A Paradoxical Resolution of a Paradox from the History of the History of Computing.

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• Liesbeth De Mol (CNRS (Centre national de la recherche scientifique))
• Friday 24 January 2025, 10:00-11:00
• Seminar Room 1, Newton Institute.

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MHMW01 - Modern history of mathematics: emerging themes

Although the field of the history of computing is to a certain extent thriving, as I will argue in this talk, the field is at risk of ending up in a paradoxical state:  on the one hand, in the process of its professionalisation it has embraced the methodological maxims of its main domain (history of technology); on the other, in its ambition to be professional and, hence, independent of the field it studies, it runs the risk of undermining those very same values. In order to show why that is the case, I will map out the history of the history of computing itself and focus in particular on its evolving relation with the history of mathematics.  From there I raise two main problems. The first is a problem of scope: should the history of computing include any topic in which computing has some role to play and so “absorb” certain aspects of more recent histories of science and technology? Or, should it aim at delineating itself more clearly from all other subfields? Is that even possible? Is it desirable?  The second is a methodological problem and raises the question of how far the field is capable of critically distancing itself from current developments in computing given its focus on externalist histories.Based on these problems, I will sketch my personal take on the history of computing which is openly presentist and, for lack of a better word, nomadic. At its core is a call for more tolerance and collaboration across the involved fields, rejecting any methodological dogma in order to achieve a critical distance from a historical discourse that struggles to disentangle itself from actual developments in the field it studies. We end up with another paradox: a presentist approach to enable critical distance from the present. I conclude by proposing anumber of concrete topics and problems on which historians of computing and mathematics could work together.

This talk is part of the Isaac Newton Institute Seminar Series series.

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