Digital computer: Impact on the social sciences (2001)
Authors
Abstract
The invention of the computer has been described as the third information revolution—after the advent of writing and the printing press. Computers transformed our world, in reality and fi ction: from online library catalogues and the World Wide Web to the vision of machines that will eventually surpass humans in intelligence and even replace us by self-replicating computers divorced from biological evolution. This revolution was diffi cult to foretell. Howard Aiken, the Harvard mathematician and builder of the Mark I calculator, predicted in 1948 that there would be no commercial market for electronic computers; he estimated that the USA would need only five or six such machines, but no more. As early as the 1960s, electrical engineer Douglas Carl Engelbart had designed the fi rst interactive computer tools, including the mouse, on-screen edi- ting, screen windows, hypertext, and electronic mail. However, at this time, human-computer interaction still seemed science fi ction—computers were for processing punched cards, not for interacting with humans. The impact computers had on society and science was diffi cult to ima- gine, and we may be in the same position with respect to the future. The impact goes in both directions: computers and humans coevolve. This coevolution is il- lustrated by the work of Charles Babbage (1791–1871), the English mathematician who is often credited with the invention of the digital computer.
Bibliographic entry
Gigerenzer, G. (2001). Digital computer: Impact on the social sciences. In N. J. Smelser & P. B. Baltes (Eds.), International encyclopedia of the social and behavioral sciences (Vol. 6, pp. 3684-3688). Amsterdam: Elsevier. (Full text)
Miscellaneous
| Publication year | 2001 | |
|---|---|---|
| Document type: | In book | |
| Publication status: | Published | |
| External URL: | http://library.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/ft/gg/GG_Digital_2001.pdf View | |
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