Communist Czechoslovakia offered political asylum to over 15,000 people, mainly from Greece, Ital... more Communist Czechoslovakia offered political asylum to over 15,000 people, mainly from Greece, Italy, and Spain, but also to a few Americans, Frenchmen, Iranians, and the like. Some of these refugees were prominent leftist scientists with an outstanding political career and background. One such person was George Wheeler, one of the creators of Roosevelt's New Deal policy and a close colleague of General Lucius D. Clay in post-war Germany, where he participated in the process of de-nazification and economic reconstruction. His career in the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences followed the typical course of a Western Marxist and a social sciences scholar. Wheeler succumbed to the Communist ideology, made an excellent academic career (his books were translated to several East European languages), and after 1968 returned to the USA where he pursued his academic career. Czechoslovakia also provided a temporary home to the electrical engineer Morton Nadler, who sensed that his career in th...
We present a historical commentary together with an English translation of a mathematical-philoso... more We present a historical commentary together with an English translation of a mathematical-philosophical paper by the Czech differential geometer and later proponent of a geometrized unified field theory Václav Hlavatý (1894-1969). The paper was published in 1924 at the height of interpretational debates about recent advancements in differential geometry triggered by the advent of Einstein's general theory of relativity. In the paper he argued against a naive generalization of analogical reasoning valid for curves and surfaces in three-dimensional Euclidean space to the case of higher-dimensional curved Riemannian spaces. Instead, he claimed, the only secure ground to arrive at results is analytical calculation. We briefly discuss the biographical circumstances of the composition of the paper and characterize its publication venue the journal Ruch filosofický. We also give a discussion of the mathematical background for Hlavatý's argument.
ABSTRACT The phrase “algorithmic language” is conspicuously associated with Algol, the acronym fi... more ABSTRACT The phrase “algorithmic language” is conspicuously associated with Algol, the acronym first used to name the programming language Algol 60, which originated through a cooperation between the ACM and Association for Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (GaMM) groups of programming specialists. One crucial meeting was the first joint meeting of the two groups, held in Zurich, 27 May to 2 June 1958. The report from this meeting, known as the Zurich Report, was made available to a wide audience through the Communications of the ACM in December 1958 as the “Preliminary Report- International Algebraic Language”1 and through the new German-based journal Numerische Mathematik as the “Report on the Algorithmic Language Algol by the ACM Committee on Programming Languages and the GaMM Committee on Programming”2 in December 1959, a year later. The two articles are basically identical, but their titles are not. Why the shift from “algebraic” (IAL) to “algorithmic” (Algol) in 1958 or 1959? Clearly, the community was searching for a word. Just like “procedure,” “information,” “code,” or “program,” the notion of an “algorithm” was one of the qualifications of choice to characterize the quintessence of computer science, at the time when Hartree's notion of “numerical analysis” no longer served the purpose.
Page 1. Mathematics throughout the ages Helena Durnová Change in progress: Notation and algorithm... more Page 1. Mathematics throughout the ages Helena Durnová Change in progress: Notation and algorithms In: : Mathematics throughout the ages. Contributions from the summer school and seminars on the history of mathematics ...
We present a historical commentary together with an English translation of a mathematical-philoso... more We present a historical commentary together with an English translation of a mathematical-philosophical paper by the Czech differential geometer and later proponent of a geometrized unified field theory Václav Hlavatý (1894–1969). The paper was published in 1924 at the height of interpretational debates about recent advancements in differential geometry triggered by the advent of Einstein's general theory of relativity. In the paper he argued against a naive generalization of analogical reasoning valid for curves and surfaces in three-dimensional Euclidean space to the case of higher-dimensional curved Riemannian spaces. Instead, he claimed, the only secure ground to arrive at results is analytical calculation. We briefly discuss the biographical circumstances of the composition of the paper and characterize its publication venue the journal Ruch filosofický. We also give a discussion of the mathematical background for Hlavatý's argument.
