[inforoots] re: first use of bits

[Niels Ole Finnemann]

To Ed Thelen. Thank you very much for the 
clarification concerning the role of von Neumann. 
I was mistaken. Still, I am also interested in 
the physical format of stored programs. In 
Turings 1936 paper he uses a series of physical 
units as representation of both data and programs 
(that is: rules governing the process - he did 
not use the notion of a program). In principle he 
showed that the number of units had to be finite, 
but whether the alphabet contained 2 or 7 "letters" did not matter.
Given that the notation system should consist of a finite number of
units, my question now is who was the
first to use the binary alphabet for 
representation (and execution) of programs as well as of data.
In my view it is important because it reveals 
that the computer is a machine in which programs 
can only function as such if they are themselves 
treated as data in the machine.
Any sort of help to answer this question is also very much appreciated.
best regard

Niels Ole Finnemann,
Professor, Dr.Phil.,
IMV, Århus Universitet
Helsingsforsgade 14,
8200 Aarhus N

+45 89 42 92 34