A Metallurgist’s Doubts About Self-Replicating Probes
- Frank Tipler jolted the astrophysics community in 1980 when he introduced self-replicating interstellar probes into discussion of the Fermi Paradox.
- The mathematical model of self-replication came from John von Neumann, and was codified in 1966 (after von Neumann’s death) by Arthur Burks in Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata (1966).
- SF fans will also know of Fred Saberhagen’s berserker novels and short stories (the first appeared in 1963).
Unverified
- Frank Tipler jolted the astrophysics community in 1980 when he introduced self-replicating interstellar probes into discussion of the Fermi Paradox.
- The mathematical model of self-replication came from John von Neumann, and was codified in 1966 (after von Neumann’s death) by Arthur Burks in Theory of Self-Reproducing Automata (1966).
- SF fans will also know of Fred Saberhagen’s berserker novels and short stories (the first appeared in 1963).
Sources: Centauri-dreams