Corrado Böhm's PhD, a translation

• Corrado Böhm: Digital computers. On encoding logical-mathematical formulas using the machine itself during program conception. Translated 2016 by Peter Sestoft from Corrado Böhm: Calculatrices digitales. Du déchiffrage de formules logico-mathématiques par la machine même dans la conception du programme. PhD dissertation ETH Zürich 1951. French original published in Bologna 1954.
• An implementation of Böhm's machine, loader and compiler will be available from this page.
• From the translator's remarks
  Corrado Böhm (born 17 January 1923) completed his PhD dissertation at ETH Zürich in late 1951 under the supervision of E. Stiefel and P. Bernays. This translation from the French is based on the 1954 version at the ETHZ website.
  Böhm's PhD dissertation was completed shortly after David Wheeler's August 1951 Cambridge dissertation and so is probably only the second one in computer science. In addition to its historical interest, Böhm's dissertation is a stellar example of conceptual and notational economy. In just 46 pages, it presents (a) an abstract machine, quite faithful to contemporary real stored-program machines such as the IAS design from Princeton, the EDVAC in Philadelphia and the EDSAC in Cambridge, but with index instructions like the Manchester Mark 1; (b) a simple but complete programming language, including parenthesized arithmetic expressions; (c) a loader program similar to Wilkes's for the EDSAC; and (d) a compiler from the language to the abstract machine's instruction set, where - also a first - the compiler is written in the compiled language itself. Contribution (a) is in chapter 1; (b) in chapters 2 and 3; (c) in chapter 4; and (d) in chapters 5 through 7.
  For historical context, the other doctoral students of Bernays are Julius Büchi, Haskell Curry, Erwin Engeler, Gerhard Gentzen and Saunders Mac Lane.
  Böhm's early work does not seem to have received the attention it deserves, although it features prominently in Don Knuth's survey The early development of programming languages in Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology, volume 7, 1977, 419-493.
  It is my hope that this English translation will make Corrado Böhm's dissertation accessible to a wider audience.