Ever since I was a kid I've been interested in the history of computers. When I was aged ten or eleven I would try to buy an issue of a pretty serious hobbyist magazine using my pocket money every two weeks. Each issue was a part of a series that would make two really heavy books. (I couldn't afford to buy very many of the issues, of course... I didn't have enough pocket money!)
In these magazines I remember seeing these old black and white pictures of a machine called ENIAC and reading about very early computers such as the Manchester Baby and the work of Zuse in Berlin, Germany. These old pictures and articles have always stuck in my mind. The past, to me, was interesting. It was, in some way, another world that was there to be be explored.
This is the first of a series of two blog posts of a conference I recently attended at the Science Museum, London, on the subject of the history of computing between 17 and 18 June 2013. More information about this conference is available through the conference website where you can find copies of the papers and presentations. Google have also posted a page about the conference on their Google Europe blog.
My attendance at the conference occurred as a result of a random chat with one of the organisers about an old computer company called Elliott which once had its headquarters not too far from where I live. This sounds like a random conversation - and it certainly was! But I'm very glad it happened.
What I hope to do with these blog posts is to (briefly) summarise each the presentations (this is something that I do for myself from time to time, to help me to remember what happened). One disclaimer is that I'll be picking up on the things that I personally found of interest, and I obviously can't do justice to every excellent presentation.
This said, I do hope to provide some links to some of the resources that some of the speakers mentioned, which I hope will be useful to fellow delegates, researchers and students alike. A final disclaimer is that I'm only going to mention the names of the presenters who gave each talk (even though there were many other contributors) and that there's also a strong possibility that I may well inadvertently misrepresent or misunderstand things. If I have done this (and you find this blog), then please do correct me by making a comment below.
Opening
The event was opened by Tilly Blythe, Keeper of Technologies and Engineering at the Science Museum, Arthur Tatnall, chair of the IFIP (IFIP website) WP9.7 History of Computing group, and Lynette Webb from Google. Tilly spoke about some of the objectives that relate both to the conference and to the Science Museum. These include the need to understand the audience and attract their attention, the use of compelling and engaging stories and the importance of objects that can inspire awe and wonder.
Session: The importance of storytelling in museums
Exhibiting the on-line world: Marc Weber
The first formal presentation of the day was by Marc Weber, who did a great job. One point that I've made a note of is that it is very easy to overlook the fact that technology has a rich and detailed history. There is always a back story.
Marc introduced us all to the idea of a hierarchy of exhibitability. I immediately grasped what he meant: some items (or ideas) can be immediately understood and appreciated, whereas others can be difficult to present and grasp. Exhibits can range from the personal and visual to exhibits that aim to present abstract ideas. A lot of computing can be, by its nature, pretty abstract. One way to get over this is to present concepts and ideas using computer screens - but could we do better than presenting information on large glowing rectangles? How could we exhibit networking, for example?
One approach is to display physical artefacts, such as an original Interface Message Processor (Wikipedia) alongside current devices such as Cisco routers. The challenge of exposing and exhibiting the internet to visitor 'is like trying to display the wind'. The question about creating an exhibit about the internet reminds me of how everything (in terms of ideas, as well as devices) is connected. To understand the history of computing we also need to understand the history of other aspects of technology, such as the history of telecommunications, for instance.
Narrative in the History of Computing: Tilly Blyth
I can remember the first time I visited the Science Museum computing gallery. There was an actor who played the role of Charles Babbage. He actor walked up to me and started to enthusiastically talk about his work. Since I was then a shy twelve year old, I was having none of it - I just wanted to look at the exhibits; I was mildly traumatised by the actor's enthusiasm and he left demoralised. Not quite an indelible scar, but an interesting memory that reflects one really interest approach that museums can take to make their collections come alive.
Tilly spoke (amongst lots of other things) about different approaches to exhibitions. One of the problems with the chronological approach, presenting a gradual (and natural) progression from the past to the present, is that it suggests a degree of inevitability, or technological determinism. A challenge with this approach is that this doesn't take into account the wider social issues and circumstances that brought about technological innovation and development. Another point is that innovation happens in fits and starts, and there are many dead ends. It's also the case that people remember stories, and one way to help with this is that the stories of people are important.
