Re: Hypatia inventions

Eugene Leitl (Eugene.Leitl@lrz.uni-muenchen.de)
Wed, 12 Mar 1997 22:13:26 +0100 (MET)


On Wed, 12 Mar 1997, NetSurfer wrote:
> [...]
> She was, as you referenced, the first programmer, as she wrote about how to

Not to forget Grace Hopper (Gracehopper?), who ever found the first
_true_ bug in her program. It is purported to have been a moth, though.

> make his (Babbage) Analytical Engine solve different problems. While he
> built and demonstrated the Differential Engine, the Analytical Engine was
> never completed.

According to SciAm, they build at least a part of it (or was it the Diff.
E.?), using machined parts, at accuracy available at that time. It worked
allright. One of the cyberpunks authors, dunno whether Sterling or
Gibson, wrote a (purportedly) readable novel about an alternative
Babbagian reality.

ciao,
'gene