Anthony Garratt, Kevin Lee, M. Hashem Pesaran, and Yongcheol Shin
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2006
- ISBN:
- 9780199296859
- eISBN:
- 9780191603853
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199296855.003.0013
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Econometrics
The final chapter provides some concluding comments, including a summary of the main contributions of the book and an invitation to others to apply the methods in new contexts using the data and code ...
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The final chapter provides some concluding comments, including a summary of the main contributions of the book and an invitation to others to apply the methods in new contexts using the data and code provided in the Appendices.Less
The final chapter provides some concluding comments, including a summary of the main contributions of the book and an invitation to others to apply the methods in new contexts using the data and code provided in the Appendices.
Eric T. Olson
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195176421
- eISBN:
- 9780199872008
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195176421.003.0006
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
This chapter considers Hume's proposal that we are made up entirely of particular mental states and events: the bundle view. An argument for the bundle view is based on the claim that the traditional ...
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This chapter considers Hume's proposal that we are made up entirely of particular mental states and events: the bundle view. An argument for the bundle view is based on the claim that the traditional idea of substance is dismissed. The bundle view is then shown to follow naturally from widely held claims about diachronic and synchronic personal identity. Reid's objection that bundles of thoughts cannot be thinkers is elaborated and endorsed. It is then argued that the bundle view cannot easily avoid the thinking‐animal problem. There follows a critical discussion of two related views: that we are bundles of universals and that we are something like computer programs. Both are found to be hopeless.Less
This chapter considers Hume's proposal that we are made up entirely of particular mental states and events: the bundle view. An argument for the bundle view is based on the claim that the traditional idea of substance is dismissed. The bundle view is then shown to follow naturally from widely held claims about diachronic and synchronic personal identity. Reid's objection that bundles of thoughts cannot be thinkers is elaborated and endorsed. It is then argued that the bundle view cannot easily avoid the thinking‐animal problem. There follows a critical discussion of two related views: that we are bundles of universals and that we are something like computer programs. Both are found to be hopeless.
ANGELO GAVEZZOTTI
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198570806
- eISBN:
- 9780191718779
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198570806.003.0010
- Subject:
- Physics, Atomic, Laser, and Optical Physics
Chemical applications of force field simulations, of quantum mechanics, as well as X-ray data processing, lattice dynamics, and molecular dynamics simulations are all made possible by fast and ...
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Chemical applications of force field simulations, of quantum mechanics, as well as X-ray data processing, lattice dynamics, and molecular dynamics simulations are all made possible by fast and reliable numerical computation. Therefore, electronic computers are a theoretical chemist's vital tool, and very few — if any — quantitative results can be obtained without them. Computers handle a very large and very diversified range of tasks on a surprisingly small fundamental basis: the electric representation of only two numbers, zero and one, called binary digits (or bits). Computers use bits to represent numbers in binary notation. In a very successful metaphoric style, all items of the computer world that have to do with programs are called software, while all the rest (electronic parts, wires, input-output devices) are called hardware. This chapter provides an overview of computers, operating systems, computer programming, bugs, program checking and validation, and reproducibility.Less
Chemical applications of force field simulations, of quantum mechanics, as well as X-ray data processing, lattice dynamics, and molecular dynamics simulations are all made possible by fast and reliable numerical computation. Therefore, electronic computers are a theoretical chemist's vital tool, and very few — if any — quantitative results can be obtained without them. Computers handle a very large and very diversified range of tasks on a surprisingly small fundamental basis: the electric representation of only two numbers, zero and one, called binary digits (or bits). Computers use bits to represent numbers in binary notation. In a very successful metaphoric style, all items of the computer world that have to do with programs are called software, while all the rest (electronic parts, wires, input-output devices) are called hardware. This chapter provides an overview of computers, operating systems, computer programming, bugs, program checking and validation, and reproducibility.
Rein Taagepera
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- September 2008
- ISBN:
- 9780199534661
- eISBN:
- 9780191715921
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199534661.003.0014
- Subject:
- Political Science, Comparative Politics, Political Economy
Routine statistical approaches are essentially descriptive, giving answers within a narrow range of questions. Quantitatively formulated logical model force us to ask further questions and are ...
