When One Bit Can Kill: How Error Correction Codes Save Your Data Every Day
In 1947, a mathematician at Bell Labs faced a frustrating problem. Richard Hamming was using the Model V relay computer to perform calculations, and every weekend the machine would grind to a halt when it encountered an error. The computer would simply stop, flashing its error lights, and Hamming would have to wait until Monday for the operators to reload his program. One Friday evening, staring at the silent machine, he asked himself a question that would change computing forever: “Why can’t the computer correct its own mistakes?” ...