When Computers Were Human (62 page)

Read When Computers Were Human Online

Authors: David Alan Grier

BOOK: When Computers Were Human
11.22Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

50
. Budgets for the Nautical Almanac Office, 1850, 1851, OBSERVATORY-LOC.

51
. Comments of John P. Hale,
Congressional Globe
, n.s., no. 94, 32nd Cong., 1st sess., May 28, 1852, p. 1495.

52
. Ibid.

53
. Comments of George Badger,
Congressional Globe
, n.s., no. 94, 32nd Cong., 1st sess., May 28, 1852, p. 1495.

54
. Davis, C. H.,
Report of Lieutenant Charles H. Davis
(1852), pp. 7, 8; see also Davis, C. H., “Report on the Nautical Almanac” (1852).

55
. Charles Henry Davis to August W. Smith, November 5, 1850, OBSERVATORY-LOC.

56
.
William Mitchell to Joseph Winlock, February 9, 1858, OBSERVATORY-LOC.

57
.
American Ephemeris and Nautical Almanac
(1855–60), Washington, D.C., Government Printing Office.

58
. Davis, C. H.,
Life of Charles Henry Davis
, (1899), pp. 4, 102.

59
. Newcomb,
The Reminiscences of an Astronomer
, p. 65.

60
. Archibald, “P. G. Scheutz and Edvard Scheutz” (1947).

61
. Gould,
Reply to the Statement of the Trustees of the Dudley Observatory
(1859), p. 142; James,
Elites in Conflict
, p. 61.

62
. Gould,
Reply to the Statement of the Trustees of the Dudley Observatory
(1859), p. 141; see also
U.S. Naval Observatory Annual Report for 1858
.

63
. Gould,
Reply to the Statement of the Trustees of the Dudley Observatory
(1859), p. 141; Dudley Observatory Annual Report for 1864, p. 42.

64
. Gould,
Reply to the Statement of the Trustees of the Dudley Observatory
(1859), p. 141.

65
.
U.S. Naval Observatory Annual Report for 1858
.

66
. Ibid.

67
. Gould,
Reply to the Statement of the Trustees of the Dudley Observatory
(1859), p. 221.

68
. U.S. Nautical Almanac for 1859, p. 1.

69
. U.S. Nautical Almanac for 1860.

70
. Ibid.

71
. Herman,
A Hilltop in Foggy Bottom
, p. 17.

72
. C. H. Davis to his family, June 14, 1861, quoted in Davis, C. H.,
Life of Charles Henry Davis
(1899), p. 121.

73
. C. H. Davis to his family, July 21, 1861, quoted ibid., p. 151.

74
. C. H. Davis to his family, July 21, 1861, quoted ibid.

75
. C. H. Davis to his family, September 18, 1861, quoted ibid., p. 134; Theberge,
History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
, p. 420.

C
HAPTER
F
IVE

A C
ARPET FOR THE
C
OMPUTING
R
OOM

1
. Newcomb,
The Reminiscences of an Astronomer
, p. 342.

2
. Davis, C. H.,
Life of Charles Henry Davis
(1899), p. 102.

3
. Lowell, James Russell, “The Present Crisis” (1856).

4
. Davis,
The Coast Survey of the United States
(1849), p. 21.

5
. “Annual Report of the U.S. Coast Survey for 1844,” p. 29.

6
. Theberge,
History of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
, pp. 424ff.

7
. See boxes 24–28, Ordnance 1856–1866, DAHLGREN.

8
. Dupree,
Science in the Federal Government
, p. 120.

9
. Abbe, “Charles Schott.”

10
. Charles Saunders Peirce to Alexander Dallas Bache, August 11, 1862, Correspondence of the Director, COAST-SURVEY.

11
.
Annual Report of the U.S. Coast Survey for 1864, pp. 92–93, 222–23.

12
. See, for example, John Dahlgren to Commander Morris, March 1852, Correspondence 1852, DAHLGREN.

13
. An Act to Incorporate the National Academy of Sciences, March 3, 1863.

14
. Dupree,
Science in the Federal Government
, pp. 141–47.

15
. Quoted in Ebling, “Why Government Entered the Field of Crop Reporting and Forecasting.”

16
. Rasmussen and Baker,
The Department of Agriculture
, p. 6.

17
. Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1854–1855, pp. 30, 186.

18
. Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1851–1852, p. 168.