English abstract: In this article, we describe the journey of Václav Hlavatý (1894–1969) to mathe... more English abstract: In this article, we describe the journey of Václav Hlavatý (1894–1969) to mathematics. Hlavatý was not a genius mathematician as for example Hermann Minkowski or John von Neumann. With his work, however, he belongs to the elite mathematicians of the second half of the 20 th century.
In their societal impact, computers have grown way beyond their roots in mathematics and logic. T... more In their societal impact, computers have grown way beyond their roots in mathematics and logic. Their ubiquity since the late 20th century has increased the number and impact of several of the original questions raised by early computer scientists and practitioners: questions about their expected and intended behaviour, as Alan Turing did when asking whether machines can think; questions about their ontology, as John von Neumann did when asking what the computer and the human brain have in common; questions about their role in performing human tasks, as Norbert Wiener did when asking whether automatic translation is possible. With new technologies, the need for rethinking formal and technological issues is crucial. The computerisation of our lives can hardly leave anyone without opinion. HaPoC's appeal to historical and philosophical reflection is an invitation to all: designers and manufacturers, computer practitioners, users and artists, logicians and mathematicians, and with the increasing ubiquity of the machine every citizen, with her own experience of the computer. HaPoC conferences aim to bring together researchers exploring the various aspects of the computer from historical or philosophical standpoint. With Nathan Ensmenger we may say that facts do not change, but our understanding of them does. The series aims at an interdisciplinary focus on computing, rooted in historical and philosophical viewpoints. The conference brings together researchers interested in the historical developments of computing, as well as those reflecting on the sociological and philosophical issues springing from the rise and ubiquity of computing machines in the contemporary landscape. Past editions of the conference have successfully presented a variety of voices, resulting in fruitful dialogue between researchers of different backgrounds and characteristics. Celebrating the revolutionary exhibition Computer Graphic held in Brno in the spring of 1968, HaPoC emphatically extends the invitation to its fourth international conference to reflections on computers and art.
Comparative Technology Transfer and Society, Jan 1, 2009
The development and transfer of computing technology in postwar Czechoslovakia and Finland, two c... more The development and transfer of computing technology in postwar Czechoslovakia and Finland, two countries lying directly on the border between the two cold war blocs, were shaped by a mix of factors, from the political to the technological, in both countries. This article describes and analyzes the factors influencing the transfer of computing technology in cold war Europe on the basis of comparison of the national histories of these two frontier countries. Although the first computers were put into operation in the two countries during the second half of the 1950s, Czechoslovakia's industrial tradition concealed its gradual lagging behind Finland. During the postwar decade, the possibility of the transfer of computing technology and practices was a crucial factor in the spreading of computing technology in both countries. It was the commercial transfer of computers from the West to Finland that made their availability there, until the mid-1970s, relatively grow to three times that of Czechoslovakia. However, while the physical transfer of actual computers across the Iron Curtain was difficult, the intangible transfer of related ideas, designs, and practices was much easier. Moreover, it was not only politics that affected this technological development, but technology was also used to affect politics and form political ties.
Inventing Europe and Tensions of Europe Working Paper Series, 2010
Although relatively independent development of computing technology in
Czechoslovakia can be tr... more Although relatively independent development of computing technology in
Czechoslovakia can be traced to the 1920s and 1930s, the field of digital computers
only took off under the influence of Antonín Svoboda (1907‐1980) in the late 1940s.
As the lingua franca of computer designers, programmers, and computer scientists
coincides with the language of the Soviet bloc's greatest enemy, the USA, it is not
surprising that computers also implicitly carried with them the sense of freedom.
The freedom connected with computers is not associated just with the
straightforward sense of escaping Czechoslovakia, although most employers from
the Institute for Mathematical Machines followed Antonín Svoboda and emigrated
to the "West", mostly the USA. Paradoxically, this formerly "bourgeois" discipline
was a refuge for the people who, not being of working‐class descend, could not
study the humanities under communist government.
A slight revision of the paper presented at the SHOT 2009 Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh
In the history of computation, the reflection over language plays an important role in its founda... more In the history of computation, the reflection over language plays an important role in its foundational days, still to be fully investigated. In particular, the effort to find a perfect, universal language apt to sustain transnational communication among scientists was often directed towards the reduction of semantic ambiguity and cultural neutrality. The result is a class of non-natural languages created in the same period and sometimes by the same scientists involved in logic, mathematics, and computability, such as Descartes, Leibniz and Peano. Finally, as a special case, we will analyse the use of the metaphor of Esperanto within the history of Computer Science.
Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE, Jan 1, 2010
After World War II, Antonín Svoboda returned to Czechoslovakia with experience in building analog... more After World War II, Antonín Svoboda returned to Czechoslovakia with experience in building analog computers, a keen interest in digital computing technology, and aspirations to establish a computer industry in his homeland. Svoboda's original ideas were further developed by his students and colleagues and reflected in the design of SAPO, the first Czechoslovakian computer, in the 1950s.
Computing and cybernetics are two fields with many intersections, which often leads to confusion.... more Computing and cybernetics are two fields with many intersections, which often leads to confusion. As Slava Gerovitch has shown (cf. From Newspeak to Cyberspeak, MIT Press, 2002; ‘Feedback of Fear’, presentation at 23rd ICHST Congress, Budapest, July 28, 2009), cybernetics and its developments were heavily interconnected with politics on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Computing, on the other hand, was promoted on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and compared to cybernetics provided a more neutral ground for the exchange of ideas and concepts. The most neutral part of computing is connected with those parts that are close to mathematic: with programming rather than with the machines themselves. When programmers realised the benefits of sharing the outcome of their work, computer programmes or software, they opted for a programming language “as close as possible to mathematical notation”. In my contribution, I will examine how the neutrality of such language –the language of mathematics– facilitated sharing practices, ideas, and results of the endeavour among computer scientists. Special attention will be paid to the spread of the ideas of the Dutch computer programmer Edsger W. Dijkstra and his Discipline of programming and related works in the community of computer scientists in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and 1980s. Introduction
Communist Czechoslovakia offered political asylum to over 15,000 people, mainly from Greece, Ital... more Communist Czechoslovakia offered political asylum to over 15,000 people, mainly from Greece, Italy, and Spain, but also to a few Americans, Frenchmen, Iranians, and the like. Some of these refugees were prominent leftist scientists with an outstanding political career and background. One such person was George Wheeler, one of the creators of Roosevelt's New Deal policy and a close colleague of General Lucius D. Clay in post-war Germany, where he participated in the process of de-nazification and economic reconstruction. His career in the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences followed the typical course of a Western Marxist and a social sciences scholar. Wheeler succumbed to the Communist ideology, made an excellent academic career (his books were translated to several East European languages), and after 1968 returned to the USA where he pursued his academic career. Czechoslovakia also provided a temporary home to the electrical engineer Morton Nadler, who sensed that his career in th...
We present a historical commentary together with an English translation of a mathematical-philoso... more We present a historical commentary together with an English translation of a mathematical-philosophical paper by the Czech differential geometer and later proponent of a geometrized unified field theory Václav Hlavatý (1894-1969). The paper was published in 1924 at the height of interpretational debates about recent advancements in differential geometry triggered by the advent of Einstein's general theory of relativity. In the paper he argued against a naive generalization of analogical reasoning valid for curves and surfaces in three-dimensional Euclidean space to the case of higher-dimensional curved Riemannian spaces. Instead, he claimed, the only secure ground to arrive at results is analytical calculation. We briefly discuss the biographical circumstances of the composition of the paper and characterize its publication venue the journal Ruch filosofický. We also give a discussion of the mathematical background for Hlavatý's argument.
ABSTRACT The phrase “algorithmic language” is conspicuously associated with Algol, the acronym fi... more ABSTRACT The phrase “algorithmic language” is conspicuously associated with Algol, the acronym first used to name the programming language Algol 60, which originated through a cooperation between the ACM and Association for Applied Mathematics and Mechanics (GaMM) groups of programming specialists. One crucial meeting was the first joint meeting of the two groups, held in Zurich, 27 May to 2 June 1958. The report from this meeting, known as the Zurich Report, was made available to a wide audience through the Communications of the ACM in December 1958 as the “Preliminary Report- International Algebraic Language”1 and through the new German-based journal Numerische Mathematik as the “Report on the Algorithmic Language Algol by the ACM Committee on Programming Languages and the GaMM Committee on Programming”2 in December 1959, a year later. The two articles are basically identical, but their titles are not. Why the shift from “algebraic” (IAL) to “algorithmic” (Algol) in 1958 or 1959? Clearly, the community was searching for a word. Just like “procedure,” “information,” “code,” or “program,” the notion of an “algorithm” was one of the qualifications of choice to characterize the quintessence of computer science, at the time when Hartree's notion of “numerical analysis” no longer served the purpose.
