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Hi there,
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<div class="">Maybe of interest? Robert Merton’s classic essay, "Singletons and Multiples in Scientific Discovery: A Chapter in the Sociology of Science," notes that simultaneous invention — not lone genii working in isolation — are how invention and discovery
usually happen.
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<div class="">Dag</div>
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<div class="">Merton paper: </div>
<div class="">Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society</div>
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<div class=""><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/i240641" class="">Vol. 105, No. 5, The Influence of Science upon Modern Culture, Conference Commemorating the 400th Anniversary of the Birth of Francis Bacon (Oct. 13, 1961)</a>, pp. 470-486 (17 pages)
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<div class="">Published By: American Philosophical Society</div>
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<div class="">——
<div class="">Dag Spicer</div>
<div class="">Senior Curator</div>
<div class="">Computer History Museum</div>
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<div class="">1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.</div>
<div class="">Mountain View, CA 94043</div>
<div class=""><a href="mailto:dspicer@computerhistory.org" class="">dspicer@computerhistory.org</a></div>
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<blockquote type="cite" class="">
<div class="">On Oct 22, 2020, at 11:18 AM, Theodora Dryer <<a href="mailto:tjdryer@gmail.com" class="">tjdryer@gmail.com</a>> wrote:</div>
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<div dir="ltr" class="">Thank you, Barbara! I'm looking forward to your work on "Creation Myths"
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<div class="">It's not new, but Leila McNeill's piece is another great short read on this topic: <a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fthebaffler.com%2Foutbursts%2Fsurely-youre-a-creep-mr-feynman-mcneill&data=04%7C01%7Cdspicer%40computerhistory.org%7C12087b26a05c40ac0b9708d876b6db04%7Cb6a9c12a29ee4c5f8f93f0d7a8e2db2f%7C0%7C0%7C637389875040624781%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=KwwnNg0Ws6Pai%2FjRUizKJf0s7q6TQDODfAODEQDPbKM%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://thebaffler.com/outbursts/surely-youre-a-creep-mr-feynman-mcneill" shash="wOPLHp9uHzobE6s4wIk39CM4DyFW0i1iLDeShixhvTASxPIAcgZxOzfKVMFbkYz9Jav4hVhcvaz+IduXjVdCNchpmpnc3llfIXQqV1AfdTziuIr+cqPC+bj4679ek02FXL52YIY2tZIQdoVLzr7gk7SGFXkDhE/KcV+X8Jy0TgM=" target="_blank" class="">https://thebaffler.com/outbursts/surely-youre-a-creep-mr-feynman-mcneill</a>.</div>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, Oct 22, 2020 at 11:42 AM Barbara B Walker <<a href="mailto:bbwalker@unr.edu" target="_blank" class="">bbwalker@unr.edu</a>> wrote:<br class="">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class="">Hi, everybody,</span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class=""> </span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class="">Hope everyone is safe and well.</span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class=""> </span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class="">Here is an article on the importance of looking beyond the mythologies and cults of genius in the history of science and tech.</span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class=""> </span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class=""><a href="https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fundark.org%2F2020%2F10%2F22%2Fthe-fiction-of-individual-genius%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cdspicer%40computerhistory.org%7C12087b26a05c40ac0b9708d876b6db04%7Cb6a9c12a29ee4c5f8f93f0d7a8e2db2f%7C0%7C0%7C637389875040624781%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=575NfovQIRD%2BHmVmURXcygoUZ2D9kMTGrtJtbFtDNW4%3D&reserved=0" originalsrc="https://undark.org/2020/10/22/the-fiction-of-individual-genius/" shash="PXYmamQhgA7+sKeGc6XmZUSMKxPSzM0JV9NKOh9O9q0ED+H6gOWY0Vofdjohfzd+lSkbYsRCE2VH3fAIyQq6O0id3e55cwUsDGRSJJ/RqWP9rBJlf5yvNYpTTqtypl3uV78BtxibjXIOmyW+J9WIcEzV7qwxhV6n3Iogyg9W31s=" target="_blank" class="">https://undark.org/2020/10/22/the-fiction-of-individual-genius/</a></span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class=""> </span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class="">However, I would argue that in computer history as everywhere else in the history of science and tech, debunking is not enough – we must understand the reasons, cultures and process of cult-formation
and myth-making that plays such an influential role in our understanding of the past. That’s something I’m exploring in an article on John von Neumann that I recently submitted for publication review (“Creation Myths”). Am also looking at the formation of
political personality cults in a seminar I am teaching this semester.</span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class=""> </span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class="">Barbara Walker</span><u class=""></u><u class=""></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class=""><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11pt" class=""><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 11pt;" class="">Barbara Walker</span><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;" class="">
<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;" class="">Associate Professor<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;" class="">Department of History/308<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;" class="">University of Nevada, Reno<u class=""></u><u class=""></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;" class="">Reno NV 89557</span><span style="font-size:11pt" class="">
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<p class="MsoNormal"><u class=""></u> <u class=""></u></p>
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<div dir="ltr" class="">Theodora Dryer, Ph.D.
<div class="">Lead Research Scholar, Climate + Water </div>
<div class="">AI Now Institute | New York University </div>
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