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I'm a little disappointed they didn't mention "computer." In the original sense of that word: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_computer http://en.wikipedia.o

I'm a little disappointed they didn't mention "computer." In the original sense of that word: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_computer http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_computer The computer put the computer out of work.

rogerbinns 12y ago
They were used more recently than the wikipedia article implies. My high school maths teacher worked on Concorde and said how they had a room of computers (all women) that did the various calculations requested. It also turns out that the floor panels had a huge amount of engineering effort. Whenever other items being designed were blocked, the engineers worked on floor panels.
mxfh 12y ago
Here's a nice book title page from 1934 with this job title; on map projections no less: https://archive.org/stream/generaltheoryofp00adam#page/n2/mode/1up https://archive.org/stream/generaltheoryofp00adam#page/n2/mo... even the Census 2002 Occupation Index[1] still lists a few of them: - Chart computer - Gas volume computer - Geophysical computer - Seismic computer - Traffic rate computer [1] http://www.census.gov/people/io/files/occ02_pdf.pdf http://www.census.gov/people/io/files/occ02_pdf.pdf [1] http://www.census.gov/people/io/methodology/indexes.html http://www.census.gov/people/io/methodology/indexes.html
JasonFruit 12y ago
I've always wondered if there were techniques of parallel computation used to maximize the effectiveness of a roomful of human computers that would be useful for electronic computers with multiple processors.
- jonnathanson 12y ago
  I mean, it's a stretch, but if you think about it, this is essentially what the chalkboard/whiteboard/shared surface concept is about.
  - pavel_lishin 12y ago
    How do you mean?
    - jonnathanson 12y ago
      I'm actually trying to unpack what I meant. I had one of those rare, sober bursts of the kind of trippy insight that usually occurs to people when stoned. :) I'm guessing what I mean here is that chalkboards serve as a shared resource, on which multiple humans can perform operations together, or with larger problems addressed in smaller chunks in tandem. It's not "parallel computing" per se, but it's an analog analogue.

rogerbinns 12y ago

They were used more recently than the wikipedia article implies. My high school maths teacher worked on Concorde and said how they had a room of computers (all women) that did the various calculations requested. It also turns out that the floor panels had a huge amount of engineering effort. Whenever other items being designed were blocked, the engineers worked on floor panels.

mxfh 12y ago

Here's a nice book title page from 1934 with this job title; on map projections no less: https://archive.org/stream/generaltheoryofp00adam#page/n2/mode/1up https://archive.org/stream/generaltheoryofp00adam#page/n2/mo... even the Census 2002 Occupation Index[1] still lists a few of them: - Chart computer - Gas volume computer - Geophysical computer - Seismic computer - Traffic rate computer [1] http://www.census.gov/people/io/files/occ02_pdf.pdf http://www.census.gov/people/io/files/occ02_pdf.pdf [1] http://www.census.gov/people/io/methodology/indexes.html http://www.census.gov/people/io/methodology/indexes.html

JasonFruit 12y ago

I've always wondered if there were techniques of parallel computation used to maximize the effectiveness of a roomful of human computers that would be useful for electronic computers with multiple processors.

jonnathanson 12y ago
I mean, it's a stretch, but if you think about it, this is essentially what the chalkboard/whiteboard/shared surface concept is about.
- pavel_lishin 12y ago
  How do you mean?
  - jonnathanson 12y ago
    I'm actually trying to unpack what I meant. I had one of those rare, sober bursts of the kind of trippy insight that usually occurs to people when stoned. :) I'm guessing what I mean here is that chalkboards serve as a shared resource, on which multiple humans can perform operations together, or with larger problems addressed in smaller chunks in tandem. It's not "parallel computing" per se, but it's an analog analogue.