It Began with Babbage: The Genesis of Computer Science

346 Pages·2014·2.02 MB·English

by  Subrata Dasgupta

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It Began with Babbage
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It Began with Babbage
The Genesis of Computer Science
Subrata Dasgupta
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1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dasgupta, Subrata.
It began with Babbage : the genesis of computer science / Subrata Dasgupta.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978–0–19–930941–2 (alk. paper)
1. Computer science—History—19th century. 2. Computer science—History—20th century.
I. Title. II. Title: Genesis of computer science, 1819–1969.
QA76.17.D36 2014
004.09—dc23
2013023202

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
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To Amiya Kumar Bagchi
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Contents

Acknowledgments ix
Prologue 1
1. Leibniz’s Th eme, Babbage’s Dream 9
2. Weaving Algebraic Patterns 17
3. Missing Links 28
4. Entscheidungsproblem:  What’s in a Word? 4 4
5. Toward a Holy Grail 60
6. Intermezzo 83
7. A Tangled Web of Inventions 8 9
8. A Paradigm Is Born 108
9. A Liminal Artifact of an Uncommon Nature 1 34
10. Glimpses of a Scientifi c Style 1 49
11. I Compute, Th erefore I Am 1 57
12. “Th e Best Way to Design . . .” 1 78
13. Language Games 1 90
14. Going Heuristic 2 25
15. An Explosion of Subparadigms 2 41
16. Aesthetica 2 65
Epilogue 277
Dramatis personae 287
Bibliography 295
Index 311
vii
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