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Figure 3.3.
Anatomy of a tortoise. Source: de latil 1956, facing p. 50.
So much for the behaviors of the tortoises; now to connect them to the
brain. One can analogize a tortoise to a living organism by distinguishing its
motor organs (the power supply, motors, and wheels), its senses (the contact
switch and the photocell), and its brain (connected to the motor organs and
senses by nerves: electrical wiring). The brain itself was a relatively simple
piece of circuitry consisting of just two “neurons,” as Walter (1950a, 42) put it,
each consisting of an electronic valve, a capacitor, and a relay switch (fig. 3.7).
In response to different inputs, the relays would switch between different
modes of behavior: the basic wandering pattern, locking onto a light, oscillat-
ing back and forth after hitting an obstacle, and so on.