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Routine statistical approaches are essentially descriptive, giving answers within a narrow range of questions. Quantitatively formulated logical model force us to ask further questions and are predictive in an explanatory way. Descriptive approaches are not conducive to detection of social laws, especially if one simultaneously feeds in variables which actually connect sequentially. Rather than a single sequence of “hypothesis testing,” scientific procedure involves repeat cycles where predictive and descriptive approaches enter intermixed. Directional models and reams of numbers ground out by canned computer programs must make room for quantitative logical models and sparse conceptually grounded constants.Less
Routine statistical approaches are essentially descriptive, giving answers within a narrow range of questions. Quantitatively formulated logical model force us to ask further questions and are predictive in an explanatory way. Descriptive approaches are not conducive to detection of social laws, especially if one simultaneously feeds in variables which actually connect sequentially. Rather than a single sequence of “hypothesis testing,” scientific procedure involves repeat cycles where predictive and descriptive approaches enter intermixed. Directional models and reams of numbers ground out by canned computer programs must make room for quantitative logical models and sparse conceptually grounded constants.
Marina Umaschi Bers
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199757022
- eISBN:
- 9780199933037
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199757022.003.0006
- Subject:
- Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter focuses on technologies as spaces to create content, and in the process, to promote the development of competence. Competence is defined as the possession of a skill, knowledge, or ...
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This chapter focuses on technologies as spaces to create content, and in the process, to promote the development of competence. Competence is defined as the possession of a skill, knowledge, or capacity. In this context, competence refers to the ability to use technology to create or design personally meaningful projects, to accomplish a goal, and to debug projects and problem-solve. When one uses technology to create content, one also learns how to organize the content domain and how to choose the core ideas. This set of new ideas will be referred in the book as powerful ideas from the content domain. This chapter highlights how children can create digital content, especially through computer programming. Aside from programming, children can engage in the participatory culture of the internet, creating content that is shared with millions. As children become competent by creating digital projects, they are prepared to enter a world in which technological fluency is key.Less
This chapter focuses on technologies as spaces to create content, and in the process, to promote the development of competence. Competence is defined as the possession of a skill, knowledge, or capacity. In this context, competence refers to the ability to use technology to create or design personally meaningful projects, to accomplish a goal, and to debug projects and problem-solve. When one uses technology to create content, one also learns how to organize the content domain and how to choose the core ideas. This set of new ideas will be referred in the book as powerful ideas from the content domain. This chapter highlights how children can create digital content, especially through computer programming. Aside from programming, children can engage in the participatory culture of the internet, creating content that is shared with millions. As children become competent by creating digital projects, they are prepared to enter a world in which technological fluency is key.
Nathan Ensmenger
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262050937
- eISBN:
- 9780262289351
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262050937.003.0002
- Subject:
- Information Science, Information Science
This chapter traces the history of computer programming from its origins as low-status clerical work, often performed by women, into one of the highest-paid technical occupations of the late 1950s ...
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This chapter traces the history of computer programming from its origins as low-status clerical work, often performed by women, into one of the highest-paid technical occupations of the late 1950s and early 1960s. It explores the emergence of the computer programmer as a well-compensated technical expert and explains while they continued to struggle with questions of status and identity, they were generally considered to be anything but routine clerical workers by the end of the 1950s. It also highlights widespread perception that programming was a black art during 1950s and 1960s.Less
This chapter traces the history of computer programming from its origins as low-status clerical work, often performed by women, into one of the highest-paid technical occupations of the late 1950s and early 1960s. It explores the emergence of the computer programmer as a well-compensated technical expert and explains while they continued to struggle with questions of status and identity, they were generally considered to be anything but routine clerical workers by the end of the 1950s. It also highlights widespread perception that programming was a black art during 1950s and 1960s.
Mike Finnis
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198509776
- eISBN:
- 9780191709180
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198509776.001.0001
- Subject:
- Physics, Atomic, Laser, and Optical Physics
There is a continuing growth of interest in the computer simulation of materials at the atomic scale, using a variety of academic and commercial computer programs. In all such programs there is some ...
