Claim · 1956-07-12 · publication · Stated in source · Supported

Newell and Simon (1956) describe the logic theory machine as a complex information processing system capable of discovering proofs for theorems in symbolic logic, relying heavily on heuristic methods rather than systematic algorithms.

One recorded claim. The claim panel gives its qualification, the source passages with their place in each source, and how it was checked.

What it connects

The Logic Theory Machine: A Complex Information Processing System → discusses →

Where it appears

No collection page holds this claim. It is listed with its records in the explorer.

Claim and evidence

The Logic Theory Machine: A Complex Information Processing Systemdiscusses ↓

Machine-checked, not reviewed by an editorStated in sourceSupported

Supporting evidence: primary · 1 source

Date: 1956-07-12 · publication Records dated 1956 →

Scope and limitsDescription of the authors' system as they state it; the paper specifies the system and, by its own statement, does not concern its realisation in a computer. Not evidence of priority.

The evidence 01

primary sourceSupports the claim

The Logic Theory Machine: A Complex Information Processing System (RAND P-868)

RAND Corporation (publisher and host) · 1956-07-12

Cite the original source

Cite the original document, not Selekoa. Check these details against it.

Paraphrase

The summary describes 'a complex information processing system, which we call the logic theory machine, that is capable of discovering proofs for theorems in symbolic logic', which, in contrast to the systematic algorithms ordinarily used in computation, 'relies heavily on heuristic methods'; the paper concerns the system's specification, not its realisation in a computer.

Location in source PDF p. 3 (report p. 1), Summary

How it was read Retrieved directly from the publisher

Machine-checked · 2026-10-31

Source details and check notes

Authors: Allen Newell; Herbert A. Simon
Version: Retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-29 (SHA-256 fdc2ce8d519264b3b4f2d29f0f7b86a849e715acb5c4f21677ab5f07b9d85f55). RAND paper P-868, dated July 12, 1956, marked REVISED; scanned typescript as hosted by RAND (2024 upload path)
Canonical address: Open the canonical source ↗
Accessed: 2026-10-29
Language: English (en)
Attribution: Allen Newell, Herbert A. Simon, “The Logic Theory Machine: A Complex Information Processing System (RAND P-868)”, 1956-07-12.
Reuse: No open redistribution licence asserted. Bibliographic metadata, editorial paraphrases and short attributed quotations (at most 50 words each). Recheck terms before wider redistribution.
Check notes: Candidate pack passage, Kinds of AI and technical history (research/technical-history). The paraphrase is Selekoa’s, written from the text retrieved for the candidate pack on 2026-10-29; it is not a quotation and was not machine-matched. Transcribed from the page image; wording in single quotation marks is as read from the image. No human editorial review.

Status and meaning

Editorial status. Not reviewed by an editor. An exploratory record that no editor has accepted. This status does not say whether a person has read any linked passage. Each evidence record above shows how it was checked.

Relation. The concept is explicitly discussed in the document. This makes no earliest-use, invention or transmission claim.

Date. RAND P-868 revised version; presented 10 September 1956.

Record ID th-sym-desc-newell-simon-1956-ltm