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In Ada's case I demand she deserves more credit. GP is right to insist she did not invent the 1st programmable computer, Baggage did, yet I argue she wrote the

by deepnet 10y ago

In Ada's case I demand she deserves more credit. GP is right to insist she did not invent the 1st programmable computer, Baggage did, yet I argue she wrote the 1st program. Historian's rightly test the hypothesis of Lovelace's primacy in our field. I show she was the both the 1st to publish and contend her overall vision was greater than her contempories. Babbage's, never built, Analytical Engine was programmable with punch cards and Ada published a program to compute Bernoulli numbers - it is uncontested this is the 1st published program for the Analytical Engine. Some have argued, by analysing her other correspondences that she had not the wit to conceive such a program and only transcribed. I argue this is both mean spirited and so uncertain as to be unsound. Uncertain because her other correspondence must have reflected contempory mores. Both the egos involved & the strict gender expectations of the time, that for 'health reasons' a 'too clever' woman should face censorship. Further she must have used every means at her disposal, charm as well as ability, to win such prestigious position. Unproven because she certainly was well versed in Mathematics, her mother ensured she was mathematically educated, so she certainly understood Bernoulli numbers. Her greater achievement, IMHO, was to envision the porention of the Analytical Engine. Babbage's Analytical Engine was devised, capable of computing different tables, programmable with other arithmetics, tides, artillery. Ada saw beyond mere arithmetic to all numbers could represent: algebra (& thus meta-programming) and t he imaginative arts. She envisioned the engine computing music, poetry and pictures, which implies creativity & thought , proto-A.I in idea. This extraoridinarily prescient vision is quoted by Turing himself as a direct inspiration. Perhaps Babbage speculated we have no record; Lovelace published and that's what counts. Her actual words leave (me) little doubt she grokked computation is kin to cognition. http://nlcatp.org/30-incredible-ada-lovelace-quotes/ http://nlcatp.org/30-incredible-ada-lovelace-quotes/

deepnet 10y ago
s/ Baggage/ Babbage/r (no snark intended, error) s/ envision the porention of/ envision the potential of/r
mafribe 10y ago
it is uncontested this is the 1st published program for the Analytical Engine. Babbage constructed the AE to execute programs, so he would certainly have written some. Bernoulli numbers are old hand have been calculated since antiquity. I imagine that B. propose this program to L. the strict gender expectations of the time, The gender expectations today are that men ought to genuflect to women, whence your posts here. She envisioned the engine computing music, poetry and pictures, which implies creativity & thought , proto-A.I in idea. It's worth pointing out that the idea to have automata make music, and more generally for automata to be creative, predates Lovelace, Music making automata were a staple of the renaissance. For example the mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler, when visiting the "Kunstkammer" of Rudolf II in 1598, was amazed at an automaton representing a drummer who could "beat his drum with greater self-assurance than a live one" [1]. Incidentally, Kepler corresponded with Wilhelm Schickard on the latter's "arithmeticum organum", the first ever proper mechanical calulator (could do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). Automating creativity was very much an idea with much currency in the renaissance. Indeed some of the key advances in mechanical automata, which later evolved into computers, where driven by the desire to automate creativity [2]. The "conceptual leap" that some people lazily ascribe to Lovelace, wasn't hers! Using numbers to represent syntax (what you lazily attribute to Lovelace too) is much older and can be found for example in Leibniz's 1666 "Dissertatio de arte combinatoria", where one finds a detailed exposition of a method to associate numbers with linguistic notions. I have no idea if Leibniz was the first to do this. Leibniz also built some early calculators/computers, and is thus a cornerstone of the tradition that lead to the emergence of computers. This tradition was known in Babbage's time, and most likely to Babbage. In the light of all this, I remain convinced that Lovelace helped Babbage to write up and popularise his ideas. [1] W. Zhao, Rendering the Illusion of Life: Art, Science and Politics in Automata from the Central European Princely Collections. [2] D. Summers Stay, Machinamenta: The thousand year quest to build a creative machine.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- deepnet 10y ago
  > whence your posts here I assure you, your imputation is incorrect. You provide useful historical context, the history of automata is fascinating but is not in any way counterfactual to Lovelace's primacy. Automata certainly inspired A.I. & robotics, both the pioneers & modern roboticists like Tilden's BEAM and Brook's Behaviour-based robots, exploring mechanical intelligence. Automata influenced early British Cybernetics ( e.g. Grey Walter's Turtles ) & thence the schools of Artificial Life. Daniel Dennet's influential Theory of Mind cites Vaucason's duck automata among others. I reiterate, if Babbage wrote a program we have no record today. Lovelace was capable of writing the program. Lovelace published one and that's what counts. Thus: Lady Ada Lovelace was the 1st programmer. Without clear and undisputable evidence to the contrary I shall side with Alan Turing on the matter, he cites both Lovelace & Babbage as inspirations.
  - mafribe 10y ago
    your imputation is incorrect. You confidently assert that ... gender stereotypes in the 19th century, but magically believe they don't apply to you. What pixie-dust gives you that superpower? Babbage wrote a program we have no record today. This is silly. His computer are the evidence. You cannot build a computer without thinking about (and writing) programs. A master takes credit for nothing, and blame for everything. I remain convinced that Babbage 'used' Lovelace to popularise his ideas, and that Lovelace merely help him writing.
    - deepnet 10y ago
      Which women do you think changed the course of technology ?
      - mafribe 10y ago
        None I'm aware of. That may change in the future, given that we now have a lot of female scientists. OTOH, given the statistically undeniable inability of highly educated women to procreate, society will probably soon revert back to the traditional model. BTW, you have not addressed the pixie-dust question.