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There is a continuing growth of interest in the computer simulation of materials at the atomic scale, using a variety of academic and commercial computer programs. In all such programs there is some physical model of the interatomic forces. For a student or researcher, the basis of such models is often shrouded in mystery. It is usually unclear how well founded they are, since it is hard to find a discussion of the physical assumptions that have been made in their construction. The lack of clear understanding of the scope and limitations of a given model may lead to its innocent misuse, resulting either in unfair criticism of the model or in the dissemination of nonsensical results. In this book, models of interatomic forces are derived from a common physical basis, namely the density functional theory. The book includes the detailed derivation of pairwise potentials in simple metals, tight-binding models from the simplest to the most sophisticated (self-consistent) kind, and ionic models. It provides a critical appreciation of the broad range of models in current use, and provides the tools for understanding other variants that are described in the literature. Some of the material is new, and some pointers are given to possible future avenues of model development.Less
There is a continuing growth of interest in the computer simulation of materials at the atomic scale, using a variety of academic and commercial computer programs. In all such programs there is some physical model of the interatomic forces. For a student or researcher, the basis of such models is often shrouded in mystery. It is usually unclear how well founded they are, since it is hard to find a discussion of the physical assumptions that have been made in their construction. The lack of clear understanding of the scope and limitations of a given model may lead to its innocent misuse, resulting either in unfair criticism of the model or in the dissemination of nonsensical results. In this book, models of interatomic forces are derived from a common physical basis, namely the density functional theory. The book includes the detailed derivation of pairwise potentials in simple metals, tight-binding models from the simplest to the most sophisticated (self-consistent) kind, and ionic models. It provides a critical appreciation of the broad range of models in current use, and provides the tools for understanding other variants that are described in the literature. Some of the material is new, and some pointers are given to possible future avenues of model development.
John Horty
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199732715
- eISBN:
- 9780199852628
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199732715.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Philosophy of Language
This book explores the difficulties presented for Gottlob Frege's semantic theory, as well as its modern descendents, by the treatment of defined expressions. The book begins by focusing on the ...
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This book explores the difficulties presented for Gottlob Frege's semantic theory, as well as its modern descendents, by the treatment of defined expressions. The book begins by focusing on the psychological constraints governing Frege's notion of sense, or meaning, and argues that, given these constraints, even the treatment of simple stipulative definitions led Frege to important difficulties. This book suggests ways out of these difficulties that are both philosophically and logically plausible and Fregean in spirit. This discussion is then connected to a number of more familiar topics, such as indexicality and the discussion of concepts in recent theories of mind and language. The latter part of the book, after introducing a simple semantic model of senses as procedures, considers the problems that definitions present for Frege's idea that the sense of an expression should mirror its grammatical structure. The requirement can be satisfied, the book argues, only if defined expressions—and incomplete expressions as well—are assigned senses of their own, rather than treated contextually. The book then explores one way in which these senses might be reified within the procedural model, drawing on ideas from work in the semantics of computer programming languages. With its combination of technical semantics and history of philosophy, the book tackles some of the hardest questions in the philosophy of language.Less
This book explores the difficulties presented for Gottlob Frege's semantic theory, as well as its modern descendents, by the treatment of defined expressions. The book begins by focusing on the psychological constraints governing Frege's notion of sense, or meaning, and argues that, given these constraints, even the treatment of simple stipulative definitions led Frege to important difficulties. This book suggests ways out of these difficulties that are both philosophically and logically plausible and Fregean in spirit. This discussion is then connected to a number of more familiar topics, such as indexicality and the discussion of concepts in recent theories of mind and language. The latter part of the book, after introducing a simple semantic model of senses as procedures, considers the problems that definitions present for Frege's idea that the sense of an expression should mirror its grammatical structure. The requirement can be satisfied, the book argues, only if defined expressions—and incomplete expressions as well—are assigned senses of their own, rather than treated contextually. The book then explores one way in which these senses might be reified within the procedural model, drawing on ideas from work in the semantics of computer programming languages. With its combination of technical semantics and history of philosophy, the book tackles some of the hardest questions in the philosophy of language.
Christine Ogan, Jean C. Robinson, Manju Ahuja, and Susan C. Herring
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262033459
- eISBN:
- 9780262255929
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262033459.003.0009
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology
This chapter reports on a study that compares the demographics, attitudes, and computing-related behaviors of undergraduate and graduate students majoring in computer science with those majoring in ...
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This chapter reports on a study that compares the demographics, attitudes, and computing-related behaviors of undergraduate and graduate students majoring in computer science with those majoring in applied IT disciplines. The results show that women do not feel as good about their abilities related to computers and computer programming as men do. The lack of confidence might stem from a lack of encouragement from teachers, friends, and family since half of women in the applied IT group and one-quarter of women in the computer science group said nobody had encouraged them to go into an IT field. The biggest differences between men and women in the two groups are demographic: men and women in the applied IT units tend to be older, and men and women in computer science tend to fall into traditional age groups for undergraduate and graduate students.Less
This chapter reports on a study that compares the demographics, attitudes, and computing-related behaviors of undergraduate and graduate students majoring in computer science with those majoring in applied IT disciplines. The results show that women do not feel as good about their abilities related to computers and computer programming as men do. The lack of confidence might stem from a lack of encouragement from teachers, friends, and family since half of women in the applied IT group and one-quarter of women in the computer science group said nobody had encouraged them to go into an IT field. The biggest differences between men and women in the two groups are demographic: men and women in the applied IT units tend to be older, and men and women in computer science tend to fall into traditional age groups for undergraduate and graduate students.