Tilly also spoke about the current exhibition about Alan Turing that celebrates his contributions and life, whilst also exhibiting a number of related artefacts. This story telling or biographical approach strikes me as one that is understandable and compelling.
I didn't know about this, but there is going to be a new Information Age gallery. (You can learn more about this through Tilly's blog). The gallery will expose, examine and celebrate, subjects through the eyes of those that were affected. It will cover key communication technologies such as cable, broadcast, satellite, web and cell (radio) technology. According to my roughly scribbled notes, it will feature something about the first communications cable that went across the Atlantic and will feature oral histories and video presentations.
At the centre of the exhibition will be something called the Rugby Tuning coil which was once used for transmission of very low frequency signals to submarines. Such an object can connect to important subjects such as information theory and transmission. After seeing a photograph of the coil I can assert that it is a striking and arresting object. It appears to be one of those artefacts that is beautiful in not only its physical construction, but also in the sense that its design embodies the principles of technology that it utilities.
I've made a note that Tilly mentioned that there will be a series of stories. There will be stories about the first information machines, such as Tommy Flowers and his role developing the Collosus, and the development of the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) which is considered to be the first commercial computer in the world. I understand that there will be something about the birth of computer networks. A third story relates to the global information space, and a fourth is about computers for users (and being a tutor on a human-computer interaction module, this is a subject close to my heart).
Tilly's talk emphasised that narratives can connect places, ideas and artefacts, through people. When it comes to exhibitions and artefacts, a key objective is to creating resonance and wonder. I, for one, am looking forward to visiting the new gallery when it is opened.
Making history relevant through education and experience: Arthur Tatnall
I seem to remember that Arthur began with some questions: 'why should we be interested? What questions comes to mind when se see an old mainframe? What can we do to make artefacts relevant and important? What difference did it make to people's lives at the time?' These are all great questions.
Linking back to an earlier presentation, there are (of course), a number of different streams that are important, such as mathematics, technologies for automation and control, technologies for information processing, communication technologies. Interestingly, Arthur mentioned something called Actor-network theory (Wikipedia). This was a theory that I hadn't heard of before, and having an interest in the social sciences, this is something that I'll be certainly taking the time to look at. In essence, the theory seems to be about the interaction between people and things.
Arthur also introduces some really important issues, such as, how do we preserve software? (This is a question which crops up a number of different times throughout this conference). There is, of course, the question of how we might convey the importance and relevance of software to visitors. One approach might be to make use of guides to make the exhibits come alive (as long as they don't scare away any of the visitors, of course!)
Session: Key collections and the future plans
Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum: Jochen Viehoff
I never knew this, but apparently the Heinz Nixdorf computer museum is one of the largest of its kind in the world. We were told that the museum has a total of one and a half thousand objects. These range from very early mechanical calculating machines, such as those designed by Pascal and Liebnitz and also include objects that relate to the early history of telecommunications and telegraphy, such as an early machine by Samuel Morse.
Exhibits include a reconstruction of a Hollerith machine (Wikipedia) (which is an important part of the story of the IBM computer company) and different mechanical constructions and representations of the theoretically important Turing machine (Wikipedia).
By the end of the presentation I felt that this was one museum that I would certainly like to visit. The challenge (as emphasised by Jochen) is that it might be quite difficult to find as we were told that the town of Paderborn, where the museum is situated, is not easy to get to. (I was later told that he was exaggerating!)
Computers' Collection at the Polytechnic Museum: Marina Smolevitskaya
I never knew that there were so many museums that were collecting computing related artefacts! During one of the breaks, I later found out that there was a completely new computer museum opening in Cambridge (I look forward to learning more). Marina, however, briefly talked about her work at the Polytechnical Museum (Wikipedia), Moscow, Russia. The computing collection was founded in the 1960s and now consists of 800 objects and 2000 documents.
Session: Expanding the audience for computing history
The Case of Computing: Gauthier van den Hove
Students who learn mathematics and computing don't (it was stated) tend to learn much history. This said, there are some exceptions - there are courses in the history of mathematics, and there are some lecturers (some of them who came to this conference) who teach the history of computing.
