lynch@aristotle.ils.nwu.edu (Richard Lynch) (12/06/90)
[Numerous postings about Grace Hopper and the term bug not included.] I heard *SOMEWHERE* that the first bug was in ENIAC or UNIVAC, and was, in fact a bug that got into the machine and was fried by the wires and whose carcass maintained contact, thus short-circuiting the machine. I sincerely hope that this is true, since it IS the story I've told to several hundred high school students. :-) "TANSTAAFL" Rich lynch@aristotle.ils.nwu.edu
jsd@boreal.rice.edu (Shawn Joel Dube) (12/06/90)
In article <127@anaxagoras.ils.nwu.edu>, lynch@aristotle.ils.nwu.edu (Richard Lynch) writes: |> [Numerous postings about Grace Hopper and the term bug not included.] |> I heard *SOMEWHERE* that the first bug was in ENIAC or UNIVAC, and was, in |> fact a bug that got into the machine and was fried by the wires and whose |> carcass maintained contact, thus short-circuiting the machine. I |> sincerely hope that this is true, since it IS the story I've told to |> several hundred high school students. :-) |> Your right. I read the same thing in a Popular Science (c. 82-84). -- rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr r ___ _ "...but then there was the r r /__ | \ possibility that they were r r ___/hawn |__\ube LaRouche democrats which, of r r jsd@owlnet.rice.edu course, were better off dead." r rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
lsmith@cs.umn.edu (Lance "Taylorism" Smith) (12/06/90)
In <1990Dec6.012530.18666@rice.edu> jsd@boreal.rice.edu (Shawn Joel Dube) writes: >In article <127@anaxagoras.ils.nwu.edu>, lynch@aristotle.ils.nwu.edu (Richard Lynch) writes: >|> [Numerous postings about Grace Hopper and the term bug not included.] >|> I heard *SOMEWHERE* that the first bug was in ENIAC or UNIVAC, and was, in >|> fact a bug that got into the machine and was fried by the wires and whose >|> carcass maintained contact, thus short-circuiting the machine. I >|> sincerely hope that this is true, since it IS the story I've told to >|> several hundred high school students. :-) >|> >You're right. I read the same thing in a Popular Science (c. 82-84). I hate to keep beating a dead moth, but you can find the answer to this one in the Annals of the History of Computing. The general agreement is that the term bug goes back way before computing (Thomas Edison uses it.) Even debug goes back before computing. The first literal bug was a moth that got stuck in a relay in the Mark II computer which is what Grace Hopper is talking of. There is a picture of the log book where the moth has been taped in one of the issues of the Annals (I think vol. 10 no. 4, but check the index first.) The moth didn't really fry the system, just caused some errors. As I said above, I believe the term was used before the moth was found. The Mark II came after the ENIAC and before the UNIVAC. It delivered to Dahlgren Naval Proving Ground in 1948. Like the Harvard Mark I it was an electro-mechanical computer, but was about 12 times as powerful as its predecessor, doing a whopping 30 instructions per second and containing 100 relay registers. [Source is Giant Brains by E. C. Berkeley, 1949.] Sorry to rehash this again. Perhaps we can get up a list of FAQs. I notice TECO is making the rounds again. BTW, I'd also like to put in my plug again for comp.history since the powers that be here (U of MN) are threating to remove much of the alt hierarchy. -- Lance "Simon" Smith and his dancing bear Oh, who would think a boy and bear could be well accepted everywhere... REPLYTONET: lsmith@cs.umn.edu Send monetary units to: PO Box 13345, Dinkytown Station, Minneapolis, MN 55414
hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin) (12/06/90)
In article <127@anaxagoras.ils.nwu.edu>, lynch@aristotle.ils.nwu.edu (Richard Lynch) writes: > [Numerous postings about Grace Hopper and the term bug not included.] > I heard *SOMEWHERE* that the first bug was in ENIAC or UNIVAC, and was, in > fact a bug that got into the machine and was fried by the wires and whose > carcass maintained contact, thus short-circuiting the machine. I > sincerely hope that this is true, since it IS the story I've told to > several hundred high school students. :-) I personally heard the term used before there was an electronic computer. Someone in some group in the past posted that the OED traced the use of the term "bug" for industrial defect to Edison in the last century. -- Herman Rubin, Dept. of Statistics, Purdue Univ., West Lafayette IN47907-1399 Phone: (317)494-6054 hrubin@l.cc.purdue.edu (Internet, bitnet) {purdue,pur-ee}!l.cc!hrubin(UUCP)
lark@tivoli.UUCP (Lar Kaufman) (12/07/90)
