A tale of 19th Century computer pioneers: one who thought big and would be a superstar today with any luck …. and one who thought small yet whose legacy endures in more subtle ways, after the jump ….
But first: Top Comments appears nightly, as a round-up of the best comments on Daily Kos. Surely ... you come across comments daily that are perceptive, apropos and .. well, perhaps even humorous. But they are more meaningful if they're well-known ... which is where you come in (especially in diaries/stories receiving little attention).Send your nominations to TopComments at gmail dot com by 9:30 PM Eastern Time nightly, or by our KosMail message board. Please indicate (a) why you liked the comment, and (b) your Dkos user name (to properly credit you) as well as a link to the comment itself.
First, some disclaimers about this upcoming diary:
1) I am not a tech person, so this will be a layman’s description (with all that it implies). It is not meant as an expert opinion, and will be oversimplified. It’s purely an overview.
2) This looks at two-three figures from the 19th Century … and thus, necessarily leaves out Alan Turing, the engineers for the ENIAC and other 20th Century pioneers.
3) It focuses, instead, on the 19th Century figures … who, indeed, stood upon the shoulders of those whose work preceded theirs.
4) My aim: to look at two lives and how their fortunes might have turned out ... had luck been with one.
With that ….. first, a look at the Englishman Charles Babbage (1791-1871). In its Millennium issue, The Economist magazine looked at the ten greatest inventions of the millennium (from 1000-1999) and noted the oddity of Charles Babbage being known as the grandfather of computing …. because he was a largely forgotten figure at the time of his death.
Born in London on Boxing Day of 1791, he was considered a mathematical genius and in 1832 completed his Difference Engine— to compile mathematical tables. He had received funding from the British government (at least for a time) and he had the assistance of someone who he first served as a mentor to … then who later described how codes could be created for the device to handle letters and symbols along with numbers. This was Augusta Ada Byron, the daughter of a famous poet: but who achieved fame as Ada Lovelace— a brilliant mathematician and who is widely reckoned to be the world’s first computer programmer: unlike Babbage, her name endured.
The daughter of Lord ByronThis success led Babbage to think really big … and in 1856 to work to develop his Analytical Engine— which could handle any sort of calculation. These were intended to be used by scientists in much the way that specialist supercomputers are today. And had his machine worked …. how the world would have changed! …. and there would be little dispute over who the father of computers would be.
Alas, he was never able to make his Analytical Engine work. He went on to an academic life at Cambridge and held many important posts — yet it was only with the construction of the first electronic computers in the 1940s (by people who were unaware of Babbage's work) that the ground-breaking nature of that work became apparent. As the Charles Babbage Institute (at the University of Minnesota) described his later years:
Despite his many achievements, the failure to construct his calculating machines, and in particular the failure of the government to support his work, left Babbage in his declining years a disappointed and embittered man. Though Babbage's work was continued by his son, Henry Prevost Babbage, after his death in 1871, the Analytical Engine was never successfully completed, and ran only a few "programs" with embarrassingly obvious errors.
In 1991 — the 200th anniversary of his birth — researchers at the Science Museum in London— using the tools available two centuries earlier — were finally able to make Babbage’s machine work. If only ……………..
A young Charles Babbage ... … and later (1791-1871)By contrast, someone whose name is forgotten today — as he thought small in computing, yet was successful in his time — is someone of whom The Economist declared, “Today's computers owe their ancestry not to Babbage but to the work of another 19th-century pioneer”.
Germany went through an unsettling Revolution of 1848-49— which led to a backlash against those seeking a more liberal democratic government — and a married couple who emigrated to the United States afterwards were Professor Georg Hollerith and his wife Franciska, who settled in Buffalo, New York.
Ten years later in 1860, their son Herman Hollerith was born. After graduating from Columbia University, history was made when he tackled a project initiated by his former employer, the US Census Bureau. As The Economist put it:
The results of the 1880 census took seven years to compile—making them out of date by the time they were published. Seats in the House of Representatives were (and are) assigned according to census data. It became apparent that a new way would have to be found to compile the results of the 1890 census, in order to keep up with rapid demographic changes. Indeed, without a new approach ... the 1900 census would already have been under way by the time the 1890 results became available.
The data-processing machine that he developed used a series of punched cards— that those of you (of a certain age) may recall from our youth — and they were made the same size as dollar bills, in order to use existing storage units/cabinets.