Gauthier drew our attention to the differences between historical disciplines, such as the humanities (where history plays an important and central role), and ahistorical disciplines, which could be considered as more technical subjects. I'm not so sure whether things are as clear cut as this, but I understand the point that is being made. I've also noted down that Gauthier says that one of the dangers is anachronism. For example, it is very easy to view the past through the glasses or spectacles of the present; we can very readily take for granted what we know. (This connects to the earlier points about technological determinism and that it is difficult to see the rich histories underpinning the technologies that we use on a day to day basis).
There are two really nice quotes that I've made a note of. These are: 'one of the main tasks of a historian is to identify the main facts to help us to remember the past' and, 'the past is a source of inspiration for the present'. Another thought regarding the role of a historian is that their role is about identifying stories too, and that everyone is situated within a unique historical context. When we consider the past, we need to consider the present too (and the relationship that we have with it).
The Mundaneum: Delphine Jenart
Delphine Jenart introduced something that I had never heard of before: the Mundaneum (Wikipedia). In some ways, the Mundaneum, which is strongly connected to the subject of documentation science, can be associated with more recent ideas, such as Vannevar Bush's famous article As we may think (Wikipedia).
The take away points that I took from Delphine's presentation was the importance of press coverage and exposure, which connects with the thought that there are many different ways to connect with a wider audience and emphasise relevance. More information about this can be uncovered by visiting the Mundaneum website.
Resurrecting Ukraine's computing heritage: Lynette Webb and Marina Tarasova
I was about half way through my doctoral research in the late 1990s when I stumbled across a paper in the Communications of ACM (perhaps the most prestigious computing journal there is) that had absolutely nothing at all to do with my research. It was a paper that really grabbed my attention. It was all about the design and development of computers in the Soviet era.
One of the challenges that I faced as a research student was that there were so many different things that I found interesting. I spent a day or so reading and re-reading the paper before deciding that I had better put this to one side and get on with my main research before I got carried away - but this reminded me of my long-running interest in the old and the historical. The paper presented a perspective and a social history that was very different to the one that I had read about in the computer magazines that I used to buy as a school kid. I remembered all these things during Lynette and Marina's presentation.
Lynette talked about the connection with Google, and how this led to interviews and newspaper articles. Some important points (in terms of exposing a computing related subject to the media) included the use of stories, anecdotes, anniversaries, photos and videos - all help to create a compelling and interesting picture. Also, for those who are interested, there's a website entitled History of Computing in Ukraine. It's pretty interactive and contains some cracking pictures.
Session: Spotlight on research projects
The Konrad Zuse internet archive project: Christian Burchard
Christian Burchard introduced the Konrad Zuse internet archive project. Not only did Christian talk about the archive (and how researchers might use to explore and study documents), but he also told us about a number of other resources exhibits and resources. He also mentioned the reconstruction of the Z1 machine and associated on-line resources, such as a way to view the different components of the machine, and a demonstration of how it works.
As an aside, I understand that the Science Museum is hoping to make their archive of Babbage documents available to anyone who might be interested.
The Monads project: Chris Avram
Innovation and developments in early computing occurred at many different places at the same time. Universities played a significant role in shaping and developing early digital hardware and software. It is, perhaps, little surprise that universities have become unexpected custodians of machine of the past.
Chris Avram spoke of the preservation of computing at Monash University,Australia, and treated us to a number of interesting anecdotes regarding the use of punched cards and paper clips. He also introduced us to the Monads computer, which was developed in collaboration with partners in Germany. This went some way to reminding me that each institution has its own technical history which needs to be cared for.
Session: Integrating history with computer science education
Using old computers for teaching computer science: Giocanni Cignoni
There is a very compelling argument that some old things are simpler and are therefore easier to understand. Old computers and technology opens up a range of different opportunities when it comes to teaching. Instead of being impossibly miniaturised, circuits that do essential things are exposed, allowing ideas and principles to be potentially more readily understood.
