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Query re. readings on global history of computing
by Paul N. Edwards 12 Dec '14

12 Dec '14

Dear colleagues, I’m putting together an upper-level undergrad course on “Computers and the Internet: A Global History,” and I would really appreciate suggestions for my course reading list. I’m intrigued by the opportunity created by recent scholarship to look at regions of the world usually left out of the traditional US-UK story. I am looking for well-written, short (or readily excerptable) work that will appeal to an audience of juniors and seniors, some from History and some from the iSchool. I’m particularly looking for refs on Africa, Asia, and South America. I’m interested in video as well as writing, and accessible primary source collections too. Period is from Babbage to the present. Here’s most of what’s on my reading list so far (not including US-UK oriented material) Campbell-Kelly, Aspray, and Ensmenger, Computer Medina, Cybernetic Revolutionaries Cortada, Digital Flood Edwards and Hecht, “History and the Technopolitics of Identity: The Case of Apartheid South Africa” Jenkin, "Talking to Vula: The Story of the Secret Underground Communications Network of Operation Vula." Shapard, “Islands in the (Data)Stream: Language, Character Codes, and Electronic Isolation in Japan” Takhteyev, Coding Places: Software Practice in a South American City (Brazil) Gerovitch, “‘Mathematical Machines’ of the Cold War: Soviet Computing, American Cybernetics and Ideological Disputes in the Early 1950s.” Gerovitch. “Internyet: Why the Soviet Union Did Not Build a Nationwide Computer Network.” De Lacy, Justine. 1989. "The Sexy Computer.” (on Minitel) McHenry and Goodman, “MIS in Soviet Industrial Enterprises: The Limits of Reform from Above” (1986, CACM) Flamm, “Government and Computers in Japan and Europe,” from Targeting the Computer Best, Paul ___________________________ Paul N. Edwards Professor of Information and History, University of Michigan A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming (MIT Press, 2010) Terse replies are deliberate (and better than nothing) University of Michigan School of Information 4437 North Quad 105 S. State Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1285 (734) 764-2617 (office) (206) 337-1523 (fax) pne.people.si.umich.edu

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Fwd: IHPST NEWSLETTER: November 28, 2014
by Dag Spicer 11 Dec '14

11 Dec '14

Thought this might of interest… is anyone teaching the “philosophy of computing?” Should they? Does computing (outside of AI) involve philosophy? Dag -- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum Editorial Board, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 1401 North Shoreline Boulevard Mountain View, CA 94043-1311 Tel: +1 650 810 1035 Fax: +1 650 810 1055 Twitter: @ComputerHistory Begin forwarded message: From: IHPST <ihpst.info(a)utoronto.ca<mailto:ihpst.info@utoronto.ca>> Subject: IHPST NEWSLETTER: November 28, 2014 Date: November 28, 2014 at 1:02:59 PM PST To: IHPST <ihpst.info(a)utoronto.ca<mailto:ihpst.info@utoronto.ca>> IHPST NEWSLETTER November 28, 2014 IHPST NEWS COLLOQUIUM Wednesday December 10, 4:00 p.m., Location – Victoria College, 2nd floor, Room 213 “Why did HPS Die?” Hakob Barseghyan, Assistant Professor, IHPST, University of Toronto When HPS was born in the 1960s, its main rationale was that we could study the actual workings of science in order to use that knowledge to answer some key philosophical questions concerning science, such as “what makes science rational?”, “what is the demarcation between science and non-science?”, “what makes one theory better than another?” and ultimately “what is the logic of scientific change?”. Kuhn and other founding fathers of HPS held that in order to get a better understanding of PS we must refer to HS. Lakatos’s famous dictum that “philosophy of science without history of science is empty; history of science without philosophy of science is blind” was not just his own view; it was the guiding principle that was in the foundation of the original HPS. Yet, what we observe nowadays is historians and philosophers pursuing their separate projects with essentially very little overlap. If we call things by their names, “HPS” has become a mere umbrella term these days. So why did the original HPS die and how can it be revived? If you have an accessibility or accommodation need for these events, please e-mail Denise Horsley directly at denise.horsley(a)utoronto.ca<mailto:denise.horsley@utoronto.ca> to make appropriate arrangements. * * * * * * * * ** OTHER NEWS Stay current with the U of T community: The Albert Memo: http://www.vic.utoronto.ca/News___Events/Albert.htm U of T News: http://www.news.utoronto.ca/ * * * * * * * * * * * ---