19
. Report of the Smithsonian Institution, 1856–1857, p. 28; Nebeker,
Calculating the Weather
, p. 13.

20
. “Statement of the Assistant to the Chief Signal Officer,” in Testimony, pp. 113–30, 114.

21
. Whithan,
A History of the United States Weather Bureau
, p. 19.

22
. “Examination of Cleveland Abbe,” in Testimony, pp. 247–63, 258.

23
. Bartky,
Selling the True Time
, p. 33.

24
. Ibid.

25
. Sears Cook Walker; Theberge,
History of the Commissioned Corps of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
, “The American Method of Longitude Determination,” note 12; Bartky,
Selling the True Time
, pp. 32ff.

26
. Annual Report of the Harvard Observatory for 1859, p. 5.

27
. Gauss,
Theory of the Motion of the Heavenly Bodies
.

28
. Davis, C. H.,
Life of Charles Henry Davis
(1899), p. 113.

29
. Annual Report of U.S. Coast Survey for 1872, p. 50.

30
. Annual Report of U.S. Coast Survey for 1868, p. 37.

31
. Jarrold and Fromm,
Time—The Great Teacher
.

32
. Doolittle obituary,
Evening Star
.

33
. Ibid.

34
. Ibid.

35
. Annual Report of U.S. Naval Almanac for 1870.

36
. Annual Report of U.S. Coast Survey for 1876, p. 81.

37
. Doolittle obituary,
Evening Star
.

38
. Charles Schott to Julius Hilgard, January 6, 1874, Report of the Computing Division 1869–1886, COAST-SURVEY.

39
. Aron, “‘To Barter Their Souls for Gold.'”

40
. Rotella,
From Home to Office
, pp. 15ff., 29.

41
. Arthur Searle to Charles W. Eliot, July 12, 1875, box 68, HARVARD ELIOT.

42
. Jones and Boyd,
The Harvard College Observatory
, p. 386.

43
. Ibid., “Anna Winlock,” in Ogilvie and Harvey,
Biographical Dictionary of Women in Science
, pp. 1388–89.

44
. Arthur Searle to Charles W. Eliot, July 12, 1875, box 68, HARVARD ELIOT.

45
. Mack, “Strategies and Compromises: Women in Astronomy at Harvard College Observatory, 1870–1920.”

46
. Jones and Boyd,
The Harvard College Observatory
, pp. 386, 387.

47
.
Margaret Harwood quoted ibid., p. 390.

48
. Annual Report for Radcliffe, 1879, pp. 6, 14.

49
. Annual Report of the Harvard Observatory for 1898, p. 6.

50
. “Reply to visitors,” U.S. Naval Observatory, 1900, p. 10.

51
. Welther, “Pickering's Harem.”

52
. “Reply to visitors,” U.S. Naval Observatory, 1900, p. 11.

53
. “Staff listing of the Naval Observatory,” U.S. Naval Observatory, 1901.

54
. Annual Report of the U.S. Coast Survey for 1893, p. 119; Carter, Cook, and Luzum, “The Contributions of Women to the Nautical Almanac Office, the First 150 Years.”

55
. Jones and Boyd,
The Harvard College Observatory
, p. 189.

56
. Upton, “Observatory Pinafore,” p. 1.

57
. There are two versions of the manuscript. In one, Josephine is treated as a female, though she is clearly one of the male astronomers. In the other, male pronouns have been substituted.

58
. Upton, “Observatory Pinafore,” p. 7.

59
. Ibid., p. 5.

60
. Ibid., p. 3.

61
. Ibid.

62
. Ibid., p. 5.

63
. Ibid., p. 9. The observatory history notes that there were six female computers in 1881 (Jones and Boyd,
The Harvard College Observatory
, p. 388).

64
. Annual Report of the Harvard Observatory for 1880, p. 16.

65
. Upton, “Observatory Pinafore, p. 16.

66
. Ibid., p. 29.

C
HAPTER
S
IX

L
OOKING
F
ORWARD
, L
OOKING
B
ACKWARD

1
. Hopp,
Slide Rules
.

2
. Logarithm base 10.

3
. Hopp,
Slide Rules
, Appendix 2, Key Dates in the History of Slide Rules.

4
. Quoted in ibid., Appendix 2.

5
. Ibid.; Riddell,
The Slide Rule Simplified
.

6
. Williams,
A History of Computing Technology
, p. 128.

