Author: Massimiliano BrolliOriginal Publication Date: 12/12/2020Translator: Tara Lie Pier Giorgio Perotto (for those who do not know of him) was an Italian electronics pioneer. In the 60’s he worked for Olivetti, and led the team that built the Olivetti Programma 101 (P101), the first desktop computer in history. The P101, also known as the Perottina, was launched at the 1964 New York World Fair, and was even used by NASA to plan and calculate the space program’s orbits, including the Apollo 11 mission that took man to the moon. For those who would like more details on the Olivetti Programma 101, you can

Author: Massimiliano BrolliOriginal Publication Date: 12/05/2022Translator: Tara Lie The “Mother of all Demos” is the name retrospectively used by journalist Steven Levy, in his 1994 book ‘Insanely Great’, to describe a revolutionary demonstration held on a rainy Monday, 9th December 1968, at Brooks Hall Auditorium in San Francisco. This computer conference was pivotal for the future of modern computing, and attended by people who would the next year see the moon landing live.  Consider this, before the presentation many in the computing community were whispering in the room, saying that Engelbart was crazy. However, by the time the demonstration ended, some were saying that

Author: Massimiliano BrolliOriginal Publication Date: 15/11/2021Translator: Tara Lie Today I would like to bring a visionary essay to light, a source of inspiration for many scientists that have contributed to technological innovation, especially in computer science in the years following its publication. Vannevar Bush The essay, written in 1945 by Vannevar Bush, was published in the journal Atlantic Monthly. It introduced science to a new way of thinking, making it clear that for years, all inventions had only taken the extent of humankind’s physical powers into consideration, rather than the power of their minds. Vannevar Bush was an American engineer, born on

Author: Antonio Piovesan Great Britain, middle decades of the 19th century, times of unprecedented engineering ambitions. Engineering, transportation, communications, architecture, science and manufacturing are in a feverish state of evolution. Inventors and engineers exploit new materials and new processes: it seems to be a period of endless inventions and innovations. Steam engines are slowly replacing animals as a source of motive power. Iron ships begin to compete with sailing, rail networks expand rapidly, and the electric telegraph begins to revolutionize communications. Thriving science, engineering and new technologies guarantee limitless innovations. Engineers, architects, mathematicians, astronomers, bankers, actuaries, workers, insurance agents, statisticians, navigators, anyone