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> L1. There are gaps out there. I had a similar experience. At one point I decided that I wanted to understand, step by step, how Ada Lovelace's Bernoulli prog

by plesner 10y ago

> L1. There are gaps out there. I had a similar experience. At one point I decided that I wanted to understand, step by step, how Ada Lovelace's Bernoulli program works[1]. There was a few steps that didn't seem right to me but I was sure if there were any bugs in there they would be well-known and mentioned somewhere I could find. This being one of the most iconic and historically significant programs ever written. Indeed I found more than one person claiming that the program was known to be correct. It took a long time before I could believe that it wasn't just me not getting it, there were indeed a few things out of place and apparently there was just no mention of it anywhere on the web or in any of the research into the analytical engine I could get my hands on. [1]: http://h14s.p5r.org/2012/12/bernoulli.html http://h14s.p5r.org/2012/12/bernoulli.html

e12e 10y ago
Reminds me of Alan Kay's frequently mentioned nugget about Kepler, that he waited for years to try and fit orbits to ellipsis, because, being so close to circles and ovals, surely all the people doing this stuff before had tried ellipsis, and found them wanting? (No, they hadn't).
- Gibbon1 10y ago
  I've been lead to understand that some issues may have been before Tycho Brahe no one had made accurate measurements, especially of the entire tracks across the sky, not just 'interesting' places.
  - e12e 10y ago
    True, but according to eg (random Google hit): http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/lectures/tycho.htm http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/lectures/tych... "Kepler realized that Tycho's work could settle the question one way or the other, so he went to work with Tycho in 1600. Tycho died the next year, Kepler stole[sic] the data, and worked with it for nine years. He reluctantly concluded that his geometric scheme was wrong. In its place, he found his three laws of planetary motion"

by plesner 10y ago

e12e 10y ago

Reminds me of Alan Kay's frequently mentioned nugget about Kepler, that he waited for years to try and fit orbits to ellipsis, because, being so close to circles and ovals, surely all the people doing this stuff before had tried ellipsis, and found them wanting? (No, they hadn't).

Gibbon1 10y ago
I've been lead to understand that some issues may have been before Tycho Brahe no one had made accurate measurements, especially of the entire tracks across the sky, not just 'interesting' places.
- e12e 10y ago
  True, but according to eg (random Google hit): http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/lectures/tycho.htm http://galileoandeinstein.physics.virginia.edu/lectures/tych... "Kepler realized that Tycho's work could settle the question one way or the other, so he went to work with Tycho in 1600. Tycho died the next year, Kepler stole[sic] the data, and worked with it for nine years. He reluctantly concluded that his geometric scheme was wrong. In its place, he found his three laws of planetary motion"