New Research Explodes Myths About Ada Lovelace (ox.ac.uk) 107
Two mathematics historians investigated the Lovelace-Byron family archives (which are available online) to confirm the early mathematical prowess of Ada Lovelace for two scholarly journals. Slashdot reader bugs2squash shares a post from the Oxford Mathematical Institute:
The work challenges widespread claims that Lovelace's mathematical abilities were more "poetical" than practical, or indeed that her knowledge was so limited that Babbage himself was likely to have been the author of the paper that bears her name. The authors pinpoint Lovelace's keen eye for detail, fascination with big questions, and flair for deep insights, which enabled her to challenge some deep assumptions in her teacher's work. They suggest that her ambition, in time, to do significant mathematical research was entirely credible, though sadly curtailed by her ill-health and early death.
Ada Lovelace died in London at age 36.
Ada Lovelace died in London at age 36.
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The why is the normal reason why - it's hard. Not that they can't do it, they want to find an easier way to life.
Re:Unsuitable (Score:1)
At 36? She still had fours year left! (Score:1)
Then off to management. Or, like me at 40, organized crime.
Organized crime (Score:4, Funny)
Or, like me at 40, organized crime.
Private sector or government ?
Sounds like somone I know (Score:5, Interesting)
The work challenges widespread claims that Lovelace's mathematical abilities were more "poetical" than practical, or indeed that her knowledge was so limited that Babbage himself was likely to have been the author of the paper that bears her name. The authors pinpoint Lovelace's keen eye for detail, fascination with big questions, and flair for deep insights,
If you keep looking at the big picture, and have a flair for deep insights, soon you'll discover eye gone values and be as impressive as Malcolm Gladwell.
Wolfram did an analysis of her situation [stephenwolfram.com], and suggests that her capability was like that of a competent graduate student, ready to do some good work (and be a reliable manager for Babbage, who lacked self-management skills) if life (and death) hadn't intervened. The paper talks about "exploding myths" but it doesn't really, Lovlace is already extremely well revered by many, and the people who claim she is overrated are in the minority.
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(back in the day, it was like what gluten-free diet or cleansings ar today).
You mean often done as a fad, but sometimes medically necessary?
There are a number of serious conditions for which the only current treatment is management through a gluten-free diet. For example: coeliac disease. It always irks me when someone dismisses it as quackery because of the trendy folk who think it's the newest fad. I'm always a bit worried that someone will think "urgh, hippy" (or the local equivalent) and just serve me normal (not gluten-free) food while I'm out, with me ending up severely il
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You mean often done as a fad, but sometimes medically necessary?
Exactly. Leeches have been making a comeback. Sometimes bloodletting can be beneficial. Some people can be adversely affected by gluten.
And many people just frivolously hop on the bandwagon and ruin it for those who need it.
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(back in the day, it was like what gluten-free diet or cleansings ar today).
You mean often done as a fad, but sometimes medically necessary?
There are a number of serious conditions for which the only current treatment is management through a gluten-free diet. For example: coeliac disease. It always irks me when someone dismisses it as quackery because of the trendy folk who think it's the newest fad. I'm always a bit worried that someone will think "urgh, hippy" (or the local equivalent) and just serve me normal (not gluten-free) food while I'm out, with me ending up severely ill as a result.
This is actually a major reason for the huge amount of annoyance with the people who hopped aboard and started attributing all sorts of ailments to gluten in the diet, actually. Even bloodletting is sometimes medically indicated; sorcerer's apprentice mode can happen in biological systems, and when it happens to the mechanisms in charge of producing blood...well, the body is capable of producing blood faster than it can safely dispose of it.
The problem is when you start believing something is a panacea whi
Re:Sounds like somone I know (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sounds like somone I know (Score:5, Insightful)
Well and beautifully said.
And may I add: Equality of the sexes is a given, it shouldn't even be a question. Equal and fair treatment, likewise. But the preaching of hatred and divisiveness that goes on in some gender studies curricula serves neither women nor men.
Re:Sounds like somone I know (Score:4, Informative)
While I completely agree with full equality and equal rights for both sexes, its naieve and factually incorrect to suggest that both sexes have identical abilities.
Re:Sounds like somone I know (Score:4, Informative)
I get your point. "Equality" is not "interchangeability." But everyone should get a fair shot.
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I can't agree more. Also true equality cuts both ways and is not selective or conditional. There is no such thing as positive discrimination.
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its naieve[sic] and factually incorrect to suggest that both sexes have identical abilities.
It's naive and factually incorrect to suggest that any pair of individuals have identical abilities. Or are you trying to imply that women are inherently worse at mathematical disciplines than men? Because, if so, there is pretty much no evidence that this is the case when you factor out cultural differences (and if you don't then you can easily find groups where either gender is dominant in the field).
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Hint: women don't need you to protect them.
Yes, that's right; women don't need men to protect them. I've heard this before from some feminists who throw this at men as if to say "mind your own business." The problem is that justice is everyone's business. Are men supposed to sit by while injustice takes place and say "not my problem"? Or should we all work TOGETHER to make things right?
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>> Or are you trying to imply that women are inherently worse at mathematical disciplines than men?
No. How about you respond to what I actually wrote instead of putting words in my mouth.
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>> This constant barrage of gender politics of women do this better and men do that better rubbish must stop.
Regardless of the fact that its true and backed up by every experiment and other evidence?
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Every experiment shows every man does the same things better than every woman? Or is gender more like race, where differences within a race are greater than between races? You can go from an individual genome to a place of origin but not the reverse, because races contain such a diversity of traits that any two racially-connected ppl are likely to have more different traits than any two non-racially-connected ppl.
Did your mind just blow?