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Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Query readings on global history of computing
by Jay Hauben 10 Dec '14

10 Dec '14

Dear Paul Edwards, Maybe too old, too technical or too playful but of value is: "Exploring the Internet: A Technical Travelogue" 1992 by Carl Malamud Take care. Jay On Tue, 9 Dec 2014, members-request(a)sigcis.org wrote: > 1. Query re. readings on global history of computing > (Paul N. Edwards) > > Dear colleagues, > > I?m putting together an upper-level undergrad course on ?Computers and the Internet: A Global History,? and I would really appreciate suggestions for my course reading list. > > I?m intrigued by the opportunity created by recent scholarship to look at regions of the world usually left out of the traditional US-UK story. > > I am looking for well-written, short (or readily excerptable) work that will appeal to an audience of juniors and seniors, some from History and some from the iSchool. > > I?m particularly looking for refs on Africa, Asia, and South America. I?m interested in video as well as writing, and accessible primary source collections too. Period is from Babbage to the present. >

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a significant note and two lesser notes
by Dave Walden 05 Dec '14

05 Dec '14

Dear All, 1. I am pleased to announced that Nathan Ensmenger has been appointed editor-in-chief of the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. He will take office on January 1. Until then, feel free to send Annals ideas to both him and me. In any case, please continue to think of the Annals as a possible place for publication of your computing history research, either for peer-reviewed papers or for submissions to the departments (biographies, anecdotes, events & sightings, interviews, ...). 2. Walter Isaacson is in the Boston area promoting his Innovators book. He will be at a Harvard Book Store event (held in the Brattle Theater, I think). He was on WGBH radio today. On the radio, he said there would be a Grace Hopper Day at Harvard tomorrow (Saturday) and a panel on women in computing; see the introduction in italics at http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2014/12/grace-hopper-computing-pionee… 3. Edgar Daylight has published a new (100interview booklet of Knuth. It is available from Amazon. I read it last night and enjoyed it. There is a bit more in it about his debate with Martin Campbell-Kelly and a good bit more on his ideas about computing history, the definition of computer science, plenty of computing history to which he has been neear, etc. It is available from amazon.com. Best regards, Dave -- home address: 12 Linden Rd., E. Sandwich, MA 02537 home ph=508-888-7655; cell ph = 503-757-3137 (often don't carry it) email address: dave(a)walden-family.com; website: <http://www.walden-family.com/bbn/>http://www.walden-family.com/

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ACM History Committee --> 2015 fellowship + workshop
by Thomas J. Misa 03 Dec '14

