On the Foundation of Computing offers a comprehensive and critical overview of the birth and evolution of computing, and analyses some of the most important technical results and philosophical problems of the discipline, combining both historical and systematic analyses.

• 1: Introduction


• 2: A fundamental Crisis


• 3: Computing and Deciding


• 4: What is Computable?


• 5: Mechanical Computation


• 6: On the Nature of Algorithms


• 7: Computing as a Mathematical Discipline


• 8: The First Generation of Computers


• 9: The Laws of Evolution


• 10: Properties of Implemented Computations


• 11: Specification and Implementation


• 12: Computing as an Engineering Discipline


• 13: Elements of Experimental Computing


• 14: Models and Simulations


• 15: Formal Relations


• 16: Computing as an Experimental Discipline


• 17: Conclusions

Giuseppe Primiero is Associate Professor of Logic at the Department of Philosophy, University of Milan (Italy). He acts as President of the DHST Commission for the History and Philosophy of Computing (HaPoC) and Secretary General of the Association Computability in Europe (CiE). His research interests are primarily in Logic and Computation, Philosophy of Computing and Information.