Mathematical Theory of Switching Circuits and Automata

By applying Boolean algebra to the designing of circuits, C. E. Shannon practically created the switching theory which is necessary to the development of electronic computers. For the next three decades much research was done and most of the major problems of logical design were solved. Recent interest having focused on the purely theoretical aspects of computer and logical networks, Hu now believes that the time has come for a consolidation of the mathematical foundations of the subject. In the present book the author accordingly undertakes to establish a new branch of pure mathematics with a uniform notation and terminology by organizing the past research results into a form usable to both mathematicians and engineers, while simplifying theory by stripping it of complex "hardware" considerations as well as of all unnecessary advanced mathematics. A number of exercises have been provided at the end of each chapter.

Many titles in the Voices Revived program are also newly available as ebooks, offered at a discounted price to support wider access to scholarly work.

Sze-Tsen Hu was Professor of Mathematics at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author of Homotopy Theory, Theory of Retracts, Threshold Logic, and Homology Theory.