03 Dec '14

Hello all, An announcement of the ACM History Committee's upcoming 2015 support for research in computing history. As in the past, ACM HC will directly support research projects with an award up to $4,000. This year we plan on holding the (already announced) research workshop in conjunction with the SHOT and SIGCIS annual meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico during 8-11 October 2015 (precise details to be finessed). Prior awardees will be receiving an invitation to attend this workshop, also with a travel supplement. You can see the list of past ACM HC awards here:<http://history.acm.org/public/public_documents/acm_history_fellows.php> A "word of wisdom" to the community: ACM HC believes it has been successful in funding top-quality history research, and a number of people on this list have benefitted. The necessary payback, however, is to make certain that ACM HC hears from awardees about any papers, presentations, lectures, or other outcomes from the funded project. We keep a list of such "project deliverables" at the page listed above. Great projects and well-reported outcomes . . . continuing enthusiasm for future funding of research projects . . . . Best, Tom Misa ACM History Committee chair =============================================== ACM History Committee Call for Proposals 2015 Research Workshop on ACM History The Association for Computing Machinery, founded in 1947, is the oldest and largest educational and scientific society dedicated to the computing profession, and today has more than 100,000 members around the world. To help illuminate ACM’s history the ACM History Committee (ACM-HC) will organize a workshop in conjunction with the SHOT and SIGCIS annual meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico during 8-11 October 2015. Beginning in 2009 ACM-HC has supported nearly 20 research projects on ACM’s storied history. These projects have examined ACM’s activities in computer science education, accreditation, and international exchanges; ACM’s founding and early organization; ACM’s Turing Award; regional computing communities and federal government policy; advocacy and recruitment; and research in graphics, hypertext, networking, and artificial intelligence. We invite research projects that relate to one or more of the following workshop themes: Public policy, government relations, and computing Computing education and professionalization Organizational innovation: special-interest groups, conferences, and publications in computing We will support up to four projects with awards of up to $3,000 each. Successful candidates may be of any rank, from graduate students through senior researchers. All awardees must be willing to present a paper to the ACM history workshop in mid-October 2015. A $1,500 supplement for workshop travel, lodging, and meals will be provided—in addition to this project award. Previous ACM HC awardees will be invited to the workshop and similarly supported. To Apply: Applicants should send a 2-page CV as well as a 750-word project description that [a] describes the proposed research; [b] identifies the importance of specific ACM historical materials, whether traditional archival collections or online historical materials (oral histories, digitized conference papers, ACM organizational records, etc.); [c] discusses any project outcome besides the ACM history workshop (e.g. journal article, book or dissertation chapter, teaching resource, museum exhibit, website); and [d] outlines a timeline for completing the project—including, specifically, your willingness to contribute a 10-page (2500-word) paper to the mid-October 2015 ACM history workshop. Workshop papers will be pre-circulated to workshop attendees; revised papers may be published. In preparing a proposal, applicants should examine the document “ACM Research Materials” posted at <history.acm.org/content.php?do=links> as well as “Sources for ACM History,” CACM 50 #5 (May 2007): 36-41 <doi.acm.org/10.1145/1230819.1230836>. Other research materials relating to ACM may also be used. Applicants should include a letter of endorsement from their home institution or an external scholarly reference. Proposals are due by 1 February 2015. Proposals should be submitted as a single pdf-format document to <history-webmaster(a)acm.org>. Notification of awards will be made within 6 weeks. =================================================================

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Laine Nooney on Softporn Adventure in the Atlantic
by Thomas Haigh 03 Dec '14

03 Dec '14

Hello everyone, A teaser on the Onion's AV Club just alerted me that our own Laine Nooney has published a fascinating article in The Atlantic showcasing her work on the history of Sierra Online's early Softporn Adventure (later remade as Leisure Suit Larry). I was lucky enough to comment on this material when she presented it at SIGCIS-sponsored session during the SHOT 2012 meeting in Copenhagen. Laine also served on our workshop organizing committee earlier this year. http://www.avclub.com/article/read-how-first-erotic-video-game-presaged-cult ure--212483 http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/12/the-odd-history-of-the -first-erotic-computer-game/383114/?single_page=true As Laine explains, the Softporn advertising shoot featured a bounty of naked women (all Sierra employees) in a hot tub with a butler and a computer. In contrast I recall Larry itself, played with my fellow interns during the lunch break at a small computer company in 1990, as curiously reluctant to engage in wish fulfillment or titillation. The pathetic antihero spent the game squandering money in a depressing environment humorously attempting with little success to score. Also no onscreen nudity. Checking an online walkthrough suggests that it was necessary to get married to complete the game! No consequence-free hot tub orgy for you. Also great: her quoted characterization of the computer as a "sexless tool". Best wishes, Tom

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CHM Blog: Our ENIGMA goes to Hollywood!
by Dag Spicer 02 Dec '14

02 Dec '14

http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/road-trip-chm-enigma-machine-goes-to-h… Dag -- Dag Spicer Senior Curator Computer History Museum Editorial Board, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 1401 North Shoreline Boulevard Mountain View, CA 94043-1311 Tel: +1 650 810 1035 Fax: +1 650 810 1055 Twitter: @ComputerHistory