Page 1. Mathematics throughout the ages Helena Durnová Change in progress: Notation and algorithm... more Page 1. Mathematics throughout the ages Helena Durnová Change in progress: Notation and algorithms In: : Mathematics throughout the ages. Contributions from the summer school and seminars on the history of mathematics ...
We present a historical commentary together with an English translation of a mathematical-philoso... more We present a historical commentary together with an English translation of a mathematical-philosophical paper by the Czech differential geometer and later proponent of a geometrized unified field theory Václav Hlavatý (1894–1969). The paper was published in 1924 at the height of interpretational debates about recent advancements in differential geometry triggered by the advent of Einstein's general theory of relativity. In the paper he argued against a naive generalization of analogical reasoning valid for curves and surfaces in three-dimensional Euclidean space to the case of higher-dimensional curved Riemannian spaces. Instead, he claimed, the only secure ground to arrive at results is analytical calculation. We briefly discuss the biographical circumstances of the composition of the paper and characterize its publication venue the journal Ruch filosofický. We also give a discussion of the mathematical background for Hlavatý's argument.
English abstract: In this article, we describe the journey of Václav Hlavatý (1894–1969) to mathe... more English abstract: In this article, we describe the journey of Václav Hlavatý (1894–1969) to mathematics. Hlavatý was not a genius mathematician as for example Hermann Minkowski or John von Neumann. With his work, however, he belongs to the elite mathematicians of the second half of the 20 th century.
In their societal impact, computers have grown way beyond their roots in mathematics and logic. T... more In their societal impact, computers have grown way beyond their roots in mathematics and logic. Their ubiquity since the late 20th century has increased the number and impact of several of the original questions raised by early computer scientists and practitioners: questions about their expected and intended behaviour, as Alan Turing did when asking whether machines can think; questions about their ontology, as John von Neumann did when asking what the computer and the human brain have in common; questions about their role in performing human tasks, as Norbert Wiener did when asking whether automatic translation is possible. With new technologies, the need for rethinking formal and technological issues is crucial. The computerisation of our lives can hardly leave anyone without opinion. HaPoC's appeal to historical and philosophical reflection is an invitation to all: designers and manufacturers, computer practitioners, users and artists, logicians and mathematicians, and with the increasing ubiquity of the machine every citizen, with her own experience of the computer. HaPoC conferences aim to bring together researchers exploring the various aspects of the computer from historical or philosophical standpoint. With Nathan Ensmenger we may say that facts do not change, but our understanding of them does. The series aims at an interdisciplinary focus on computing, rooted in historical and philosophical viewpoints. The conference brings together researchers interested in the historical developments of computing, as well as those reflecting on the sociological and philosophical issues springing from the rise and ubiquity of computing machines in the contemporary landscape. Past editions of the conference have successfully presented a variety of voices, resulting in fruitful dialogue between researchers of different backgrounds and characteristics. Celebrating the revolutionary exhibition Computer Graphic held in Brno in the spring of 1968, HaPoC emphatically extends the invitation to its fourth international conference to reflections on computers and art.
