7 ms·
Ask HN: Who is your favorite historical person in computer science?
I realized this morning that I know very little of the actual history of computing (Just discovered Ken Thompson b/c I was researching who made go).
I prefer to learn history through characters as opposed to events. So my question to everyone who is willing to answer...
Who is your favorite historical person in computer science? (And why)
- bigyabai 1y agoAlan Turing. Pretty common choice, but sometimes when I get wistful about the world of technology, I wonder how things would have been different if Turing lived into the digital computer age. His story is a warning for a modern age, where men and women can be tried and sentenced through surveillance without being guilty of a thing.
- JohnFen 1y agoAda Lovelace. She inspired me even as a young child. Just the idea that she could envision what the analytical engine would lead to solidly enough to become a programmer before there was a machine to program still thrills me.
- zippyman55 1y agoMy favorites: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Cray https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seymour_Cray Developer of the fastest computers at the time. A very unique individual. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Dantzig Developer of optimization methods used in modern day analysis. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_Hopper Grace Hopper - COBOL Language
- SheeshBakht 1y agoAlan Turing without a doubt
- fullstick 1y agoLynn Conway. I didn't know about her until she passed away, but learning about her helped me gather courage to come out. She was also a pioneer in electrical engineering and computer science. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Conway https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynn_Conway
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- brudgers 1y agoDonald Knuth because everyone should try to read him. Including Donald Knuth. And he does.
- discoutdynamite 1y agoV.M. Glushkov. Soviet scientist who basically delineated cybernetics and computer science as a distinct field. He was about 50 years ahead of his time, so a lot of his best ideas we didnt really start fulfilling until quite recently. His grasp of the fundamental limitations of computers, and how to do useful things within them, was remarkable. He wasnt properly enabled and appreciated by the Soviets, so they were never able to lead the world in computing, but they had some impressive achievements. If you want to learn more, I recomend "Pioneers of Soviet Computing" and Glushkov's own "Introduction to Cybernetics". Of especial interest is his classification of algorithms and automata, nice to compare to modern programming paradigms and developments in new kinds of neural networks.
- austin-cheney 1y agoI like people who are fiercely pro-simple even when it isn't yet popular. * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Engelbart https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Engelbart * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Hickey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rich_Hickey * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sperberg-McQueen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Sperberg-McQueen * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Crockford https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Crockford
- dcminter 1y agoDefine "historical" ... Anyway I nominate Cliff Stoll who wrote The Cuckoo's Egg and posts here from time to time. Definitely one of my heroes. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Egg_(book) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cuckoo%27s_Egg_(book) Also I have one of his Klein bottles And he makes the buying process and paperwork an utter delight.
- chistev 1y agoSatoshi Nakamoto. Why? They just disappeared in iconic fashion .
- vismit2000 1y agoClaude Shannon: https://thebitplayer.com/ https://thebitplayer.com/
- chrism238 1y agoDoug McIlroy, because he valued simplicity and correctness.
- Jaehdt3xLV 1y agoAdolf Hitler
- trumbitta2 1y agoAda Lovelace by a long shot
- 0xCE0 1y agoThere are so many, but the first to come into mind was Knuth. The body of work is just insane for a one person (TAOCP, TeX/Metafont, literate programming/web, etc.).