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When Computers Were Human

David Alan Grier

Princeton UP, 2007

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Usually, the word “computer” generates images of a powerful, programmable machine that can perform almost any task. However, a “computer” was originally a person who performed complex math. Some “human computers” were scientists who did advanced calculations, but most were workers who labored over the same types of adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing hour after hour, day after day. Scientist David Alan Grier weaves a wonderful story of the history of computing, framed by the discovery of Halley’s Comet and its three subsequent appearances. The comet gives the story a nice structure that helps readers see the advances in computing over the past three centuries. Grier introduces colorful personalities and covers pivotal historical events in the rise of mechanical computing. getAbstract finds that this history book informs your understanding of how computerization advanced while also being a terrific read.

Summary

Computing When Halley’s Comet Comes Closest to the Sun

In 1682, astronomer Edmund Halley discovered the comet that eventually came to bear his name. In 1695, he combined his findings in astronomy with Isaac Newton’s new theories on gravitation and planetary motion to deduce that the comet had an elliptical orbit around the sun. He proved that it had appeared before, in 1531 and 1607, and predicted its return in 1758. Halley could not give a precise date because such an equation needed to include the influence of the sun, the Earth and other big celestial bodies, such as Jupiter. Computations involving more than two celestial bodies were beyond the scope of Newton’s early theories. Determining such an orbit would have taken a vast number of calculations.

Many years later, French mathematician Alexis-Claude Clairaut, who had developed new mathematical techniques, hired two assistants to compute and forecast an accurate date for the comet’s 1758 return. They began in June 1757, using only “goose quill pens and heavy linen paper.” Clairaut predicted that the comet would reach “perihelion” – its closest point to the sun – within a month of April 15, 1758. The actual date...

About the Author

David Alan Grier is an associate science and technology professor at George Washington University. He has previously published several articles on the history of science and he edits an engineering journal on the history of computing.

When Computers Were Human

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Computing When Halley’s Comet Comes Closest to the Sun

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