https://www.joshuaroebke.com/
https://www.joshuaroebke.com/articles/ https://ugs.utexas.edu/tsi/faculty-profiles
“Opinion:
Scoundrels, Saints, and the Fiction of Individual Genius.
In the shadows of every celebrated scientist, there are other contributors who may be more deserving of our adulation.”
Undark, 20 Oct 2020 https://undark.org/2020/10/22/the-fiction-of-individual-genius/
Hi, everybody,
Hope everyone is safe and well.
Here is an article on the importance of looking beyond the mythologies and cults of genius in the history of science and tech.
https://undark.org/2020/10/22/the-fiction-of-individual-genius/
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.
Barbara Walker
Barbara Walker
Associate Professor
Department of History/308
University of Nevada, Reno
Reno NV 89557