tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post6412374969669821012..comments2024-03-27T19:58:17.387-05:00Comments on Computational Complexity: The ACM History Committee call for proposals looks wrongLance Fortnowhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06752030912874378610noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-58978879496083779302021-01-17T20:52:03.680-06:002021-01-17T20:52:03.680-06:00Oops, ok, this seems to have been cleared up with ...Oops, ok, this seems to have been cleared up with Tomas Petricek's comment and your reply.travisandohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02553459215422332651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-33326280360720838502021-01-17T20:33:07.569-06:002021-01-17T20:33:07.569-06:00I agree it seems the topics have to be related to ...I agree it seems the topics have to be related to the ACM, but I don't think that means there can't be mention of anything non-ACM. In a course on European history, I wouldn't be surprised to see a question like "Compare and contrast how democracy developed in America and in Europe" even though America isn't in Europe. Similarly, I wouldn't be surprised to see the ACM agree to fund "Compare and contrast how NP-completeness developed in America and in the USSR" even though Levin wasn't a member of the ACM.travisandohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02553459215422332651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-39610543197938762162021-01-12T22:37:51.993-06:002021-01-12T22:37:51.993-06:00Great!
I am happy to know that the proposal CAN su...Great!<br />I am happy to know that the proposal CAN support interesting research. I won't be submitting (I am not a historian) but the projects I proposed seem like they would NOT be rejected for not being ACMish. gasarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03004932739846901628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-43418844046811036172021-01-12T15:55:55.687-06:002021-01-12T15:55:55.687-06:00I was awarded the grant two years ago (I think) an...I was awarded the grant two years ago (I think) and I used the funding to do the intiail work on this project: http://tomasp.net/academic/drafts/cultures/ (not yet published, but I have some plans for that...).<br /><br />Is the project "related" to ACM activities? Yeah, a fair number of things it talks about were, for example, published in ACM conferences. But I was quite clear in my application for the funding that this project goes beyond ACM activities and it was not a problem. Tomas Petricekhttp://tomasp.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-37218986016051387632021-01-12T12:12:38.028-06:002021-01-12T12:12:38.028-06:00First off you are being modest to no mention your ...First off you are being modest to no mention your brilliant interviews with Knuth <br /><br />https://www.amazon.com/Books-Edgar-G-Daylight/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AEdgar+G.+Daylight<br /><br />which I reviewed here:<br /><br />https://www.cs.umd.edu/users/gasarch/BLOGPAPERS/knuth.pdf<br /><br />Secondly- IF the ACM grant for history is used to support work like yours and other great historians, that is all to the good. I note that your paper DID mention the ACM but only to point out that they sponsor the Turning Award, as a sign of Turings place in the popular imagination. <br />a) they should be more clear that this is NOT a history of THE ACMS CONTRIBUTIONS!<br />or<br />b) I am misreading the call-for-proposal (some other commenter thought that).<br /><br />CONGRADS on your article! I've read the abstract and look forward to reading the rest. I may make it a topic of a blog post later. <br />gasarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03004932739846901628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-52095930680275355392021-01-12T11:55:00.480-06:002021-01-12T11:55:00.480-06:00There are some very good historians who have deser...There are some very good historians who have deservedly received the grant (during the past decade).<br /><br />The irony is that I applied for this grant two or three times (some ten years ago) but was always turned down -- presumably because I had too much of a comp. science profile. I finally got comp. sc. funding to travel to the USA, came back to Europe and wrote my article, and am now advertising it: https://www.dijkstrascry.com/Turing2015<br /><br />Edgar Daylighthttps://www.dijkstrascry.com/Turing2015noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-66052845857547341692021-01-12T07:24:58.182-06:002021-01-12T07:24:58.182-06:00The ACM history committee's purpose "is t...The ACM history committee's <a href="https://history.acm.org/" rel="nofollow">purpose</a> "is to foster preservation and interpretation of the history of the ACM and its role in the development of computing". So this call is consistent with the purpose.<br /><br />The <a href="https://www.computer.org/volunteering/boards-and-committees/history" rel="nofollow">IEEE computer society history committee</a> has a broader mission "to preserve and document the history of computing, with particular attention to the history of the IEEE Computer Society." In particular, the IEEE publishes the Annals of the History of Computing, which is about computing, not the IEEE in particular. It has articles by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.1981.10005" rel="nofollow">Hartmanis</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1109/MAHC.1984.10036" rel="nofollow">Trakhtenbrot</a> that address some of your questions above.<br /><br />Why the ACM does not have a committee or SIG devoted to the history of computing in general is a valid question.Lance Fortnowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06752030912874378610noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-14709275025136226972021-01-11T20:49:04.446-06:002021-01-11T20:49:04.446-06:00``related to ACM professional and educational and/...``related to ACM professional and educational and/or ACMs rich institutional history''<br /><br />This sounds to me like it has to be ACM related. If that is not what they meant they should leave ACM out of the description entirely.<br /><br />gasarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03004932739846901628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-81617335704663269672021-01-11T19:59:16.209-06:002021-01-11T19:59:16.209-06:00I don't see that the quoted passage excludes t...I don't see that the quoted passage excludes the projects you suggested: if there's a course called "European History" at some school, it doesn't mean there can't be any mention of any events outside Europe, just that the events included will all relate to Europe.travisandohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02553459215422332651noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-8586389239083431672021-01-11T15:22:23.588-06:002021-01-11T15:22:23.588-06:00What is puzzling to me is that I cannot imagine an...What is puzzling to me is that I cannot imagine anything interesting coming out of it. I want to be proven wrong by having someone post an interesting project that only involves ACM conferences or Journals, OR tell me that the call-for-proposals is incorrect. <br /><br />bill g. gasarchhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03004932739846901628noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-4170333730055728732021-01-11T15:19:35.533-06:002021-01-11T15:19:35.533-06:00Why's it puzzling for the ACM History Committe...Why's it puzzling for the ACM History Committee limit to ACM History?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3722233.post-89588260925061241372021-01-11T01:07:56.727-06:002021-01-11T01:07:56.727-06:00We've indeed been very interested in investiga...We've indeed been very interested in investigating the first project for quite a while. Thus, if anybody wants to seriously investigate the first topic, then we'd be happy to help on the USSR side: we're in Novosibirsk, where Lyapunov and Trakhtenbrot were working, and have access to many sources.<br /><br />Best wishes,<br />René van Bevern and Viktoriia Slugina,<br />Novosibirsk State University, Institute of Mathematics, and Institute of History of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of SciencesAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12744675804901269963noreply@blogger.com