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"A 2000 study by Celera Genomics found that human DNA does not differ significantly across populations. Citizens of any village in the world, in Scotland or Tanzania, have 90 percent of the genetic variability humanity has to offer."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_genetics#Population_structures
Re:Sounds like somone I know (Score:4, Informative)
Where did I say that men do everything better than women?
Some examples of psychological differences are that (on average of course), women have significantly better/more complex communication skills than men, while men have significantly better 3D spatial awareness than women.
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Yes of course there are exceptions. When people talk about groups (e.g. guys are ....) they generally mean "on average", unless they say something like ALL guys are....
Also if you don;t mind me saying... if he is as you say.your BF is a COMPLETE control freak. ALL those people are more trouble than they're worth and you need to dump him before it causes you a lot of pain before inevitably going nowhere.
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also... what part of (on average of course) are you not understanding?
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Your logic is wack. Consider the average not exceptions.
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Your logic is wack. Consider the average not exceptions.
But the standard deviations are quite large, so large as to make averages essentially meaningless when you're considering individuals. Sure, the average man is stronger than the average woman, but if you pick a random man and a random woman, the probability that the woman is the stronger of the two is far from negligible, just to take one example. And that is the example that is perhaps most favorable to your argument. If you look at non-physical traits your argument is even less valid.
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What do you mean, those low IQ CEO's are rightfully there?
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> 4 arms one mind two bodies.
-Timecube
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Agreed about the benefits of men and women working together. But don't make the mistake of thinking that universities are the only ones guilty of building walls between the sexes. Religions, legislators, media figures, universities... All have members guilty of creating or perpetuating divisions between the sexes for various reasons and with varying political leanings.
Don't get me wrong, it's good to point out the divisiveness caused by some university courses or teachers. Just don't lose sight of the e
Re:Sounds like somone I know (Score:4, Interesting)
I guess they are referring to the persistent narrative that she was some kind of fraud and generally bad person. For various reasons a relatively small but vocal group of people feel threatened and upset by the idea of a woman being instrumental in the early development of computers.
I could write at length about the different reasons for this, but what it boils down to is that they are debunking it. In an age where NASA has to debunk "child sex slaves on Mars" this stuff does, unfortunately, need to be said.
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For various reasons a relatively small but vocal group of people feel threatened and upset by the idea of a woman being instrumental in the early development of computers.
That's similar to why you want to talk about her instead of, say, Konrad Zuse. It's not based on the relative size of the contribution to computing.
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Who claimed that? (Score:1)
I've read a fair bit about her, but I've never heard anyone claim all those bad things. Can anyone point to sources saying that? Sure, I think she liked poetry, but I can't even make sense of a claim wherein her insight was more 'poetic' than mathematical. What does that even mean?
Sometimes I think historical theories are made up to troll people. When some historian claims to have a completely new understanding of something, I read it as them trying to sell books....
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Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, 1838
http://athena.union.edu/~hemme... [union.edu]
Re:Lovelace: whore and woman of ill repute (Score:4, Insightful)
Because none of that has fuck-all to do with her skills in the mathematics?
Even in a bet - she would have known the odds of losing.
"Woman can't be famous scholar, because she likes a bit on the side"? Really?
Go look at Hawking's personal life, nobody questions that.
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Remember when we landed a probe on a comet, and all we heard about was how awful and sexist one guy's shirt was?
Only those who cared about science. Sadly when we landed a probe on a comet the only thing the majority of people cared about was whether or not the picture of Kim Kardashian's ass was real or Photoshoped. And if it was real, did she have butt implants?
Huh? (Score:1)
OK, this story in not about pornography, is it... Slightly disappointed.
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Everyone knows only Asian Women have any Math Skills.
For starters, and not totally at random:
Sofia Kovalevskaya [wikipedia.org]
Emmy Noether [wikipedia.org]
Mary Cartwright [wikipedia.org]
Julia Robinson [wikipedia.org]
Maryam Mirzakhani [wikipedia.org]
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Theorem is "laughably wrong", huh? Dafuq do you think math is?
Don't be ridiculous, men in general being better at math doesn't mean NONE of women is good at math.
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Noether's theorem is laughably wrong
Misogynist doesn't know what a theorem is. News at 11.
she's just a stupid woman, right? (Score:1)
I'm a male. Not particularly a radical feminist, but I believe in women's rights and a fair playing field.
Why the rumors about Lovelace, and the need to do special investigative work about her? Are there any male mathematicians or scientists in history that need to be investigated? Why all the rumors that Babbage must have written her paper. A woman COULDN'T have been capable?
Just some food for thought...
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Being a feminist and "believing in "women's rights" is consistent, although goes quite a bit against a fair playing field.
Anyhow, we had a number of female scientists that didn't need to be investigated, for instance, Emmy Noether.
Mandatory comics quote (Score:2)
http://sydneypadua.com/2dgoggl... [sydneypadua.com] ;-)
And you can order the book
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There has been a lot of that going around, lately. Mathematics is actually pretty careful to remember its heroes, male and female, but Ada Lovelace is not among them. Other women are. This is a rather strong indicator of what is going on here.
It is true that there are a few, famous female mathematicians (Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]), but off the top of my head, I could only name two: Emmy Noether and Sofia Kovalevskaya. The main reason for that is no doubt the fact that women were simply not allowed to study at university until an embarrassingly late date - Emmy Noether was only just allowed into Erlangen (in 1903, I believe) as one of only two women out of about 1000 students. And amazing as it may seem, there are still academi
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I do not think the feminazis are "left". They are basically everybodies enemy, as the only ones they think deserve any recognition or power is themselves. A classical fanatical splinter-group that will eventually implode from the sheer concentrated stupid it radiates.