Giocanni told us about early Italian computers. Just as each university has its own history, there is also a wider history that connects with and related to individual countries (and groups of countries). Another aspect to computing education is that simulations of early systems can expose the detail about how they could be operated. Giocanni told us about the HMR project (pdf copy of presentation). A simulator could be used to emphasise the difficulties, but also enable the fundamentals and the inherent complexity of devices to become more tangible.
Is there a future in the Past: Chris Monk
Chris is learning co-ordinator at the national museum of computing at Bletchley Park, which isn't too far from the Open University campus. Visitors from schools are very welcome to visit the museum. Not only can visitors be fascinated by the various galleries and exhibits, but Chris also runs 'learning to program' or coding sessions on a cluster of BBC Model B (Wikipedia) computers. I visited this learning space a couple of years ago, and it reminded me of a couple of classrooms in my old school.
Chris commented that some learners can become very enthusiastic about the programming activities and even go as far ask asking where they might be able to buy one of these old computers. In such cases, students are directed to more modern resources, such as emulators. A quick internet search (I couldn't resist...) reveals a wealth of resources.
The museum has seen an increase in visitor numbers in recent years. An interesting point to note is that there is an apparent (and significant) gender imbalance, with boys outnumbering girls to a ratio of 30:1. During Chris's talk, I've also made a note of a site (or a project) called Young Rewired State that aims to inspire the next generation of coders and developers.
In some respects, old machines or devices reflect the times in which they were built and used. Chris asked the interesting question, which is: 'will the word computer still exist in ten years?', when devices are disappearing into our clothes and into our environment.
Apparently, computing pioneer Grace Hopper once said, 'computing without a past is just a subject, not a science'. A thought (or point) emerging from this session is that it is incredibly easy to get thoroughly absorbed into the here and now.
Bringing relevance to computing courses through history: John Impagliazzo
I've made the following notes during John's talk: history broadens outlook, it helps us to look beyond the machine and can help us to think critically. History helps to make the discipline mature, yet it's only done on the fringe. In which faculty should a historian of computing or technology sit? Should it sit within the history or the computing department?
John also mentions the importance of corporate history. Whilst a lot of the very early developments took place within universities (or organisations that are closely connected to universities in one way or another), more recent developments have obviously and undeniably taken place in the industrial sector. An example of this might be the history of Control Data Corporation (Wikipedia). (As a brief aside, John also mentioned the Charles Babbage Institute, which is a centre for the history of information technology at the University of Minnesota).
I've also made the note of the following question: 'are teachers of technology conversant with the history of the technology that they teach?' His point is that we're much more able to remember a story than a logical argument (or a bunch of abstract ideas). Knowing a bit of history is good for the teachers, which means that it's good for our students too.
Adapting, rather than re-inventing the wheel: Martha Crosby
The final presentation of the day was by Martha Crosby, who had travelled to the conference from the University of Hawaii, a university that has its own unique place in the history of computing and digital communications. If you're interested in this aspect of computing history, the detail about ALOHANet (Wikipedia) is pretty interesting - it was something that kept me occupied as an undergrad.
Martha took us on a very quick tour of various milestones, whilst making the point that history adds to your toolbox in terms. She touched on history of IBM, the development of the Harvard Mark 1, the ENIAC computer, the work by Zuse, and the Altair (one of the first personal computers). Interestingly, Martha also touched upon the subject of programming languages, which has its own history that hasn't been discussed as much.
I've taken a note of a great quotation, which goes: 'the history of computing is the history of human kind's creativity and ingenuity which is why we should hold onto it forever' which I believe might have been attributed to Jason Scott (Blog). (Searching the source of this quote led me to this very interesting software archive (Archive.org) - which also seems to be a repository of software).
A final point is that ideas in computing are very often adaptations of ideas that already exist. Understanding the trajectory of their development and combination is one way to understand the present.
Evening event: Alan Turing's Life and Legacy
By the end of first day, my head was beginning to ache, big time. It was a full on day, which took everyone to the pre-history of computing and back. We even (briefly) went back as far as 100 BC, before returning (close) to the present day to the origins of the personal computer and the internet.
After an hours break, we found ourselves exploring a gallery in the Science Museum about the life of Alan Turing. There were exhibits that I had never seen before, such as the ACE Computer (Wikipedia).