They were known as Hollerith Cards for many yearsHis machine competed against two competitors in a Census Bureau test. The other two compiled the data given to them in 55 and 44 hours …… Hollerith’s machine took less than six hours. Awarded the contract for the 1890 Census, his firm tabulated the data in only six weeks, and saved the Census Bureau over $5 million (at 1890 price levels) …. ten times the estimated cost savings. Other countries adopting his system were able to come in on-time and under budget.
His Tabulating Machine Company went on some further successes, yet is not well-remembered today. But what happened later certainly is.
In 1911 Hollerith’s Tabulating Machine Company was merged with the Computing Scale Company of Dayton, Ohio, and the International Time Recording Company to become the Calculating-Tabulating-Recording Company (C-T-R). Hollerith stayed on at C-T-R in a role as consultant until his retirement in 1921. In 1924 C-T-R was renamed the International Business Machines Corporation …... yes, IBM.
Thus, you can draw a line from his 1891 tabulating machines to the development of the IBM mainframe to the 1981 first IBM personal computer. And so while one of the 20th Century’s computer innovators from Germany was Konrad Zuse… it was the son of German immigrants who made a smaller (yet lasting) impression decades earlier.
The young Herman Hollerith And later in life (1860-1929) Let’s close with a tune that has nothing to do with computers — the jazz-rock guitarist Larry Coryell’s 1974 “Low-Lee-Tah” — corny title, and the guitar did overuse the phase shifter — but he and his Eleventh House bandmates delivered. x YouTube Video Now, on to Top Comments:From ZenTrainer:
In the diary by peagreen about a Spokane, Washington’s newspaper phoning-in an endorsement of Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers — I didn't see this until today but boy, I think that WaltK hits the nail on the head, explaining why the Dems are losing the rural vote.Tagged by jan4insight:
In the diary by First Amendment about the defense that HRC made today (on CNN) about the Clinton Foundation— this comment by flycaster is one for which I agree x1000.And from Ed Tracey, your faithful correspondent this evening ........
In the diary by Leslie Salzillo about the Virginia waitress who served a couple, and was thanked by them by writing (in the space for a gratuity), “We only tip citizens”— I like this comment by newreign, who tries to explain the outrage of the couple in question, who believed their (erroneous) assumptions would be received uncritically.And lastly: yesterday's Top Mojo - mega-mojo to the intrepid mik ...... who rescued this feature from oblivion:
1) Good for you, Sadie, (and grandfather). I’m sorr … by MargaretPOA +211 2) That, right there, is what character is all abou … by The Octopus +184 3) They go low, you go high. by rocksout +152 4) I have a confession to make. … by quaoar +149 5) This: … by CwV +140 6) The fact that the woman actually came back to th … by Fletch17C +137 7) “… while he’s taking the shirts right off our ba … by SBParrothead +130 8) Ghouliani has proven himself to be one seriously … by Dartagnan +123 9) The Samuel R. Bowman II Scholarship for Hispanic … by The Octopus +122 10) Literally, makes me sick to my stomach to read t … by inclusiveheart +112 11) The countries of Australia and Norway also donat … by ExpatGirl +111 12) The couple was … was told by the restaurant to n … by niemann +108 13) He can't convince this white guy. I know what he … by Railfan +99 14) Bill Clinton is a Yale-educated lawyer, former G … by ExpatGirl +97 14) Racists never think they’re racist. It’s weird. by SophiesWhirled +97 14) The editorial was hilarious and exactly on target. by Tamar +97 17) I didn’t see this covered here. by Denise Oliver Velez +95 18) Hillary rules. … by bear83 +92 19) Just wow. … by gater2112 +91 19) I am done giving a shit about Hillary's emails a … by soulflower +91 21) I can solve calculus ( well when I was in school … by statsone +90 21) I’ve been watching this too. Until the French/Ge … by Rikon Snow +90 23) Yep. And the level of disclosure offered by the … by KC2669 +88 23) He has a point. We probably wouldn't understand … by Dave G +88 23) Absolutely. Make the Foundation a plus, not a pr … by Dave G +88 23) we’re not going to understand the scope of the p … by wu ming +88 23) They aren’t only smearing the Clintons. They are … by ExpatGirl +88 23) Journalism: It ain’t rocket science. Apparently, … by a gilas girl +88 29) My nephews are of Puerto Rican ancestry on their … by CPT Doom +87 30) My bet is that there are plenty of tax professio … by LearningCurve +86