The History of the ENIAC Computer Updated December 16, 2014. "...With the advent of everyday use of elaborate calculations, speed has become paramount to such a high degree that there is no machine on the market today capable of satisfying the full demand of modern computational methods." - from the ENIAC patent (U.S.#3,120,606) filed on June 26, 1947. The ENIAC I In 1946, John Mauchly and John Presper Eckert developed the ENIAC I (Electrical Numerical Integrator And Calculator). The Ballistics Research Laboratory, or BRL, the branch of the military responsible for calculating the tables, heard about John Mauchly's research at the University of Pennsylvania's Moore School of Electrical Engineering. continue reading below our video Loaded: 0% Progress: 0% John Mauchly had previously created several calculating machines, some with small electric motors inside. Partnership of John Mauchly & John Presper Eckert What Was Inside The ENIAC? Contributions of Doctor John Von Neumann Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation
Ada Lovelace Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace (10 December 1815 – 27 November 1852), born Augusta Ada Byron and now commonly known as Ada Lovelace, was an English mathematician and writer chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. Her notes on the engine include what is recognised as the first algorithm intended to be carried out by a machine. Because of this, she is often described as the world's first computer programmer.[1][2][3] Ada described her approach as "poetical science" and herself as an "Analyst (& Metaphysician)". Biography[edit] Childhood[edit] Ada Lovelace was born Augusta Ada Byron on 10 December 1815, the child of the poet George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, and Anne Isabella "Annabella" Milbanke, Baroness Byron. Ada, aged four On 16 January 1816, Annabella, at George's behest, left for her parents' home at Kirkby Mallory taking one-month-old Ada with her. Ada, aged seventeen, 1832 Adult years[edit] Work[edit]
Jean Sammet | National Center for Women & Information Technology Background Jean E. Sammet is a retired computer scientist and programmer who is best-known for her work on FORMAC, the first widely used general language and system for manipulating nonnumeric algebraic expressions. Sammet supervised the first scientific programming group for Sperry Gyroscope Co. (1955-1958). She joined IBM in 1961 to organize and manage the Boston Programming Center. During the 1970s and 1980s, she worked for IBM’s Federal Systems Division in various positions, emphasizing programming language issues including Ada. Sammet is the author of “PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES: History and Fundamentals,” which became a standard book on its topic, and was called an “instant computer classic” when published in 1969. She was very active in ACM and held many positions including President, Vice-President, Editor-in-Chief of Computing Reviews, General and/or Program Chair for the first two SIGPLAN History of Programming Languages Conferences (HOPL) in 1978 and 1993.
Lord Byron He travelled all over Europe especially in Italy where he lived for seven years and then joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire, for which Greeks revere him as a national hero.[1] He died one year later at age 36 from a fever contracted while in Missolonghi in Greece. Often described as the most flamboyant and notorious of the major Romantics, Byron was celebrated in life for aristocratic excesses, including huge debts, numerous love affairs with both sexes, rumours of a scandalous incestuous liaison with his half-sister, and self-imposed exile.[2] Early life[edit] Byron's paternal grandparents were Vice-Admiral the Hon. He was christened, at St Marylebone Parish Church, "George Gordon Byron" after his maternal grandfather George Gordon of Gight, a descendant of James I of Scotland, who had committed suicide[2] in 1779. Catherine Gordon, Byron's mother Upon the death of Byron's mother-in-law Judith Noel, the Hon. Education and early loves[edit] Ah! Career[edit]
Socialism: Utopian and Scientific (Chpt. 1) Frederick Engels Socialism: Utopian and Scientific I [The Development of Utopian Socialism] Modern Socialism is, in its essence, the direct product of the recognition, on the one hand, of the class antagonisms existing in the society of today between proprietors and non-proprietors, between capitalists and wage-workers; on the other hand, of the anarchy existing in production. But, in its theoretical form, modern Socialism originally appears ostensibly as a more logical extension of the principles laid down by the great French philosophers of the 18th century. Like every new theory, modern Socialism had, at first, to connect itself with the intellectual stock-in-trade ready to its hand, however deeply its roots lay in material economic facts. The great men, who in France prepared men’s minds for the coming revolution, were themselves extreme revolutionists. One thing is common to all three. This historical situation also dominated the founders of Socialism. The answer was clear. Notes 1.
Charles Babbage Charles Babbage, FRS (26 December 1791 – 18 October 1871) was an English polymath.[1] He was a mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer, who is best remembered now for originating the concept of a programmable computer. Considered a "father of the computer",[2] Babbage is credited with inventing the first mechanical computer that eventually led to more complex designs. His varied work in other fields has led him to be described as "pre-eminent" among the many polymaths of his century.[1] Parts of Babbage's uncompleted mechanisms are on display in the London Science Museum. Early life Babbage's birthplace is disputed, but according to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography he was most likely born at 44 Crosby Row, Walworth Road, London, England.[3] A blue plaque on the junction of Larcom Street and Walworth Road commemorates the event.[4] The Illustrated London News (4 November 1871).[8] Babbage was one of four children of Benjamin Babbage and Betsy Plumleigh Teape.
Rediscovering Utopia | Betterhumans > Column "Without a vision the people perish."—Proverbs 29:18 The month in which Islamic terrorists inspired by a utopian vision of a pan-Islamic Sultanate blew up 50 Turks and Britons in Istanbul might seem a strange one in which to argue for the importance of the utopian dimension in politics. But decidedly pragmatic and nonutopian militants are also killing Iraqis and Americans in Baghdad as part of a well-financed resistance to American "liberation." More often, from medieval peasant revolts to Martin Luther King, utopian visions of a freer, more equal and more united future have helped people mobilize against the crushing pragmatic acceptance of day-to-day tyranny and exploitation. Nonetheless, modern conservatives argue that all utopianism leads inexorably to totalitarianism and death camps since utopianism equals Communism, and democratic capitalism was supposedly just the victory of common sense. But is utopianism really so bad? Transhumanist visions Similarly, eco activist J.P.
Mary Shelley Mary Shelley (née Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist, short story writer, dramatist, essayist, biographer, and travel writer, best known for her Gothic novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus (1818). She also edited and promoted the works of her husband, the Romantic poet and philosopher Percy Bysshe Shelley. Her father was the political philosopher William Godwin, and her mother was the philosopher and feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. Mary Godwin's mother died when she was eleven days old; afterwards, she and her older half-sister, Fanny Imlay, were raised by her father. When Mary was four, Godwin married his neighbour, Mary Jane Clairmont. Godwin provided his daughter with a rich, if informal, education, encouraging her to adhere to his liberal political theories. Biography Early life Page from William Godwin's journal recording "Birth of Mary, 20 minutes after 11 at night" (left column, four rows down) Percy Bysshe Shelley
Renaissance Now? - Rushkoff I first posted the embryo of this idea on a bbs called the Well back in 1991 or so. I was wondering, at the time, if recent advances in math, physics, technology and culture constituted a new renaissance. The conversation went on for over a year, and became the basis – or at least an the adjunct – for my book, Cyberia. I still find myself coming back to this notion of renaissance – whether I’m speaking about open source culture or religion. The birth of the Internet era was considered a revolution, by many. I prefer to think of the proliferation of interactive media as an opportunity for renaissance: a moment when we have the opportunity to step out of the story, altogether. Take a look back at what we think of as the original Renaissance – the one we were taught in school. Likewise, calculus – another key renaissance invention – is a mathematical system that allows us to derive one dimension from another. The great Renaissance was a simple leap in perspective.