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From: dickey@ssc-vax.UUCP (Frederick J Dickey)
Newsgroups: comp.ai,comp.lang.lisp
Subject: Re: Neural Networks - Pointers to good texts?
Message-ID: <1465@ssc-vax.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 12-Oct-87 09:35:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: ssc-vax.1465
Posted: Mon Oct 12 09:35:59 1987
Date-Received: Wed, 14-Oct-87 06:20:43 EDT
References: <230@titn.TITN> <4191@well.UUCP>
Organization: Boeing Aerospace Corp., Seattle WA
Lines: 15
Keywords: neural networks ai wanted
Summary: who was there first?
Xref: mnetor comp.ai:885 comp.lang.lisp:491

In article <4191@well.UUCP>, wcalvin@well.UUCP (William Calvin) writes:
> 	We brain researchers sure get tired of hearing neural-like networks
> referred to as "neural networks", an established subject for 25 years since
> the days of Limulus lateral inhibition.  

I think the above says that "biological" neural nets have been studied as a
formal discipline for 25 years and that this great ancestry gives biology
prior claim to the term "neural nets". Assuming that this is a correct
interpretation, let me make the following observation. In 1943, McCulloch
and Pitts published a paper entitled "A logical calculus of the ideas
immanent in neural nets". Minsky and Papert (Perceptrons) state that this
paper presents the "prototypes of the linear threshold functions". This paper
stikes me as clearly being in the "neural net-like" tradition. Now
1987-1943 = 44. Also note that 44 > 25. Therefore, it apears that the
"neural net-like" guys have prior claim to the term "neural net". :-).