- Subtropical Wisconsin – NYTimes.com
- Via Digby, Fox News shows us film of violent protests in Wisconsin. Except notice the people in shirtsleeves and the palm trees in the background.
- Wednesday Geek Woman: Gertrude Blanch, algorithm design pioneer
- [Geek Feminism Blog]
A pioneer in algorithm design for both human and mechanical computers, Gertrude Blanch (February 2, 1897–January 1, 1996) ran the Mathematical Tables Project in New York City and continued to work on algorithm optimizations for mathematical questions until her death in 1996.
An early pioneer in numerical analysis and computation, she received her Ph.D. from Cornell University in algebraic geometry in 1935. She published over thirty papers on functional approximation, numerical analysis and Mathieu functions and became a pivotal figure during the transition from human computers to mechanical, digital computers.
Having run a team of 450 human computers at Mathematical Tables Project in New York City she was in an excellent position to discuss the construction of algorithms during the early days of punch-card machines…
Essentially she stood at the intersection between theory and practicality at a tipping point in the history of mathematics.
[In case it needs to be said: I don't agree with every word of everything I link to. Signal boosts are awesome! --L.]
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