Philosophy
Ottmar Mergenthaler
May 11th. 1854 to October 28th, 1899
Not a household name of inventors but revolutionized the mechanics of printing. He was the inventor of the hot lead linotype. He is "...regarded as the greatest advance in printing since the development of moveable type 400 years earlier. He moved to the U.S. in 1872. At the age of 32, he designed and built his first linotype machine. With it, the two operations of setting and casting type in lead lines were performed simply by touching the keys of a board similar to the keyboard of a typewriter. His machine enabled one operator to be machinist, type-setter, justifier and typefounder. His machine was first used in 1886 by the New York Tribune newspaper, followed by many great improvements on its design. He died at the early age of 45."
Linotype machine [Wikipedia]
From the Internet Archive of films is a two part story of the linotype machine. This is one of those vocational films that were perpetually run in high schools and took up boring lecture time.
Typesetting: Linotype [Part I]
Typesetting: Linotype [Part II]
- Turing Tests And Tongue Twisters
When Doug Hofstadter came to visit last year, he made a point that I've continued to marvel at. When we think of artificial intelligence, we usually think in terms of machines being able to do well what we do well. The usual standard is what is called...
- The Antikythera Mechanism - Recreated With Legos
About a hundred years ago, a bunch of sponge divers doing their underwater thing stumbled upon an artifact whose complexity indicated it was some sort of calculating machine, but it would be decades before investigators would figure out exactly what this...
- Messy Machine From The Past...the Mimeograph
Actually, they were great for short-run handouts...and they could be messy too. "Aug. 8, 1876: Run This Off on the Mimeo" by Randy Alfred August 8th, 2011 Wired 1876: Thomas Edison receives a patent for the mimeograph. It will dominate...
- Deceased--sir Maurice Wilkes
Sir Maurice Wilkes June 26th, 1913 to November 29th, 2010 "Father of British computing Sir Maurice Wilkes dies" November 30th, 2010 BBC NEWS The "father" of British computing, Sir Maurice Wilkes, has died at the age of 97. Sir Maurice was the designer...
- Foenetic Speler...edward Rondthaler
Edward Rondthaler June 9th, 1905 to August 19th, 2009 If this were universally adopted what a revolution in linguistics--might make Wittgenstein smile. "Edward Rondthaler, Foenetic Speler, Dies at 104" by Margalit Fox August 30th, 2009 The New York...
Philosophy
Ottmar Mergenthaler and the revolution in printing
Ottmar MergenthalerMay 11th. 1854 to October 28th, 1899
Not a household name of inventors but revolutionized the mechanics of printing. He was the inventor of the hot lead linotype. He is "...regarded as the greatest advance in printing since the development of moveable type 400 years earlier. He moved to the U.S. in 1872. At the age of 32, he designed and built his first linotype machine. With it, the two operations of setting and casting type in lead lines were performed simply by touching the keys of a board similar to the keyboard of a typewriter. His machine enabled one operator to be machinist, type-setter, justifier and typefounder. His machine was first used in 1886 by the New York Tribune newspaper, followed by many great improvements on its design. He died at the early age of 45."
Linotype machine [Wikipedia]
From the Internet Archive of films is a two part story of the linotype machine. This is one of those vocational films that were perpetually run in high schools and took up boring lecture time.
Typesetting: Linotype [Part I]
Typesetting: Linotype [Part II]
- Turing Tests And Tongue Twisters
When Doug Hofstadter came to visit last year, he made a point that I've continued to marvel at. When we think of artificial intelligence, we usually think in terms of machines being able to do well what we do well. The usual standard is what is called...
- The Antikythera Mechanism - Recreated With Legos
About a hundred years ago, a bunch of sponge divers doing their underwater thing stumbled upon an artifact whose complexity indicated it was some sort of calculating machine, but it would be decades before investigators would figure out exactly what this...
- Messy Machine From The Past...the Mimeograph
Actually, they were great for short-run handouts...and they could be messy too. "Aug. 8, 1876: Run This Off on the Mimeo" by Randy Alfred August 8th, 2011 Wired 1876: Thomas Edison receives a patent for the mimeograph. It will dominate...
- Deceased--sir Maurice Wilkes
Sir Maurice Wilkes June 26th, 1913 to November 29th, 2010 "Father of British computing Sir Maurice Wilkes dies" November 30th, 2010 BBC NEWS The "father" of British computing, Sir Maurice Wilkes, has died at the age of 97. Sir Maurice was the designer...
- Foenetic Speler...edward Rondthaler
Edward Rondthaler June 9th, 1905 to August 19th, 2009 If this were universally adopted what a revolution in linguistics--might make Wittgenstein smile. "Edward Rondthaler, Foenetic Speler, Dies at 104" by Margalit Fox August 30th, 2009 The New York...