Voume One, Issue Two

“Now, how many of you can remember when the first light-bulb was made?”

A chorus of oohs and aahs and ME!s greeted the question, and Ms. Greenfeld made a show being overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of her students.

“You, Jim, do you remember?”

“Seventeen Eighty!”

“And does anyone remember who invented it?”

The same little chorus, the same little show.

“Alice, why don’t you tell us?”

“Binge- Behnjamin Frankline, ma’am!”

“Franklin, dear. Very good. Now, who remembers who first put the power of electricity to work in a device of computation?”

A little boy with shiny black hair flung his hand upward. “Lord Babbage, ma’am!”

“Very good, Arthur, but next time do wait until you’re called upon. Now, what was his device?”

“Me, me, pick me!”

“Susan.”

“The Analytical Engine, ma’am!”

“And when did it first become operational, Susan?”

“Eighteen-Fifty, ma’am.”

“And what could it do? Yes, Arthur?”

“It could correctly calculate mathematical equations, ma’am, when they were entered with punch-cards, and would punch out the answer on a blank card. It allow-”

“Thank you, Arthur. And who invented the first modern computer?”

“Nikola Tesla.”

“And who first pioneered the interweb systems? Jennifer?”

“Umm…”

“It was Grace Murray Hopper, children, who invented the first interweb in 1946. And isn’t it wonderful that just twenty years later all you have to do to access any information you want is log onto planet web from a data cube no larger than your lunchbox, without wires?”

Title: History Class, 1966
Word Count: 243
Encylopedia: Clute, John and Nicholls, Peter; The Encylopedia of Science Fiction; New York; St. Martin's Press; New York; 1993, update 1995
Entry: Babbage, Charles