Whiggism in Computer Science: Views of the Field

Lee, John A. N. (1992) Whiggism in Computer Science: Views of the Field. Technical Report TR-92-17, Computer Science, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

Abstract

The teaching of any science is not complete without the inclusion of those elements that constitute the foundations of the field. While the history of computing is an element of those fundamentals in computer science, history should not be taught merely as a diversion from the technology but as a series of case studies supporting scholarship from ethics to virtual reality. Understanding the successes of the field provides only a biased view of the technology and hides the true nature of pioneers; understanding failures provides direction and guidance, and occasionally new insights that were ahead of their time and whose time has come.