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Showing 6 articles by Allan Olley
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January 1, 2015
The SSEC First Electronic Machine on the Silver Screen
The IBM Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator (in use from 1948-1952) pioneered some features of the modern computer such as self-modifying instructions and stood on the indistinct dividing line between the modern computer and the calculating machines that came before. It was also a pioneer in...
December 6, 2013
History of IT at the History of Science Society 2013 Boston
The History of Science Society held its annual meeting two weeks ago (November 21st to November 24th) in Boston MA. The meeting celebrated among other things the centenary of the journal Isis, the organ around which the society was eventually formed. The meeting covered a broad range of topics in...
August 8, 2013
iCHSTM 2013
Almost two weeks ago I was at the 24th International Congress for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine (iCHSTM) in Manchester, England. At more than 1700 registered participants it may have been the largest gathering devoted to the history of science, technology and medicine ever. The...
December 31, 2012
The Turing Centenary - In Review
As 2012 closes, so does the Turing Centenary Year. The hundredth anniversary of Alan Turing's birth prompted many events, conferences and talks dedicated to Turing. A large list of such events was compiled by the Turing Centenary website. I had the privilege to participate in two such events. One...
April 18, 2012
It's a trap!
I listened to a radio program on the subject of trap streets. Fictitious streets, towns and other pieces of geography added to a map made copying detectable, since if the other map had been independently created it could not contain these inventions, a trap. This phenomenon has come into sharp...
January 25, 2011
"Go away kid you bother me..."
Today, January 25th 2011, marks the first anniversary of Herb Grosch's death. I was fortunate to have many chances to meet and talk with Herb Grosch over the course of my Graduate work. When I first met him Herb had just arrived at Toronto from Nevada and various other places. One of his first...