Making the history of computing relevant : Day 1
Ever since I was a kid I've been interested in the history of computers. When I was aged ten or eleven I would try to buy an issue of a pretty serious hobbyist magazine using my pocket money every two weeks. Each issue was a part of a series that would make two really heavy books. (I couldn't afford to buy very many of the issues, of course... I didn't have enough pocket money!)
In these magazines I remember seeing these old black and white pictures of a machine called ENIAC and reading about very early computers such as the Manchester Baby and the work of Zuse in Berlin, Germany. These old pictures and articles have always stuck in my mind. The past, to me, was interesting. It was, in some way, another world that was there to be be explored.
This is the first of a series of two blog posts of a conference I recently attended at the Science Museum, London, on the subject of the history of computing between 17 and 18 June 2013. More information about this conference is available through the conference website where you can find copies of the papers and presentations. Google have also posted a page about the conference on their Google Europe blog.
My attendance at the conference occurred as a result of a random chat with one of the organisers about an old computer company called Elliott which once had its headquarters not too far from where I live. This sounds like a random conversation - and it certainly was! But I'm very glad it happened.
What I hope to do with these blog posts is to (briefly) summarise each the presentations (this is something that I do for myself from time to time, to help me to remember what happened). One disclaimer is that I'll be picking up on the things that I personally found of interest, and I obviously can't do justice to every excellent presentation.
This said, I do hope to provide some links to some of the resources that some of the speakers mentioned, which I hope will be useful to fellow delegates, researchers and students alike. A final disclaimer is that I'm only going to mention the names of the presenters who gave each talk (even though there were many other contributors) and that there's also a strong possibility that I may well inadvertently misrepresent or misunderstand things. If I have done this (and you find this blog), then please do correct me by making a comment below.
Opening
The event was opened by Tilly Blythe, Keeper of Technologies and Engineering at the Science Museum, Arthur Tatnall, chair of the IFIP (IFIP website) WP9.7 History of Computing group, and Lynette Webb from Google. Tilly spoke about some of the objectives that relate both to the conference and to the Science Museum. These include the need to understand the audience and attract their attention, the use of compelling and engaging stories and the importance of objects that can inspire awe and wonder.
Session: The importance of storytelling in museums
Exhibiting the on-line world: Marc Weber
The first formal presentation of the day was by Marc Weber, who did a great job. One point that I've made a note of is that it is very easy to overlook the fact that technology has a rich and detailed history. There is always a back story.
Marc introduced us all to the idea of a hierarchy of exhibitability. I immediately grasped what he meant: some items (or ideas) can be immediately understood and appreciated, whereas others can be difficult to present and grasp. Exhibits can range from the personal and visual to exhibits that aim to present abstract ideas. A lot of computing can be, by its nature, pretty abstract. One way to get over this is to present concepts and ideas using computer screens - but could we do better than presenting information on large glowing rectangles? How could we exhibit networking, for example?
One approach is to display physical artefacts, such as an original Interface Message Processor (Wikipedia) alongside current devices such as Cisco routers. The challenge of exposing and exhibiting the internet to visitor 'is like trying to display the wind'. The question about creating an exhibit about the internet reminds me of how everything (in terms of ideas, as well as devices) is connected. To understand the history of computing we also need to understand the history of other aspects of technology, such as the history of telecommunications, for instance.
Narrative in the History of Computing: Tilly Blyth
I can remember the first time I visited the Science Museum computing gallery. There was an actor who played the role of Charles Babbage. He actor walked up to me and started to enthusiastically talk about his work. Since I was then a shy twelve year old, I was having none of it - I just wanted to look at the exhibits; I was mildly traumatised by the actor's enthusiasm and he left demoralised. Not quite an indelible scar, but an interesting memory that reflects one really interest approach that museums can take to make their collections come alive.
Tilly spoke (amongst lots of other things) about different approaches to exhibitions. One of the problems with the chronological approach, presenting a gradual (and natural) progression from the past to the present, is that it suggests a degree of inevitability, or technological determinism. A challenge with this approach is that this doesn't take into account the wider social issues and circumstances that brought about technological innovation and development. Another point is that innovation happens in fits and starts, and there are many dead ends. It's also the case that people remember stories, and one way to help with this is that the stories of people are important.
