Although his contributions to computer science are well known, Alan Turing’s mythical status was manufactured to establish computer science as a legitimate discipline. In the fifties, the Association for Computing Machinery was aiming to distinguish computer science as having evolved from mathematics and needed a figure that could bridge the gap between the two sciences. Turing’s papers on mathematics and computers had a key quality that made him the ideal choice; unlike his contemporaries, he exclusively wrote about computing and computers. Read full article here
Research
Researcher uses AI to make texts that are thousands of years old readable
The Gilgamesh Epic, the oldest work of world literature, has been brought back to life by LMU researchers in the Electronic Babylonian Literature project. Using their new Fragmentarium tool, they have discovered hundreds of manuscripts, including the most recent tablet of the Gilgamesh Epic which dates from 130 BC – thousands of years after the earliest known version. This shows how highly valued the Epic was, even at a late period. With the public release of the Fragmentarium, anyone can now explore the thousands of cuneiform fragments and explore the ancient Babylonian literature. Read full article here
Merv
March 12, 2023