Nathan Ensmenger
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262050937
- eISBN:
- 9780262289351
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262050937.003.0007
- Subject:
- Information Science, Information Science
This chapter examines the history of the professionalization of computer programming. It describes the need of programmers to establish the institutional structures associated with professionalism, ...
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This chapter examines the history of the professionalization of computer programming. It describes the need of programmers to establish the institutional structures associated with professionalism, including professional societies, certification programs, educational standards, and codes of ethics and suggests that the professionalization of computer programming represented a potential solution to the looming software crisis that appeared to programmers and employers alike. It highlights the struggle of computer programmers to prove that they possessed a unique set of skills and training that allowed them to lay claim to professional autonomy.Less
This chapter examines the history of the professionalization of computer programming. It describes the need of programmers to establish the institutional structures associated with professionalism, including professional societies, certification programs, educational standards, and codes of ethics and suggests that the professionalization of computer programming represented a potential solution to the looming software crisis that appeared to programmers and employers alike. It highlights the struggle of computer programmers to prove that they possessed a unique set of skills and training that allowed them to lay claim to professional autonomy.
Sandra Katz, John Aronis, Christine Wilson, David Allbritton, and Mary Lou Soffa
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262033459
- eISBN:
- 9780262255929
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262033459.003.0012
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology
The underrepresentation of females among computer science Bachelor of Science degree recipients is attributed to two main forces: (i) fewer women than men enroll in computer science programs at the ...
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The underrepresentation of females among computer science Bachelor of Science degree recipients is attributed to two main forces: (i) fewer women than men enroll in computer science programs at the undergraduate level; and (ii) attrition, i.e., more women than men leave these programs. This chapter focuses on the attrition aspect. It demonstrates the strong impact of performance on both student persistence in an undergraduate program and the gender gap in persistence. Performance alone does not explain this gap; rather, it is performance at an expected level that is the important factor, and women appear to be more negatively affected than men when their achieved grades do not measure up to their desired grades.Less
The underrepresentation of females among computer science Bachelor of Science degree recipients is attributed to two main forces: (i) fewer women than men enroll in computer science programs at the undergraduate level; and (ii) attrition, i.e., more women than men leave these programs. This chapter focuses on the attrition aspect. It demonstrates the strong impact of performance on both student persistence in an undergraduate program and the gender gap in persistence. Performance alone does not explain this gap; rather, it is performance at an expected level that is the important factor, and women appear to be more negatively affected than men when their achieved grades do not measure up to their desired grades.
Noam Shemtov
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198716792
- eISBN:
- 9780191848377
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198716792.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Intellectual Property, IT, and Media Law
This chapter examines reverse engineering and the decompilation of computer programs, both of which are highly regulated under the current copyright regime. It begins with a practical overview of ...
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This chapter examines reverse engineering and the decompilation of computer programs, both of which are highly regulated under the current copyright regime. It begins with a practical overview of reverse engineering and decompilation of software, focusing on types of reverse engineering prevalent in the software industry, the various stages of reverse engineering, and the motivation and methods for reverse engineering. It then looks at the reasons for and benefits of decompilation, which is a category of reverse engineering, and examines software interoperability. At this stage the chapter considers what EU and US copyright laws say about decompilation, with particular emphasis on the role that the idea-expression dichotomy plays in decompilation scenarios. It also discusses the problem of entitlement with respect to intellectual property rules, and more specifically in the case of decompilation of computer programs. It provides a critical evaluation of Article 6 of the Software Directive in enabling decompilation in order to achieve interoperability. The chapter concludes with a commentary on reverse engineering in the cloud environment under copyright law.Less
This chapter examines reverse engineering and the decompilation of computer programs, both of which are highly regulated under the current copyright regime. It begins with a practical overview of reverse engineering and decompilation of software, focusing on types of reverse engineering prevalent in the software industry, the various stages of reverse engineering, and the motivation and methods for reverse engineering. It then looks at the reasons for and benefits of decompilation, which is a category of reverse engineering, and examines software interoperability. At this stage the chapter considers what EU and US copyright laws say about decompilation, with particular emphasis on the role that the idea-expression dichotomy plays in decompilation scenarios. It also discusses the problem of entitlement with respect to intellectual property rules, and more specifically in the case of decompilation of computer programs. It provides a critical evaluation of Article 6 of the Software Directive in enabling decompilation in order to achieve interoperability. The chapter concludes with a commentary on reverse engineering in the cloud environment under copyright law.
