digital computers problems are solved by counting. They may be very large and powerful. All the data connected with the problem which must be solved are converted into electrical pulses by very fast electronic switches and these pulses are stored and counted. With modern electronic devices a single switching operation can take place in a few nanoseconds (a nanosecond is a thousand-millionth of a second).

Kyoto University reported that it had developed a computer that “talks and translates” English into Japanese. The university said that the computer refused to translate any questions put in bad English. “It simply keeps quiet if someone asks a question in bad English,” said the professor, head of the group that had developed the computer.

It took five years to develop the machine. 8000 English words, 4000 English phrases and their Japanese equivalents were built into the computer, which sorts out sentences which are on punched cards and supplies a vocal translation within 20 seconds.

The newspaper The Times (London) writes: “’Time is money’ is one of the foundations of the Ministry’s of Transport approaches to transport problems.” If we can save a lot of people time on their daily journeys to work, then we are saving a part of the nation’s money. That is why a computer-controlled traffic experiment was carried out in West London. One of the objects of the experiment was to make more efficient use of road space.

The scheme involves more than 100 sets of signals which are connected to a computer in New Scotland Yard. More than 500 detectors count the cars passing over them and display the information on a master panel. The computer adjusts traffic signals and gives a free flow of traffic.

In future when the system is fully developed the computer will hold in its memory different traffic conditions, for example, morning and evening rush hours. Computing machines even may play draughts and chess. Computers are going to be the driving force behind a second industrial revolution, just as the steam was in the first.