Comparative Technology Transfer and Society, Jan 1, 2009
The development and transfer of computing technology in postwar Czechoslovakia and Finland, two c... more The development and transfer of computing technology in postwar Czechoslovakia and Finland, two countries lying directly on the border between the two cold war blocs, were shaped by a mix of factors, from the political to the technological, in both countries. This article describes and analyzes the factors influencing the transfer of computing technology in cold war Europe on the basis of comparison of the national histories of these two frontier countries. Although the first computers were put into operation in the two countries during the second half of the 1950s, Czechoslovakia's industrial tradition concealed its gradual lagging behind Finland. During the postwar decade, the possibility of the transfer of computing technology and practices was a crucial factor in the spreading of computing technology in both countries. It was the commercial transfer of computers from the West to Finland that made their availability there, until the mid-1970s, relatively grow to three times that of Czechoslovakia. However, while the physical transfer of actual computers across the Iron Curtain was difficult, the intangible transfer of related ideas, designs, and practices was much easier. Moreover, it was not only politics that affected this technological development, but technology was also used to affect politics and form political ties.
Inventing Europe and Tensions of Europe Working Paper Series, 2010
Although relatively independent development of computing technology in
Czechoslovakia can be tr... more Although relatively independent development of computing technology in
Czechoslovakia can be traced to the 1920s and 1930s, the field of digital computers
only took off under the influence of Antonín Svoboda (1907‐1980) in the late 1940s.
As the lingua franca of computer designers, programmers, and computer scientists
coincides with the language of the Soviet bloc's greatest enemy, the USA, it is not
surprising that computers also implicitly carried with them the sense of freedom.
The freedom connected with computers is not associated just with the
straightforward sense of escaping Czechoslovakia, although most employers from
the Institute for Mathematical Machines followed Antonín Svoboda and emigrated
to the "West", mostly the USA. Paradoxically, this formerly "bourgeois" discipline
was a refuge for the people who, not being of working‐class descend, could not
study the humanities under communist government.
A slight revision of the paper presented at the SHOT 2009 Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh
In the history of computation, the reflection over language plays an important role in its founda... more In the history of computation, the reflection over language plays an important role in its foundational days, still to be fully investigated. In particular, the effort to find a perfect, universal language apt to sustain transnational communication among scientists was often directed towards the reduction of semantic ambiguity and cultural neutrality. The result is a class of non-natural languages created in the same period and sometimes by the same scientists involved in logic, mathematics, and computability, such as Descartes, Leibniz and Peano. Finally, as a special case, we will analyse the use of the metaphor of Esperanto within the history of Computer Science.
Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE, Jan 1, 2010
After World War II, Antonín Svoboda returned to Czechoslovakia with experience in building analog... more After World War II, Antonín Svoboda returned to Czechoslovakia with experience in building analog computers, a keen interest in digital computing technology, and aspirations to establish a computer industry in his homeland. Svoboda's original ideas were further developed by his students and colleagues and reflected in the design of SAPO, the first Czechoslovakian computer, in the 1950s.
Computing and cybernetics are two fields with many intersections, which often leads to confusion.... more Computing and cybernetics are two fields with many intersections, which often leads to confusion. As Slava Gerovitch has shown (cf. From Newspeak to Cyberspeak, MIT Press, 2002; ‘Feedback of Fear’, presentation at 23rd ICHST Congress, Budapest, July 28, 2009), cybernetics and its developments were heavily interconnected with politics on both sides of the Iron Curtain. Computing, on the other hand, was promoted on both sides of the Iron Curtain, and compared to cybernetics provided a more neutral ground for the exchange of ideas and concepts. The most neutral part of computing is connected with those parts that are close to mathematic: with programming rather than with the machines themselves. When programmers realised the benefits of sharing the outcome of their work, computer programmes or software, they opted for a programming language “as close as possible to mathematical notation”. In my contribution, I will examine how the neutrality of such language –the language of mathematics– facilitated sharing practices, ideas, and results of the endeavour among computer scientists. Special attention will be paid to the spread of the ideas of the Dutch computer programmer Edsger W. Dijkstra and his Discipline of programming and related works in the community of computer scientists in Czechoslovakia in the 1970s and 1980s. Introduction
When: 13 – 16 June 2019
Where: Masaryk University, Brno
Invited speakers:
Jan Surman, Moscow,... more When: 13 – 16 June 2019 Where: Masaryk University, Brno
Invited speakers: Jan Surman, Moscow, RU Marek Ďurčanský, Praha, CZ
Please, register via e-mail by 15 May 2019, indicating also whether you would like to give a talk, preferably including the title (and an abstract) of your talk. Abstracts received by 1 June 2019 will be included in book of abstracts.