Steven W. Usselman
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262122894
- eISBN:
- 9780262277884
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262122894.003.0009
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This chapter adds certain moderate adjustments to the body of work promulgated by the National Academy of Science, and also the work of David Mowery, that deals with the notion of modern computing ...
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This chapter adds certain moderate adjustments to the body of work promulgated by the National Academy of Science, and also the work of David Mowery, that deals with the notion of modern computing being the product of massive public investment and government funding. The goal of the chapter, however, is to suggest that private enterprise and private capital—and not just government funding—played certain roles in influencing computing. IBM, in particular, is given more focus here to determine how the firm has contributed to the emergence and refinement of the storage capacity of the computer from the end of World War II until the development of the System/360. The conclusion arrived at is that while certain activities of the government may have benefited IBM, the government also drew IBM away from various opportunities that might have allowed them to blossom without the required intervention from the public sector.Less
This chapter adds certain moderate adjustments to the body of work promulgated by the National Academy of Science, and also the work of David Mowery, that deals with the notion of modern computing being the product of massive public investment and government funding. The goal of the chapter, however, is to suggest that private enterprise and private capital—and not just government funding—played certain roles in influencing computing. IBM, in particular, is given more focus here to determine how the firm has contributed to the emergence and refinement of the storage capacity of the computer from the end of World War II until the development of the System/360. The conclusion arrived at is that while certain activities of the government may have benefited IBM, the government also drew IBM away from various opportunities that might have allowed them to blossom without the required intervention from the public sector.
Mireille Hildebrandt
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- July 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198860877
- eISBN:
- 9780191892936
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198860877.003.0007
- Subject:
- Law, Intellectual Property, IT, and Media Law
This chapter is an introduction to the domain of intellectual property (IP) rights, notably copyright. For computer scientists, the most relevant part of copyright law concerns copyright on computer ...
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This chapter is an introduction to the domain of intellectual property (IP) rights, notably copyright. For computer scientists, the most relevant part of copyright law concerns copyright on computer programs, or software. Copyright on software is the enabling precondition for the General Public Licence (GPL) and the open source initiative. Before discussing copyright on software, however, this chapter first investigates the position of IP law in the context of constitutional democracy and clarifies that IP law is private law. From there, the chapter provides an overview of the various types of IP that are most relevant, after which it turns to the history, objectives, and scope of copyright protection. Finally, this chapter discusses EU copyright law and the issues of open source and free access.Less
This chapter is an introduction to the domain of intellectual property (IP) rights, notably copyright. For computer scientists, the most relevant part of copyright law concerns copyright on computer programs, or software. Copyright on software is the enabling precondition for the General Public Licence (GPL) and the open source initiative. Before discussing copyright on software, however, this chapter first investigates the position of IP law in the context of constitutional democracy and clarifies that IP law is private law. From there, the chapter provides an overview of the various types of IP that are most relevant, after which it turns to the history, objectives, and scope of copyright protection. Finally, this chapter discusses EU copyright law and the issues of open source and free access.
Jack Copeland and Jason Long
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198747826
- eISBN:
- 9780191916946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198747826.003.0032
- Subject:
- Computer Science, History of Computer Science
One of Turing’s contributions to the digital age that has largely been overlooked is his groundbreaking work on transforming the computer into a musical instrument. It is an urban myth of the music ...
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One of Turing’s contributions to the digital age that has largely been overlooked is his groundbreaking work on transforming the computer into a musical instrument. It is an urban myth of the music world that the first computer-generated musical notes were heard in 1957, at the Bell Laboratories in the United States. In fact, computer-generated notes were heard in Turing’s Computing Machine Laboratory at Manchester University about nine years previously. This chapter establishes Turing’s pioneering role in the history of computer music. We also describe how Christopher Strachey, later Oxford University’s first professor of computing, used and extended Turing’s note-playing subroutines so as to create some of the earliest computer-generated melodies. A few weeks after Baby ran its first program (see Chapter 20) Turing accepted a job at Manchester University. He improved on Baby’s bare-bones facilities, designing an input–output system based on wartime cryptographic equipment (see Chapter 6). His tape reader, which used the same teleprinter tape that ran through Colossus, converted the patterns of holes punched across the tape into electrical pulses and fed these to the computer. The reader incorporated a row of light-sensitive cells that read the holes in the moving tape—the same technology that Colossus had used. As the months passed, a large-scale computer took shape in the Manchester Computing Machine Laboratory. Turing called it the ‘Manchester Electronic Computer Mark I’ (Fig. 23.1). A broad division of labour developed that saw Kilburn and Williams working on the hardware and Turing on the software. Williams concentrated his efforts on developing a new form of supplementary memory, a rotating magnetic drum, while Kilburn took the leading role in developing the other hardware. Turing designed the Mark I’s programming system, and went on to write the world’s first programming manual. The Mark I was operational in April 1949, although additional development continued as the year progressed. Ferranti, a Manchester engineering firm, contracted to build a marketable version of the computer, and the basic designs for the new machine were handed over to Ferranti in July 1949. The very first Ferranti computer was installed in Turing’s Computing Machine Laboratory in February 1951 (Fig. 23.2), a few weeks before the earliest American-built marketable computer, the UNIVAC I, became available.
