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The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Neal Stephenson: Orbital Mechanics 101 and Tekla Porn
 
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Peepers
Mar 11, 2005

Well, I'm a ghost. I scare people. It's all very important, I assure you.


 I'm nearly done with a re-read of System of the World, and I have a history question: Daniel spends a good deal of time in the book working on creating the Logic Mill with Leibniz for Peter the Great of Russia. I know in real life Leibniz worked on mechanical calculators, but did he ever make a serious effort to construct a "thinking machine" like the Logic Mill or a digital computer? And was Peter ever actually involved in any way, or is this just a case of Stephenson introducing yet another ridiculous(ly entertaining) historical figure for kicks?

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The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Neal Stephenson: Orbital Mechanics 101 and Tekla Porn