Tilly also spoke about the current exhibition about Alan Turing that celebrates his contributions and life, whilst also exhibiting a number of related artefacts. This story telling or biographical approach strikes me as one that is understandable and compelling.
I didn't know about this, but there is going to be a new Information Age gallery. (You can learn more about this through Tilly's blog). The gallery will expose, examine and celebrate, subjects through the eyes of those that were affected. It will cover key communication technologies such as cable, broadcast, satellite, web and cell (radio) technology. According to my roughly scribbled notes, it will feature something about the first communications cable that went across the Atlantic and will feature oral histories and video presentations.
At the centre of the exhibition will be something called the Rugby Tuning coil which was once used for transmission of very low frequency signals to submarines. Such an object can connect to important subjects such as information theory and transmission. After seeing a photograph of the coil I can assert that it is a striking and arresting object. It appears to be one of those artefacts that is beautiful in not only its physical construction, but also in the sense that its design embodies the principles of technology that it utilities.
I've made a note that Tilly mentioned that there will be a series of stories. There will be stories about the first information machines, such as Tommy Flowers and his role developing the Collosus, and the development of the Lyons Electronic Office (LEO) which is considered to be the first commercial computer in the world. I understand that there will be something about the birth of computer networks. A third story relates to the global information space, and a fourth is about computers for users (and being a tutor on a human-computer interaction module, this is a subject close to my heart).
Tilly's talk emphasised that narratives can connect places, ideas and artefacts, through people. When it comes to exhibitions and artefacts, a key objective is to creating resonance and wonder. I, for one, am looking forward to visiting the new gallery when it is opened.
Making history relevant through education and experience: Arthur Tatnall
I seem to remember that Arthur began with some questions: 'why should we be interested? What questions comes to mind when se see an old mainframe? What can we do to make artefacts relevant and important? What difference did it make to people's lives at the time?' These are all great questions.
Linking back to an earlier presentation, there are (of course), a number of different streams that are important, such as mathematics, technologies for automation and control, technologies for information processing, communication technologies. Interestingly, Arthur mentioned something called Actor-network theory (Wikipedia). This was a theory that I hadn't heard of before, and having an interest in the social sciences, this is something that I'll be certainly taking the time to look at. In essence, the theory seems to be about the interaction between people and things.
Arthur also introduces some really important issues, such as, how do we preserve software? (This is a question which crops up a number of different times throughout this conference). There is, of course, the question of how we might convey the importance and relevance of software to visitors. One approach might be to make use of guides to make the exhibits come alive (as long as they don't scare away any of the visitors, of course!)
Session: Key collections and the future plans
Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum: Jochen Viehoff
I never knew this, but apparently the Heinz Nixdorf computer museum is one of the largest of its kind in the world. We were told that the museum has a total of one and a half thousand objects. These range from very early mechanical calculating machines, such as those designed by Pascal and Liebnitz and also include objects that relate to the early history of telecommunications and telegraphy, such as an early machine by Samuel Morse.
Exhibits include a reconstruction of a Hollerith machine (Wikipedia) (which is an important part of the story of the IBM computer company) and different mechanical constructions and representations of the theoretically important Turing machine (Wikipedia).
By the end of the presentation I felt that this was one museum that I would certainly like to visit. The challenge (as emphasised by Jochen) is that it might be quite difficult to find as we were told that the town of Paderborn, where the museum is situated, is not easy to get to. (I was later told that he was exaggerating!)
Computers' Collection at the Polytechnic Museum: Marina Smolevitskaya
I never knew that there were so many museums that were collecting computing related artefacts! During one of the breaks, I later found out that there was a completely new computer museum opening in Cambridge (I look forward to learning more). Marina, however, briefly talked about her work at the Polytechnical Museum (Wikipedia), Moscow, Russia. The computing collection was founded in the 1960s and now consists of 800 objects and 2000 documents.
Session: Expanding the audience for computing history
The Case of Computing: Gauthier van den Hove
Students who learn mathematics and computing don't (it was stated) tend to learn much history. This said, there are some exceptions - there are courses in the history of mathematics, and there are some lecturers (some of them who came to this conference) who teach the history of computing.
