CSC103 Questions on Computer History videos

--D. Thiebaut 08:24, 2 March 2011 (EST)

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HANDOUT

A look at the history of computing: two different dimensions

Video 1

• Babbage and his Difference Engine #2, 1840's

• In this video, did you hear any expressions mentioned in the videos that has stuck throughout the times?

• What attributes are given to Babbage's computer that are still debated today?

• What similarity between Babbage's engine and today's computers?

Video 2

• BBC's History of computers Part I.

• What are the key players in the history of computers?

• What are the key players in the history of computers?

Video 3

• When Computers were Human, by Prof. Grier, 2007. (first 44min 44sec).

• What is the importance of Halley's comet?

• At some point there is a graph showing humans as part of a graph. In what ways do humans contribute to "computation"?

• Have you heard of Amazon's "Mechanical Turk"? What is it? How is that related to the video?

• How are canons connect to the main story?

David Alan Grier, Associate Professor of International Science and Technology Policy and International Affairs, Elliot School of International Affairs. Prof Grier teaches the cornerstone course in the International Science & Technology Policy Program. He has a B.A. in Mathematics from Middlebury College and a Ph.D. in Statistics from the University of Washington in Seattle. He has published extensively on the development of computation and the institutions that support computation in publications ranging from the American Mathematical Monthly to The Washington Post. He has been the Joseph Henry Lecturer at the Washington Philosophical Society. He currently writes the column and blog "The Known World" for IEEE Computer