History of Computing: Learning from the Past

History of Computing: Learning from the Past Why is the history of computing important? Given that the computer, as we now know it, came into existence less than 70 years ago it might seem a little odd to some people that we are concerned with its history. Isn't history about 'old things'? Computing, of course, goes back much further than 70 years with many earlier - vices rightly being known as computers, and their history is, of course, important. It is only the history of electronic digital computers that is relatively recent. History is often justified by use of a quote from George Santayana who famously said that: 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it'. It is arguable whether there are particular mistakes in the history of computing that we should avoid in the future, but there is some circularity in this question, as the only way we will know the answer to this is to study our history. This book contains papers on a wide range of topics relating to the history of c- puting, written both by historians and also by those who were involved in creating this history. The papers are the result of an international conference on the History of Computing that was held as a part of the IFIP World Computer Congress in Brisbane in September 2010.

Inhalt

Connections in the History of Australian Computing.- Why the Real Thing Is Essential for Telling Our Stories.- Wonder, Sorcery, and Technology: Contribute to the History of Medieval Robotics.- Andrew D. Booth - Britain's Other "Fourth Man".- The Many Dimensions of Kristen Nygaard, Creator of Object-Oriented Programming and the Scandinavian School of System Development.- Projects and Activities of the IPSJ Computer History Committee.- Contested Histories: De-mythologising the Early History of Modern British Computing.- 50 Years Ago We Constructed the First Hungarian Tube Computer, the M-3: Short Stories from the History of the First Hungarian Computer (1957-1960).- Anatoly Kitov - Pioneer of Russian Informatics.- Materiel Command and the Materiality of Commands: An Historical Examination of the US Air Force, Control Data Corporation, and the Advanced Logistics System.- Purpose-Built Educational Computers in the 1980s: The Australian Experience.- And They Were Thinking? Basic, Logo, Personality and Pedagogy.- The Life and Growth of Year 12 Computing in Victoria: An Ecological Model.- History of the European Computer Driving Licence.- A Brief History of the Pick Environment in Australia.- Turning Points in Computer Education.- Existence Precedes Essence - Meaning of the Stored-Program Concept.- Recession, S-Curves and Digital Equipment Corporation.- ETHICS: The Past, Present and Future of Socio-Technical Systems Design.- Lessons from Discarded Computer Architectures.- The Birth of Information Systems.- The Monash University Museum of Computing History: Ten Years On.