by deepnet 10y ago

deepnet 10y ago

s/ Baggage/ Babbage/r (no snark intended, error) s/ envision the porention of/ envision the potential of/r

mafribe 10y ago

it is uncontested this is the 1st published program for the Analytical Engine. Babbage constructed the AE to execute programs, so he would certainly have written some. Bernoulli numbers are old hand have been calculated since antiquity. I imagine that B. propose this program to L. the strict gender expectations of the time, The gender expectations today are that men ought to genuflect to women, whence your posts here. She envisioned the engine computing music, poetry and pictures, which implies creativity & thought , proto-A.I in idea. It's worth pointing out that the idea to have automata make music, and more generally for automata to be creative, predates Lovelace, Music making automata were a staple of the renaissance. For example the mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler, when visiting the "Kunstkammer" of Rudolf II in 1598, was amazed at an automaton representing a drummer who could "beat his drum with greater self-assurance than a live one" [1]. Incidentally, Kepler corresponded with Wilhelm Schickard on the latter's "arithmeticum organum", the first ever proper mechanical calulator (could do addition, subtraction, multiplication and division). Automating creativity was very much an idea with much currency in the renaissance. Indeed some of the key advances in mechanical automata, which later evolved into computers, where driven by the desire to automate creativity [2]. The "conceptual leap" that some people lazily ascribe to Lovelace, wasn't hers! Using numbers to represent syntax (what you lazily attribute to Lovelace too) is much older and can be found for example in Leibniz's 1666 "Dissertatio de arte combinatoria", where one finds a detailed exposition of a method to associate numbers with linguistic notions. I have no idea if Leibniz was the first to do this. Leibniz also built some early calculators/computers, and is thus a cornerstone of the tradition that lead to the emergence of computers. This tradition was known in Babbage's time, and most likely to Babbage. In the light of all this, I remain convinced that Lovelace helped Babbage to write up and popularise his ideas. [1] W. Zhao, Rendering the Illusion of Life: Art, Science and Politics in Automata from the Central European Princely Collections. [2] D. Summers Stay, Machinamenta: The thousand year quest to build a creative machine.

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
deepnet 10y ago
> whence your posts here I assure you, your imputation is incorrect. You provide useful historical context, the history of automata is fascinating but is not in any way counterfactual to Lovelace's primacy. Automata certainly inspired A.I. & robotics, both the pioneers & modern roboticists like Tilden's BEAM and Brook's Behaviour-based robots, exploring mechanical intelligence. Automata influenced early British Cybernetics ( e.g. Grey Walter's Turtles ) & thence the schools of Artificial Life. Daniel Dennet's influential Theory of Mind cites Vaucason's duck automata among others. I reiterate, if Babbage wrote a program we have no record today. Lovelace was capable of writing the program. Lovelace published one and that's what counts. Thus: Lady Ada Lovelace was the 1st programmer. Without clear and undisputable evidence to the contrary I shall side with Alan Turing on the matter, he cites both Lovelace & Babbage as inspirations.
- mafribe 10y ago
  your imputation is incorrect. You confidently assert that ... gender stereotypes in the 19th century, but magically believe they don't apply to you. What pixie-dust gives you that superpower? Babbage wrote a program we have no record today. This is silly. His computer are the evidence. You cannot build a computer without thinking about (and writing) programs. A master takes credit for nothing, and blame for everything. I remain convinced that Babbage 'used' Lovelace to popularise his ideas, and that Lovelace merely help him writing.
  - deepnet 10y ago
    Which women do you think changed the course of technology ?
    - mafribe 10y ago
      None I'm aware of. That may change in the future, given that we now have a lot of female scientists. OTOH, given the statistically undeniable inability of highly educated women to procreate, society will probably soon revert back to the traditional model. BTW, you have not addressed the pixie-dust question.