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One of Turing’s contributions to the digital age that has largely been overlooked is his groundbreaking work on transforming the computer into a musical instrument. It is an urban myth of the music world that the first computer-generated musical notes were heard in 1957, at the Bell Laboratories in the United States. In fact, computer-generated notes were heard in Turing’s Computing Machine Laboratory at Manchester University about nine years previously. This chapter establishes Turing’s pioneering role in the history of computer music. We also describe how Christopher Strachey, later Oxford University’s first professor of computing, used and extended Turing’s note-playing subroutines so as to create some of the earliest computer-generated melodies. A few weeks after Baby ran its first program (see Chapter 20) Turing accepted a job at Manchester University. He improved on Baby’s bare-bones facilities, designing an input–output system based on wartime cryptographic equipment (see Chapter 6). His tape reader, which used the same teleprinter tape that ran through Colossus, converted the patterns of holes punched across the tape into electrical pulses and fed these to the computer. The reader incorporated a row of light-sensitive cells that read the holes in the moving tape—the same technology that Colossus had used. As the months passed, a large-scale computer took shape in the Manchester Computing Machine Laboratory. Turing called it the ‘Manchester Electronic Computer Mark I’ (Fig. 23.1). A broad division of labour developed that saw Kilburn and Williams working on the hardware and Turing on the software. Williams concentrated his efforts on developing a new form of supplementary memory, a rotating magnetic drum, while Kilburn took the leading role in developing the other hardware. Turing designed the Mark I’s programming system, and went on to write the world’s first programming manual. The Mark I was operational in April 1949, although additional development continued as the year progressed. Ferranti, a Manchester engineering firm, contracted to build a marketable version of the computer, and the basic designs for the new machine were handed over to Ferranti in July 1949. The very first Ferranti computer was installed in Turing’s Computing Machine Laboratory in February 1951 (Fig. 23.2), a few weeks before the earliest American-built marketable computer, the UNIVAC I, became available.
Per-Erik Werner
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199205530
- eISBN:
- 9780191718076
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199205530.003.0007
- Subject:
- Physics, Condensed Matter Physics / Materials
Assigning hkl indices to the peaks in the powder diffraction pattern is the essential first stage of the data analysis for structure solution. This chapter begins by outlining the basic relationships ...
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Assigning hkl indices to the peaks in the powder diffraction pattern is the essential first stage of the data analysis for structure solution. This chapter begins by outlining the basic relationships linking the positions of the Bragg peaks to the underlying crystal lattice and shows why translating observed peak positions into unit cell parameters is a non-trivial operation. Three quite distinct indexing strategies, as used in the programs ITO, DICVOL, and TREOR, are discussed in detail and practical reasons for utilising more than one indexing program are given. Considerable attention is paid to the effect that measurement errors can have upon the indexing process and figures of merit for assessing potential solutions are clearly explained. The impact of impurity lines is explained and modern strategies for handling such impurity lines discussed. The importance of databases for relating determined unit cell parameters to known phases within a sample is also assessed.Less
Assigning hkl indices to the peaks in the powder diffraction pattern is the essential first stage of the data analysis for structure solution. This chapter begins by outlining the basic relationships linking the positions of the Bragg peaks to the underlying crystal lattice and shows why translating observed peak positions into unit cell parameters is a non-trivial operation. Three quite distinct indexing strategies, as used in the programs ITO, DICVOL, and TREOR, are discussed in detail and practical reasons for utilising more than one indexing program are given. Considerable attention is paid to the effect that measurement errors can have upon the indexing process and figures of merit for assessing potential solutions are clearly explained. The impact of impurity lines is explained and modern strategies for handling such impurity lines discussed. The importance of databases for relating determined unit cell parameters to known phases within a sample is also assessed.