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New CBI Newsletter (Fall 2014, Vol. 36:2)
by Charles Babbage Institute 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

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Book announcement
by Edgar Daylight 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

Dear colleagues, I am pleased to announce the publication of my latest book with Donald Knuth, entitled "Algorithmic Barriers Falling: P=NP?" and published by Lonely Scholar (see: www.lonelyscholar.com) The preface of the book is available on my blog: www.dijkstrascry.com/node/127 Part of the book is about Knuth's incentives to study the history of computing. Best wishes, Edgar G. Daylight Author of "A Turing Tale", published in the Communications of the ACM, Vol. 57, No. 10, pp. 36-38, 2014.

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EDSAC touted as "First Practical General Purpose Computer" -- again
by Thomas Haigh 01 Dec '14

01 Dec '14

Hello SIGCIS members, You may remember some discussion on this list earlier this year following a previous press release from the National Museum of Computing calling EDSAC "the first practical general purpose computer." The museum's new press release, as linked to by Brian <http://www.tnmoc.org/news/news-releases/edsac-display-opens-and-commissioni ng-begins> , repeats that characterization, and goes one better: "It was the first practical general purpose computer and marked the beginning of computer programming as a distinct profession." The release also quotes Doron Swade as saying that "It could be said that EDSAC invented the user as a distinct class of practitioner." A little exaggeration is understandable at a gala celebration, but none of those claims for "firsts," "beginnings" and "invention" seem to me to hold up to historical scrutiny. EDSAC is traditionally viewed as the first "practical stored program computer" but was preceded as both "practical" and "general purpose" by digital computers such as ENIAC, SSEC, various Bell Labs and IBM relay calculators, the Harvard Mark 1, and several Zuse machines. In fact in response to the earlier discussion on this list TMOC removed the "first practical general purpose computer" claim. David Hartley from the EDSAC Replica Project contacted me to explain that the claim in no way represented the position of the museum, but was the mistake of an overenthusiastic PR person and had been corrected. So it's rather surprising to see the same phrase so prominently repeated in a new press release. (I'm pasting below my previous message on this topic). As we discussed during one of the SIGCIS sessions at SHOT, the term "general purpose," unlike "stored program," was actually used during the 1940s and featured prominently in the first wave of articles introducing ENIAC to the world. For example the abstract of a February 1948 Electrical Engineering paper by ENIAC team members Brainerd and Sharpless began "The ENIAC is the only electronic large-scale general-purpose digital computing device now in operation." As for the idea that EDSAC was the first computer to separate programing as a distinct role, both the Harvard Mark 1 and ENIAC provide well-documented counterexamples. Harvard separated operations and programming labor by about 1945, according to Beyer, Kurt W. Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009. ENIAC substantially combined the two roles in its original configuration, which is why the operators hired in mid-1945 are now remembered as pioneering programmers. However from about March 1947 one of those operators, Jean Bartik, headed a team of contract programmers based at the Moore School in Philadelphia after ENIAC and its operations team had left for Aberdeen, MD the previous year. This is very probably the first time a contract was given entirely for programming work and arguably marks beginning of programming work as a full-time occupation entirely distinct from building a computer, operating a computer, or overseeing its operation. Certainly it was an earlier and more complete separation of programming from other work than anything seen on EDSAC in 1949. Did EDSAC invent the user? In 1945-48, before EDSAC was completed, the Harvard Mark 1, IBM SSEC, and ENIAC all ran jobs for outside organizations and for users from Penn and the Ballistic Research Laboratory not affiliated with the ENIAC team. Los Alamos, for example, ran major jobs on all three machines and accounted for a significant fraction of all time consumed on ENIAC and SSEC during this period. ENIAC also ran jobs for Argonne, United Aircraft, and British mathematical physicist Douglas Hartree during the period. So it's not clear to me what EDSAC accomplished which was different from the relationship to ENIAC of an outside user organization with no programming staff or ENIAC operators, such as United Aircraft. Of course EDSAC played an important part in the development of programming and computer usage, but to me this offers another lesson in the danger of making claims to historical significance based on "firsts" or "inventions". Here is