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History of Science - Matthew Jordan

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︎ History of Science Master’s Thesis My Master’s thesis was on the role of game-playing in the history of computing. I argued that games like checkers (called “draughts” in the UK) and chess were not a mere frivolity. The computer scientists who wrote chess and checkers programs were among the most innovative and accomplished intellectuals of their time, and they viewed these games as core to their work. Many of the central developments in artificial intelligence (including the first-ever use of the term “machine learning”) came from games. A game of draughts (checkers) illuminated by cathode ray tubes. Build by Christopher Strachey in Manchester in 1948. Left: The birth of machine learning. Arthur Samuel’s self-improving checkers program. RIght: John McCarthy, who coined the term “artificial intelligence”, was an avid (albeit mediocre) chess player and programmer. The second theme that ran through my thesis was the relationship between chess, computing, and the Cold War.

History of Science — Matthew Jordan --> "> ︎ History of Science Master’s Thesis My Master’s thesis was on the role of game-playing in the history of computing. I argued that games like checkers (called “draughts” in the UK) and chess were not a mere frivolity. The computer scientists who wrote chess and checkers programs were among the most innovative and accomplished intellectuals of their time, and they viewed these games as core to their work. Many of the central developments in artificial intelligence (including the first-ever use of the term “machine learning”) came from games. A

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