Stephen M. Kosslyn
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195311846
- eISBN:
- 9780199847075
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195311846.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Cognitive Psychology
Graphs have become a fixture of everyday life, used in scientific and business publications, in magazines and newspapers, on television, on billboards, and even on cereal boxes. Nonetheless, ...
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Graphs have become a fixture of everyday life, used in scientific and business publications, in magazines and newspapers, on television, on billboards, and even on cereal boxes. Nonetheless, surprisingly few graphs communicate effectively, and most graphs fail because they do not take into account the goals, needs, and abilities of the viewers. This book addresses these problems by presenting eight psychological principles for constructing effective graphs. Each principle is solidly rooted both in the scientific literature on how we perceive and comprehend graphs and in general facts about how our eyes and brains process visual information. The author uses these eight psychological principles as the basis for hundreds of specific recommendations that serve as a concrete, step-by-step guide to deciding whether a graph is an appropriate display to use, choosing the correct type of graph for a specific type of data and message, and then constructing graphs that will be understood at a glance. The book includes a complete review of the scientific literature on graph perception and comprehension, appendices that provide a quick tutorial on basic statistics, and a checklist for evaluating computer-graphics programs.Less
Graphs have become a fixture of everyday life, used in scientific and business publications, in magazines and newspapers, on television, on billboards, and even on cereal boxes. Nonetheless, surprisingly few graphs communicate effectively, and most graphs fail because they do not take into account the goals, needs, and abilities of the viewers. This book addresses these problems by presenting eight psychological principles for constructing effective graphs. Each principle is solidly rooted both in the scientific literature on how we perceive and comprehend graphs and in general facts about how our eyes and brains process visual information. The author uses these eight psychological principles as the basis for hundreds of specific recommendations that serve as a concrete, step-by-step guide to deciding whether a graph is an appropriate display to use, choosing the correct type of graph for a specific type of data and message, and then constructing graphs that will be understood at a glance. The book includes a complete review of the scientific literature on graph perception and comprehension, appendices that provide a quick tutorial on basic statistics, and a checklist for evaluating computer-graphics programs.
Wendy Hui Kyong Chun
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262062749
- eISBN:
- 9780262273343
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262062749.003.0032
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This chapter briefly discusses the different conceptions of program and programmability in the digital computer field; the discussion continues with two different grammatical definitions of the term ...
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This chapter briefly discusses the different conceptions of program and programmability in the digital computer field; the discussion continues with two different grammatical definitions of the term “program,” verb and noun. It also focuses on ENIAC, the first working electronic digital computer. The chapter describes the requirements and the process of programming the analog and digital computer machines along with the works and arguments of various computer scientists. It furthermore states that programming an analog computer is descriptive while programming a digital one is prescriptive. The conclusion explains how the programmability concept affected the world of computers, from quantum computers to biology computing fields like DNA and RNA computing.Less
This chapter briefly discusses the different conceptions of program and programmability in the digital computer field; the discussion continues with two different grammatical definitions of the term “program,” verb and noun. It also focuses on ENIAC, the first working electronic digital computer. The chapter describes the requirements and the process of programming the analog and digital computer machines along with the works and arguments of various computer scientists. It furthermore states that programming an analog computer is descriptive while programming a digital one is prescriptive. The conclusion explains how the programmability concept affected the world of computers, from quantum computers to biology computing fields like DNA and RNA computing.
Jack Copeland
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198747826
- eISBN:
- 9780191916946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198747826.003.0029
- Subject:
- Computer Science, History of Computer Science
The modern computer age began on 21 June 1948, when the first electronic universal stored-program computer successfully ran its first program. Built in Manchester, this ancestral computer was the ...
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The modern computer age began on 21 June 1948, when the first electronic universal stored-program computer successfully ran its first program. Built in Manchester, this ancestral computer was the world’s first universal Turing machine in hardware. Fittingly, it was called simply ‘Baby’. The story of Turing’s involvement with Baby and with its successors at Manchester is a tangled one. The world’s first electronic stored-program digital computer ran its first program in the summer of 1948 (Fig. 20.1). ‘A small electronic digital computing machine has been operating successfully for some weeks in the Royal Society Computing Machine Laboratory’, wrote Baby’s designers, Freddie Williams and Tom Kilburn, in the letter to the scientific periodical Nature that announced their success to the world. Williams, a native of the Manchester area, had spent his war years working on radar in rural Worcestershire. Kilburn, his assistant, was a bluntspeaking Yorkshireman. By the end of the fighting there wasn’t much that, between them, they didn’t know about the state of the art in electronics. In December 1945 the two friends returned to the north of England to pioneer the modern computer. Baby was a classic case of a small-scale university pilot project that led to successful commercial development by an external company. The Manchester engineering firm Ferranti built its Ferranti Mark I computer to Williams’s and Kilburn’s design: this was the earliest commercially available electronic digital computer. The first Ferranti rolled out of the factory in February 1951. UNIVAC I, the earliest computer to go on the market in the United States, came a close second: the first one was delivered a few weeks later, in March 1951. Williams and Kilburn developed a high-speed memory for Baby that went on to become a mainstay of computing worldwide. It consisted of cathode-ray tubes resembling small television tubes. Data (zeros and ones) were stored as a scatter of dots on each tube’s screen: a small focused dot represented ‘1’ and a larger blurry dot represented ‘0’. The Williams tube memory, as the invention was soon called, was also used in Baby’s immediate successors, built at Manchester University and by Ferranti Ltd.