7
. Cortada,
Before the Computer
, p. 35. See also Kidwell, “The Adding Machine Fraternity at St. Louis: Creating a Center of Invention,” and “‘Yours for improvement'—The Adding Machines of Chicago, 1884–1930.”

8
. Gray, “On the Arithmometer of M. Thomas (de Colmar)”; Johnston, “Making the Arithmometer Count”; Kidwell, “From Novelty to Necessity.”

9
. Jevons, “Remarks on the Statistical Use of the Arithmometer.”

10
. Dreieser,
Sister Carrie
.

11
. Cortada,
Before the Computer
, pp. 31ff., 39ff.

12
. U.S. Coast Survey Annual Report for 1890, p. 119.

13
. Austrian,
Herman Hollerith
, p. 6.

14
. Williams,
A History of Computing Technology
, pp. 248ff.

15
.
Report of a Commission Appointed by the Honorable Superintendent of Census on Different Methods of Tabulating Census Data
.

16
. Quoted in Porter, “The Eleventh Census.”

17
.
Chicago Tribune
, August 8, 1890, quoted in Austrian,
Herman Hollerith
, p. 62; ibid., pp. 61–62.

18
. Handy,
Official Directory of the World's Columbian Exposition
, p. 157.

19
. T. Talcott to H. Talcott, May 22, 1893, quoted in Austrian,
Herman Hollerith
, ibid., pp. 100–101.

20
. U.S. Coast Survey Annual Report for 1892, p. 145.

21
. Adams,
Education of Henry Adams
, chapter 12, “Chicago.”

22
. Ibid.

23
. Handy,
Official Directory of the World's Columbian Exposition
, p. 199.

24
.
The World's Congress Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893
, WCE.

25
. Veysey,
The Emergence of the American University
, p. 128.

26
. “Program of the Congress on Mathematics and Astronomy,” 1893, WCE.

27
. Account Books of Artemas Martin, MARTIN.

28
. Finkel, “Biography: Artemas Martin.”

29
. “Program of the Congress on Mathematics and Astronomy,” WCE.

30
. Kline, R.,
Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist
, p. 71.

31
. Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” (1893).

32
. Porter, T.,
The Rise of Statistical Thinking
, p. 23.

33
. Fitzpatrick, “Leading American Statisticians in the Nineteenth Century”; “Membership List, 1840” (American Statistical Association Membership).

34
. “The International Statistical Institute at Chicago.”

35
. Ralph, “Chicago's Gentle Side”;
The World's Congress Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893
, WCE.

36
. Adams,
Education of Henry Adams
, chapter 4.

37
. Ibid., chapter 12, “Chicago.”

C
HAPTER
S
EVEN

D
ARWIN
'
S
C
OUSINS

1
. Hamilton,
Newnham
, p. 136.

2
. Pearl, “Karl Pearson.”

3
. Shaw,
Mrs. Warren's Profession
, act 1.

4
. Ibid.

5
. Ibid.

6
. Rossiter,
Women Scientists in America
, pp. 52, 72.

7
. “Maxims for Revolutionaries,” in Shaw,
Man and Superman
.

8
. Stigler,
History of Statistics
, p. 266; see also Porter,
The Rise of Statistical Thinking
, p. 271.

9
. Quoted in Kelves,
In the Name of Eugenics
, p. 5.

10
. Ibid.

11
. Ibid., p. 6.

12
.
Francis Galton to Darwin Galton, February 23, 1851, in Pearson,
The Life, Letters and Labours of Francis Galton
, pp. 231–32.

13
. Francis Galton to Darwin Galton, February 23, 1851, ibid.

14
. Kelves,
In the Name of Eugenics
, p. 7.

15
. Gillham,
A Life of Sir Francis Galton
, p. 148.

16
. Stigler,
History of Statistics
, p. 268.

17
. Galton, “Kinship and Correlation,” pp. 419–31.

18
. Stigler,
History of Statistics
, pp. 283–90. For an elementary modern treatment that shows the relationship between correlation coefficient and regression slope, see Freedman et al.,
Statistics
.

Other books

Bare Nerve by Katherine Garbera
Fade Into Me by Kate Dawes
The Disappearing by Jennifer Torres
Kev by Mark A Labbe
Rich Promise by Ashe Barker
Angel Kiss by Laura Jane Cassidy
Gravewalkers: Dying Time by Richard T. Schrader
In the End by S. L. Carpenter