In article <1990Dec6.012530.18666@rice.edu> jsd@boreal.rice.edu (Shawn Joel Dube) writes: >In article <127@anaxagoras.ils.nwu.edu>, lynch@aristotle.ils.nwu.edu (Richard Lynch) writes: >|> [Numerous postings about Grace Hopper and the term bug not included.] >|> I heard *SOMEWHERE* that the first bug was in ENIAC or UNIVAC, and was, in >|> fact a bug that got into the machine and was fried by the wires and whose >|> carcass maintained contact, thus short-circuiting the machine. I >|> sincerely hope that this is true, since it IS the story I've told to >|> several hundred high school students. :-) >Your right. I read the same thing in a Popular Science (c. 82-84). Well, the Grace Hopper story about the bug crisped in a contact of the computer circuitry is oft repeated, but consider this: If the computer team wasn't already aware of the use of the term "bug", why would they go to the trouble of noting it in the logbook and taping the actual carcass into the book? This was clearly intended as droll humor. I submit that it is probably accurate to say that this was the first instance of the use of the term "bug" (or perhaps even "debugging") in a computer context. I believe that there is evidence that predates this usage in context of electrical systems, possibly avionics and the like. Sorry, I don't have time to spend doing such research, but be careful out there... -lar -- Lar Kaufman I would feel more optimistic about a bright future (voice) 512-329-2455 for man if he spent less time proving that he can (fax) 512-329-2755 outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness lark@tivoli.com and respecting her seniority. - E.B. White
peter@ficc.ferranti.com (Peter da Silva) (12/07/90)
Go to the Smithsonian Institution, you can see the actual moth with your own eyes. It's taped to a log book, with an entry along the lines of "actual bug found in system". It's clear from the log entry that the term "bug" predated the event. Followups *out* of comp.arch. Sheesh. -- Peter da Silva. `-_-' +1 713 274 5180. 'U` peter@ferranti.com
weaver (12/07/90)
Grace Hopper is sometimes credited with inventing the term bug,
referring to a defect in a program or hardware. The evidence for this
is a log page where she taped in a moth that was caught in a relay,
causing a program not to work.
I have seen a reproduction of the log page, however, and to
paraphrase (since I don't have it here):
"Finally traced down that problem to a real 'bug' :-)"
It seemed clear to me that she thought it was funny that her 'bug'
turned out to be a literal bug, and that term bug was used
in the sense of a program problem before the moth incident.nick@huxley.huxley.bitstream.com (Nick Nussbaum) (12/07/90)
>Someone in some group in the past posted that the OED traced the use of >the term "bug" for industrial defect to Edison in the last century. I don't know about OED, but I saw a slide of a letter from one of Edison's lead engineers who was in the field with the prototype of Edison's early film sound system. He was proposing that they take an extra few months "to get all the bugs out", from the system rather than use it commercially immediately. I believe the date was in the first decade of the 20th century. The movie sound system was rather neat; it has a mechanical audio amplifier connected to an acoustical gramaphone behind the screen which was linked by cord and pulleys to the hand cranked projector. Details are probably in the Edison Archives in New Jersey, from which the presentation I saw was drawn. -- - the above statements are mine,not Bitstreams- Nick Nussbaum Nick@Bitstream.com (617) 497-6222 x416 Bitstream,Inc. 215 First st. Cambridge,MA 02142-1270
amos@taux01.nsc.com (Amos Shapir) (12/07/90)
[Quoted from the referenced article by hrubin@pop.stat.purdue.edu (Herman Rubin)] > >I personally heard the term used before there was an electronic computer. > >Someone in some group in the past posted that the OED traced the use of >the term "bug" for industrial defect to Edison in the last century. When this was discussed in sci.nlang (I think it was back when it was still called net.nlang) the earliest mention of "bug" meaning "disturb, annoy" was traced back to the 16th century - preceding even its application to insects. (I think there was even a quote from Shakespeare or Chaucer). If anyone can verify (or beat) this and post the references, we can finally lay this argument to rest. -- Amos Shapir amos@taux01.nsc.com, amos@nsc.nsc.com National Semiconductor (Israel) P.O.B. 3007, Herzlia 46104, Israel Tel. +972 52 522255 TWX: 33691, fax: +972-52-558322 GEO: 34 48 E / 32 10 N
herrickd@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com (12/07/90)
> If anyone can verify (or beat) this and post the references, we can finally > lay this argument to rest. > I'm a newcomer here, but does the net ever lay any argument to rest? dan herrick herrickd@astro.pc.ab.com
davidsen@crdos1.crd.ge.COM (Wm E Davidsen Jr) (12/08/90)
In article <2334.275f6997@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com> herrickd@iccgcc.decnet.ab.com writes: | > If anyone can verify (or beat) this and post the references, we can finally | > lay this argument to rest. | > | | I'm a newcomer here, but does the net ever lay any argument to rest? We've been arguing about that for years. Those who say that some arguments have been settled bring up examples, and we discuss them, too. Note lack of slightest smiley. -- bill davidsen (davidsen@crdos1.crd.GE.COM -or- uunet!crdgw1!crdos1!davidsen) VMS is a text-only adventure game. If you win you can use unix.
