Computer science history

We're sometimes asked why we write so many articles of an historical nature. So an explanation may be in order.

Firstly, computing is ultimately a human activity. Awareness of the past, of the people and ideas that have preceeded us, provides a sense of community. A feeling that, in however small a way, we are engaged in some wonderful, common endeavour.

Secondly, it keeps us humble. It's easy to get caught up in the latest technique or technology, and often with good reason. But, as has been observed, very little is new under the sun. The specifics differ, but much of what we think of as modern (functional programming, superscaler architectures - to pick but two), date back to the earliest days of our field. Perhaps that's inevitable. The big ideas are often found early, and we are just left to advance and extend them.