Gauthier drew our attention to the differences between historical disciplines, such as the humanities (where history plays an important and central role), and ahistorical disciplines, which could be considered as more technical subjects. I'm not so sure whether things are as clear cut as this, but I understand the point that is being made. I've also noted down that Gauthier says that one of the dangers is anachronism. For example, it is very easy to view the past through the glasses or spectacles of the present; we can very readily take for granted what we know. (This connects to the earlier points about technological determinism and that it is difficult to see the rich histories underpinning the technologies that we use on a day to day basis).
There are two really nice quotes that I've made a note of. These are: 'one of the main tasks of a historian is to identify the main facts to help us to remember the past' and, 'the past is a source of inspiration for the present'. Another thought regarding the role of a historian is that their role is about identifying stories too, and that everyone is situated within a unique historical context. When we consider the past, we need to consider the present too (and the relationship that we have with it).
The Mundaneum: Delphine Jenart
Delphine Jenart introduced something that I had never heard of before: the Mundaneum (Wikipedia). In some ways, the Mundaneum, which is strongly connected to the subject of documentation science, can be associated with more recent ideas, such as Vannevar Bush's famous article As we may think (Wikipedia).
The take away points that I took from Delphine's presentation was the importance of press coverage and exposure, which connects with the thought that there are many different ways to connect with a wider audience and emphasise relevance. More information about this can be uncovered by visiting the Mundaneum website.
Resurrecting Ukraine's computing heritage: Lynette Webb and Marina Tarasova
I was about half way through my doctoral research in the late 1990s when I stumbled across a paper in the Communications of ACM (perhaps the most prestigious computing journal there is) that had absolutely nothing at all to do with my research. It was a paper that really grabbed my attention. It was all about the design and development of computers in the Soviet era.
One of the challenges that I faced as a research student was that there were so many different things that I found interesting. I spent a day or so reading and re-reading the paper before deciding that I had better put this to one side and get on with my main research before I got carried away - but this reminded me of my long-running interest in the old and the historical. The paper presented a perspective and a social history that was very different to the one that I had read about in the computer magazines that I used to buy as a school kid. I remembered all these things during Lynette and Marina's presentation.
Lynette talked about the connection with Google, and how this led to interviews and newspaper articles. Some important points (in terms of exposing a computing related subject to the media) included the use of stories, anecdotes, anniversaries, photos and videos - all help to create a compelling and interesting picture. Also, for those who are interested, there's a website entitled History of Computing in Ukraine. It's pretty interactive and contains some cracking pictures.
Session: Spotlight on research projects
The Konrad Zuse internet archive project: Christian Burchard
Christian Burchard introduced the Konrad Zuse internet archive project. Not only did Christian talk about the archive (and how researchers might use to explore and study documents), but he also told us about a number of other resources exhibits and resources. He also mentioned the reconstruction of the Z1 machine and associated on-line resources, such as a way to view the different components of the machine, and a demonstration of how it works.
As an aside, I understand that the Science Museum is hoping to make their archive of Babbage documents available to anyone who might be interested.
The Monads project: Chris Avram
Innovation and developments in early computing occurred at many different places at the same time. Universities played a significant role in shaping and developing early digital hardware and software. It is, perhaps, little surprise that universities have become unexpected custodians of machine of the past.
Chris Avram spoke of the preservation of computing at Monash University,Australia, and treated us to a number of interesting anecdotes regarding the use of punched cards and paper clips. He also introduced us to the Monads computer, which was developed in collaboration with partners in Germany. This went some way to reminding me that each institution has its own technical history which needs to be cared for.
Session: Integrating history with computer science education
Using old computers for teaching computer science: Giocanni Cignoni
There is a very compelling argument that some old things are simpler and are therefore easier to understand. Old computers and technology opens up a range of different opportunities when it comes to teaching. Instead of being impossibly miniaturised, circuits that do essential things are exposed, allowing ideas and principles to be potentially more readily understood.