turner@sp64.csrd.uiuc.edu (Steve Turner) (12/09/90)
Bill Davidsen is probably right, but just to try and put a stop to
this nonsense, I checked the online version of oed. To summarize:
Bug as insect seems to have come first. Edison's use *is* the first
one credited, but from the quote given it seems likely that he did not
coin it himself. Annoy, etc, is more recent usage than either of the
above.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Match 2
bug (b/\g), sb. [2 ]
1 A name given vaguely to various insects, esp. of the beetle kind,
also to grubs, larv of insects, etc. Now chiefly dial. and in U.S.;
esp. with defining words, as field bug, harvest bug, May bug, June bug,
potato bug; also fire-bug, in U.S. applied colloq. to an incendiary.
1642 ROGERS Naaman 74 Gods rare workmanship in the Ant, the poorest
Scarabi kind. It is, I suppose, a word of general use.
[...]
3 b A defect or fault in a machine, plan, or the like. orig. U.S.
1889 Pall Mall Gaz. 11 Mar. 1/1 Mr. Edison, I was informed, had been
up the two previous nights discovering `a bug' in his phonograph-an
expression for solving a difficulty, and implying that some imaginary
insect has secreted itself inside and is causing all the trouble. 1935
Jrnl. R. Aeronaut. Soc. XXXIX. 43 Casting, forging and riveting are
processes hundreds of years old, and, to use an Americanism, `have the
bugs ironed out of them'. 1956 N. SHUTE Beyond Black Stump v. 138 They
worked..until the rig had settled down and all the bugs had been ironed
out. 1958 Engineering 14 Mar. 336/2 The seven-and-a-half years..was not
an excessive time to..get the `bugs' out of a new system of that kind.
[...]
Match 4
bug (b/\g), v. [1 ] [...]
3 To annoy, irritate. slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
1949 Music Library Assoc. Notes Dec. 40/2 Bug, popularized by swing
musicians and now much used by be-boppers: to be annoying. 1952 B.
ULANOV Hist. Jazz in Amer. 350 Bug, to bewilder or irritate. 1959 J.
OSBORNE Paul Slickey II. ix. 71 It will surely bug you when there is no
man to hug... You will be bugged for ever. 1959 Times 31 Oct. 7/3 The
heroine..inquires picturesquely of the hero `What's bugging you?' and he
replies, succinctly, `Life.'
----------------------------------------------------------------
The above is excerpted without permission from the online Oxford
English Dictionary. It is intended purely as entertainment, so please
don't duplicate it and sell the copies.
--
Steve Turner (on the Si prairie - UIUC CSRD)
ARPANET: turner@csrd.uiuc.edu
Phone: (217) 244-7293 or (217) 367-0882
I went walking in the wasted city / Started thinking about entropy
Smelled the wind from the ruined river / Went home to watch TV
-- Warren Zevonandras@alzabo.uucp (Andras Kovacs) (12/13/90)
In the book of 'The Sachertorte Algorithm' by John Shore (Viking, 1985)
on p. 60 they have a beautiful picture of a page from the Mark II log book;
it says:
1545 Relay #70 Panel F (moth) in relay
and they actually taped in the moth!
Worth checking out!
--
Andras Kovacs
andras@alzabo.UUCPdatri@convex.com (Anthony A. Datri) (12/20/90)
>I hate to keep beating a dead moth, but you can find the answer to this one >in the Annals of the History of Computing Ahhh, the legendary "proof by unavailable reference". --