[SIGCIS-Members] Interview for 6th grade history project re: "the first computer"

Joly MacFie joly at punkcast.com
Fri Feb 22 01:42:19 PST 2019


When I did UK GCE 'A level' Comp Sci, way back in 69, I seem to recall we
started with Jacquard's loom.

j

On Fri, Feb 22, 2019 at 12:11 AM Hintz, Eric <HintzE at si.edu> wrote:

> Hi SIGCIS-
>
>
>
> My buddy emailed and said (paraphrasing): “My son’s a 6th grader; he and
> his classmates are doing research projects.  They have to interview an
> expert on some topic.  His classmate wants to research ‘the first
> computer.’  Can my son’s classmate interview you?”  Being an all-purpose
> “expert,”  I said yes!
>
>
>
> As historians, we tend to reject absolutes, hedge, and use qualifying
> adjectives like the first “electronic” or “programmable” or “personal”
> computer.  But this is a 6th grader, so I don’t want to confuse him with
> too many carefully constructed hedges.  So I appeal to the wisdom of this
> crowd…
>
>
>
> Q: How would you approach this 6th grader’s legitimate interest in the
> first computer?  Which computer(s) should I/we focus on?  Best books or
> other resources (e.g. Ceruzzi’s *Concise History*) to help me and the
> sixth grader get the facts straight?
>
>
>
> Many thanks!
>
> Eric Hintz
>
>
>
> ======================
> Eric S. Hintz, Ph.D.
> Historian, Lemelson Center for
>
>    the Study of Invention and Innovation
> National Museum of American History
> Smithsonian Institution
>
> MRC 604, P. O. Box 37012
>
> Washington, DC 20013-7012
> WORK: 202-633-3734
> CELL: 610-717-7134
>
> FAX: 202-633-4593
> hintze at si.edu
> http://invention.si.edu
>
>
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Joly MacFie  218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast
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