IP: Re Statue of a computer scientist

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> To: farber () cis upenn edu
> Subject: Re: IP: Statue of a computer scientist
> Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2001 22:01:00 -0400
> From: "Mike O'Dell" <mo () ccr org>
>
>
> many years ago, the Journal of the British Computer Society published
> a collection of Turing's papers and notes along with some
> history-of-science analysis.
>
> what was truly stunning was that Turning not only invented the general
> purpose computer as we now understand it, but he also invented
> *programming* and even *software engineering* as we now understand it.
> the notes go on at length about the need for subroutines, subroutine
> libraries for common functions, and he even invented debugging and the
> concept of a debugger program.  he also described what we today called
> a relocating assembler and linker - inventing the whole notion of
> "relocation" as an "obvious" aside.
>
> he had the design for a complete computer almost done, and he was fighting
> for resources to build it, but caught up in his other problems it
> fell to others to build what was probably a lesser machine.
>
> I hope all the BCS stuff got collected and republished somewhere,
> and if someone knows where I'd love to know as I haven't been
> able to find it.
>
> Reading those notes makes it abundantly clear that there's very little
> in modern computing that Alan Turing didn't invent or at least
> fortell.
>
> His loss was an incalculable tragedy.
>
>         -mo



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