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From: dmcallis@bambam.UUCP (David McAllister)
Newsgroups: comp.edu,sci.edu,sci.math
Subject: Re: Questions about the history of computing...
Message-ID: <113@bambam.UUCP>
Date: 7 Aug 89 17:31:19 GMT
References: <9086@thorin.cs.unc.edu>
Organization: Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp.
Lines: 25

From article <9086@thorin.cs.unc.edu>, by bts@evergreen.cs.unc.edu (Bruce Smith):
> When people talk about the history of computing or the history
> of computer science, the discussion is usually about hardware.
> Some AI folks talk about philosophical traditions and, some NA
> folks talk about mathematics before computers.  What about the
> history (more generally) of software before computers?

I read a Scientific American article recently from a few years back (July 1987?)
about the history of the U.S. Census Bureau. I think it's exactly the stuff
you're looking for. It had information on their hardware, things like mechanical
card counters, etc., and it also described algorithms that people used to get
whatever results they needed. A perfect example of the kind of thing you're
interested in is the radix sort, a software algorithm modeled after a physical
process. To sort a stack of cards, often computer punched cards, there were
slots and holes punched in the top of the cards that rods could be slid through,
pulling up cards with holes and leaving those with slots. Then the cards on the
rod were placed in a group behind the other ones and the rod was slid into the
next hole. This process continued through all the holes, sorting all the cards
according to the binary number in the slots and holes in the card. This same
process is used for the nlog(n) computer radix sort.

-- 
David McAllister, SLC, Utah        | "Slow neutrons at play"
Evans & Sutherland Computer Corp.  |
bambam!esunix!dmcallis@cs.utah.edu |