Giocanni told us about early Italian computers. Just as each university has its own history, there is also a wider history that connects with and related to individual countries (and groups of countries). Another aspect to computing education is that simulations of early systems can expose the detail about how they could be operated. Giocanni told us about the HMR project (pdf copy of presentation). A simulator could be used to emphasise the difficulties, but also enable the fundamentals and the inherent complexity of devices to become more tangible.
Is there a future in the Past: Chris Monk
Chris is learning co-ordinator at the national museum of computing at Bletchley Park, which isn't too far from the Open University campus. Visitors from schools are very welcome to visit the museum. Not only can visitors be fascinated by the various galleries and exhibits, but Chris also runs 'learning to program' or coding sessions on a cluster of BBC Model B (Wikipedia) computers. I visited this learning space a couple of years ago, and it reminded me of a couple of classrooms in my old school.
Chris commented that some learners can become very enthusiastic about the programming activities and even go as far ask asking where they might be able to buy one of these old computers. In such cases, students are directed to more modern resources, such as emulators. A quick internet search (I couldn't resist...) reveals a wealth of resources.
The museum has seen an increase in visitor numbers in recent years. An interesting point to note is that there is an apparent (and significant) gender imbalance, with boys outnumbering girls to a ratio of 30:1. During Chris's talk, I've also made a note of a site (or a project) called Young Rewired State that aims to inspire the next generation of coders and developers.
In some respects, old machines or devices reflect the times in which they were built and used. Chris asked the interesting question, which is: 'will the word computer still exist in ten years?', when devices are disappearing into our clothes and into our environment.
Apparently, computing pioneer Grace Hopper once said, 'computing without a past is just a subject, not a science'. A thought (or point) emerging from this session is that it is incredibly easy to get thoroughly absorbed into the here and now.
Bringing relevance to computing courses through history: John Impagliazzo
I've made the following notes during John's talk: history broadens outlook, it helps us to look beyond the machine and can help us to think critically. History helps to make the discipline mature, yet it's only done on the fringe. In which faculty should a historian of computing or technology sit? Should it sit within the history or the computing department?
John also mentions the importance of corporate history. Whilst a lot of the very early developments took place within universities (or organisations that are closely connected to universities in one way or another), more recent developments have obviously and undeniably taken place in the industrial sector. An example of this might be the history of Control Data Corporation (Wikipedia). (As a brief aside, John also mentioned the Charles Babbage Institute, which is a centre for the history of information technology at the University of Minnesota).
I've also made the note of the following question: 'are teachers of technology conversant with the history of the technology that they teach?' His point is that we're much more able to remember a story than a logical argument (or a bunch of abstract ideas). Knowing a bit of history is good for the teachers, which means that it's good for our students too.
Adapting, rather than re-inventing the wheel: Martha Crosby
The final presentation of the day was by Martha Crosby, who had travelled to the conference from the University of Hawaii, a university that has its own unique place in the history of computing and digital communications. If you're interested in this aspect of computing history, the detail about ALOHANet (Wikipedia) is pretty interesting - it was something that kept me occupied as an undergrad.
Martha took us on a very quick tour of various milestones, whilst making the point that history adds to your toolbox in terms. She touched on history of IBM, the development of the Harvard Mark 1, the ENIAC computer, the work by Zuse, and the Altair (one of the first personal computers). Interestingly, Martha also touched upon the subject of programming languages, which has its own history that hasn't been discussed as much.
I've taken a note of a great quotation, which goes: 'the history of computing is the history of human kind's creativity and ingenuity which is why we should hold onto it forever' which I believe might have been attributed to Jason Scott (Blog). (Searching the source of this quote led me to this very interesting software archive (Archive.org) - which also seems to be a repository of software).
A final point is that ideas in computing are very often adaptations of ideas that already exist. Understanding the trajectory of their development and combination is one way to understand the present.
Evening event: Alan Turing's Life and Legacy
By the end of first day, my head was beginning to ache, big time. It was a full on day, which took everyone to the pre-history of computing and back. We even (briefly) went back as far as 100 BC, before returning (close) to the present day to the origins of the personal computer and the internet.
After an hours break, we found ourselves exploring a gallery in the Science Museum about the life of Alan Turing. There were exhibits that I had never seen before, such as the ACE Computer (Wikipedia).