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The modern computer age began on 21 June 1948, when the first electronic universal stored-program computer successfully ran its first program. Built in Manchester, this ancestral computer was the world’s first universal Turing machine in hardware. Fittingly, it was called simply ‘Baby’. The story of Turing’s involvement with Baby and with its successors at Manchester is a tangled one. The world’s first electronic stored-program digital computer ran its first program in the summer of 1948 (Fig. 20.1). ‘A small electronic digital computing machine has been operating successfully for some weeks in the Royal Society Computing Machine Laboratory’, wrote Baby’s designers, Freddie Williams and Tom Kilburn, in the letter to the scientific periodical Nature that announced their success to the world. Williams, a native of the Manchester area, had spent his war years working on radar in rural Worcestershire. Kilburn, his assistant, was a bluntspeaking Yorkshireman. By the end of the fighting there wasn’t much that, between them, they didn’t know about the state of the art in electronics. In December 1945 the two friends returned to the north of England to pioneer the modern computer. Baby was a classic case of a small-scale university pilot project that led to successful commercial development by an external company. The Manchester engineering firm Ferranti built its Ferranti Mark I computer to Williams’s and Kilburn’s design: this was the earliest commercially available electronic digital computer. The first Ferranti rolled out of the factory in February 1951. UNIVAC I, the earliest computer to go on the market in the United States, came a close second: the first one was delivered a few weeks later, in March 1951. Williams and Kilburn developed a high-speed memory for Baby that went on to become a mainstay of computing worldwide. It consisted of cathode-ray tubes resembling small television tubes. Data (zeros and ones) were stored as a scatter of dots on each tube’s screen: a small focused dot represented ‘1’ and a larger blurry dot represented ‘0’. The Williams tube memory, as the invention was soon called, was also used in Baby’s immediate successors, built at Manchester University and by Ferranti Ltd.
Hector J. Levesque
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262016995
- eISBN:
- 9780262301411
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262016995.001.0001
- Subject:
- Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
This book guides students through an exploration of the idea that thinking might be understood as a form of computation. Students make the connection between thinking and computing by learning to ...
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This book guides students through an exploration of the idea that thinking might be understood as a form of computation. Students make the connection between thinking and computing by learning to write computer programs for a variety of tasks that require thought, including solving puzzles, understanding natural language, recognizing objects in visual scenes, planning courses of action, and playing strategic games. The material is presented with minimal technicalities and is accessible to undergraduate students with no specialized knowledge or technical background beyond high school mathematics. Students use Prolog, learning to express what they need as a Prolog program and letting Prolog search for answers. After an introduction to the basic concepts, the book offers three chapters on Prolog, covering back-chaining, programs and queries, and how to write the sorts of Prolog programs used in the book. The book follows this with case studies of tasks that appear to require thought, then looks beyond Prolog to consider learning, explaining, and propositional reasoning. Most of the chapters conclude with short bibliographic notes and exercises.Less
This book guides students through an exploration of the idea that thinking might be understood as a form of computation. Students make the connection between thinking and computing by learning to write computer programs for a variety of tasks that require thought, including solving puzzles, understanding natural language, recognizing objects in visual scenes, planning courses of action, and playing strategic games. The material is presented with minimal technicalities and is accessible to undergraduate students with no specialized knowledge or technical background beyond high school mathematics. Students use Prolog, learning to express what they need as a Prolog program and letting Prolog search for answers. After an introduction to the basic concepts, the book offers three chapters on Prolog, covering back-chaining, programs and queries, and how to write the sorts of Prolog programs used in the book. The book follows this with case studies of tasks that appear to require thought, then looks beyond Prolog to consider learning, explaining, and propositional reasoning. Most of the chapters conclude with short bibliographic notes and exercises.