what I wrote previously, with reference to my ongoing work on this era with Mark Priestley and Crispin Rope (www.EniacInAction.com) Hmm, the discovery of those diagrams is good news for EDSAC rebuilders but I was surprised to see that the press release twice calls EDSAC "the first practical general purpose computer." One occurrence is in the boilerplate passage on EDSAC at the bottom of the release, which suggests that this is TNMOC's official position. That seems to violate the de facto truce concluded between early computer history enthusiasts in the early 1980s when they settled on the appropriate series of adjectives to go between "first" and "computer." As Mike Williams once wrote, "there is more than enough glory in the creation of the modern computer to satisfy all of the early pioneers, most of whom are no longer in a position to care anyway." (That's the introduction to the "The First Computers: History and Architecture" collection from 2000). ENIAC got the metaphorical trophy for "first general purpose electronic digital computer" in its original 1945 configuration whereas EDSAC went home with the award for "first practical stored program computer." .. Williams also noted that, "If you add enough adjectives to a description you can always claim your own favorite. For example ENIAC is often claimed to be the 'first electronic, general purpose, large scale, digital computer' and you certainly have to add all those adjectives before you have a correct statement." In our own work we argue that the history is somewhat more complicated than can be captured by those "first [adjective] [adjective] [adjective] computer" phrases, but that doesn't mean that "general purpose" and "stored program" can be conflated. People who care about "firsts" also need to take care with those adjectives. Best wishes, Tom -----Original Message----- From: members-bounces(a)sigcis.org [mailto:members-bounces@sigcis.org] On Behalf Of Brian Randell Sent: Thursday, November 27, 2014 4:50 AM To: Sigcis Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] EDSAC display opens & commissioning begins Hi: > EDSAC display opens & commissioning begins > > Entrepreneur Hermann Hauser has officially opened the EDSAC display at The National Museum of Computing and, as key parts of the reconstruction of one the most influential computers ever built were commissioned, the sights, sounds, heat and sheer size of computing in the late 1940s were brought to life. Already the machine is proving to be a very popular exhibit and is a marvel and an inspiration to visiting educational groups. > > EDSAC, the Electronic Delay Storage Automatic Calculator, was originally built in the University of Cambridge immediately after World War II by a team led by Sir Maurice Wilkes. It was the first practical general purpose computer and marked the beginning of computer programming as a distinct profession. EDSAC was so successful that it was used in Nobel prize-winning scientific research and its design was later developed to create LEO, the world's first business computer. > > After two years of research and re-engineering by a team of about 20 volunteers, the EDSAC reconstruction is now becoming a reality that is already fascinating visitors to the Museum. > > At the official opening of the exhibit, several key elements of EDSAC were demonstrated. Bill Purvis showed how a program would be input before the advent of keyboards and how the result would be output before screens became commonplace. Peter Linnington revealed how, at the start of the computer age, delay lines were used as stores. As the climax, Chris Burton switched on the EDSAC clock, the beating heart of the machine. > > The three-year project is on schedule for completion late next year and computer historian Martin Campbell-Kelly gave a preview of what is in store by outlining the importance of EDSAC in marking the beginnings of computer programming. He revealed plans for young people to create and run their own programs on one of the world's most influential early computers. <snip> Full story at: <http://www.tnmoc.org/news/news-releases/edsac-display-opens-and-commissioni ng-begins> http://www.tnmoc.org/news/news-releases/edsac-display-opens-and-commissionin g-begins Cheers Brian Randell School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU EMAIL = <mailto:Brian.Randell@ncl.ac.uk> Brian.Randell(a)ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 208 7923 URL = <http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/staff/profile/brian.randell> http://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/staff/profile/brian.randell _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from <mailto:members@sigcis.org> members(a)sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at <http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/> http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription options at <http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members> http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members

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