This year’s workshop is held between the occasions of 100th anniversary of the beginning of the W... more This year’s workshop is held between the occasions of 100th anniversary of the beginning of the WWI and 70th anniversary of the end of WWII. We want to discuss what crucial impact all global conflicts – the WWI, WWII and Cold War, as well as other war conflicts – have had on the development of science in general and mathematics in the first instance.
Key phenomena to be described are those of continuity and discontinuity. Wars inevitably bring many personal tragedies and that is why discontinuity forms sadly inseparable part of many personally focused research topics. Hatred, expediency or cruel coincidences could have tragic consequences during the war times.
Apart from analysing the individual cases, stories can be explored within different frameworks (local, national, and international) and from the different points of view. We would like to focus on the following features: How did the wars changed the research practices in mathematics and how was it possible (if ever) to keep the research going during wartime? What was the role of the state? When, why and how did it support research, when the priority of the government lay in the war effort? What was the role of learned societies and how did this differ in the different countries and periods of time? What ethical and political/diplomatical issues were raised during wars? How did it influence the research? Does the war stimulate research, e.g. in accelerating new methods, or hampering the overall conditions of research?
Uploads
Papers by Helena Durnova
Czechoslovakia can be traced to the 1920s and 1930s, the field of digital computers
only took off under the influence of Antonín Svoboda (1907‐1980) in the late 1940s.
As the lingua franca of computer designers, programmers, and computer scientists
coincides with the language of the Soviet bloc's greatest enemy, the USA, it is not
surprising that computers also implicitly carried with them the sense of freedom.
The freedom connected with computers is not associated just with the
straightforward sense of escaping Czechoslovakia, although most employers from
the Institute for Mathematical Machines followed Antonín Svoboda and emigrated
to the "West", mostly the USA. Paradoxically, this formerly "bourgeois" discipline
was a refuge for the people who, not being of working‐class descend, could not
study the humanities under communist government.
A slight revision of the paper presented at the SHOT 2009 Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh
Introduction
Czechoslovakia can be traced to the 1920s and 1930s, the field of digital computers
only took off under the influence of Antonín Svoboda (1907‐1980) in the late 1940s.
As the lingua franca of computer designers, programmers, and computer scientists
coincides with the language of the Soviet bloc's greatest enemy, the USA, it is not
surprising that computers also implicitly carried with them the sense of freedom.
The freedom connected with computers is not associated just with the
straightforward sense of escaping Czechoslovakia, although most employers from
the Institute for Mathematical Machines followed Antonín Svoboda and emigrated
to the "West", mostly the USA. Paradoxically, this formerly "bourgeois" discipline
was a refuge for the people who, not being of working‐class descend, could not
study the humanities under communist government.
A slight revision of the paper presented at the SHOT 2009 Annual Meeting in Pittsburgh
Introduction
Where: Masaryk University, Brno
Invited speakers:
Jan Surman, Moscow, RU
Marek Ďurčanský, Praha, CZ
Please, register via e-mail by 15 May 2019, indicating also whether you would like to give a talk, preferably including the title (and an abstract) of your talk. Abstracts received by 1 June 2019 will be included in book of abstracts.
Webpage: https://math-and-society.webnode.com/
Key phenomena to be described are those of continuity and discontinuity. Wars inevitably bring many personal tragedies and that is why discontinuity forms sadly inseparable part of many personally focused research topics. Hatred, expediency or cruel coincidences could have tragic consequences during the war times.
Apart from analysing the individual cases, stories can be explored within different frameworks (local, national, and international) and from the different points of view. We would like to focus on the following features: How did the wars changed the research practices in mathematics and how was it possible (if ever) to keep the research going during wartime? What was the role of the state? When, why and how did it support research, when the priority of the government lay in the war effort? What was the role of learned societies and how did this differ in the different countries and periods of time? What ethical and political/diplomatical issues were raised during wars? How did it influence the research? Does the war stimulate research, e.g. in accelerating new methods, or hampering the overall conditions of research?