When Computers Filled The Room
This module considers how the idea of ‘information’ as a thing distinct from the message emerged, how information became a measure of entropy and thus something that could be computed. This means we’ll have to think about the telephone network(s), business tabulation machines, World War II research into ballistics, codes, and cypers.
Things to Read and Annotate and By When
Add to your calendar:
- Read by November 12: Vannevar Bush’s As We May Think. Then you will select three articles to explore from any of the following:
- any individual chapter in ‘Computing before Computers’
- Bollmer ‘Networks Before The Internet’
- Turing ‘Computing Machinery and Intelligence’
Key Dates & Topics
Add to your calendar:
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Nov 3: Information Theory
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Nov 5: codes & codebreaking
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Nov 10: Analogue computers, Digital Computers, Engima, Colossus, Bletchley Park
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Nov 12: Précis Note 3
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Nov 17: Business Machines; Wiring the World