Logic Theorist

computer program

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July 16, 2026

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The Logic Theorist was a pioneering computer program created in 1955-56 by Allen Newell, J. Clifford Shaw, and Herbert Simon. It was designed to prove theorems from Principia Mathematica by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell. This program is considered an important landmark in artificial intelligence research, specifically in the area of logical reasoning and problem-solving. The Logic Theorist was capable of devising proofs, and in some instances, its proofs were considered more elegant than those originally presented in the book. This program laid the groundwork for subsequent AI developments, such as the General Problem Solver (GPS).12

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Allen Newell
…the first AI programs, the Logic Theorist. Funded primarily by the air force and run on Johnniac (a computer named for John von Neumann, one of the inventors of the digital computer), the Logic Theorist was capable of solving general logic problems, such as those found in the Principia Mathematica…
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…the first AI programs, the Logic Theorist. Funded primarily by the air force and run on Johnniac (a computer named for John von Neumann, one of the inventors of the digital computer), the Logic Theorist was capable of solving general logic problems, such as those found in the Principia Mathematica…
Read More