Talking History of Maths: The Computer Becomes a Weapon
We are really excited to present ‘Talking History of Maths’! Supported by the British Society for the History of Mathematics, this will be a set of five talks and discussions over the 2026/27 academic year. It is aimed at undergraduate mathematics or joint honours students, but anyone is welcome to take part.
Each of the five sessions will take place over 90 minutes, consisting of an hour talk followed by a 30-minute discussion. They will be presented live at one university with other groups ‘Zooming in’ to watch. Our first session will take place at 2pm BST on Wednesday 14th October 2026 (title and abstract below).
There are two ways to take part:
1. As an individual: You will join by yourself on Zoom and then are welcome to join our discussion over Zoom for the last 30 minutes.
2. As a group: We are imagining this will be university maths societies, but any group is welcome to sign up. You will book out a room and watch the talk together and then discuss it as a group. For this option, the first ten groups that sign up will be given a supplementary £50 tea, coffee and cake budget for the five sessions.
To register for the event please fill in this form: Talking History of Maths Registration – Fill in form.
The Computer Becomes a Weapon, Dr. Troy Kaighin Astarte,
What was the first computer? Some candidate answers jump to mind, but a few minutes’ careful thinking reveals the question is very poorly phrased. In this talk, we will consider why that is the case and begin to disentangle some early aspects of the history of the things we now call ‘computers’. In doing so, we will find ourselves confronting very quickly their militaristic origins, and some even darker ones. We will review the conditions in which modern computers were developed and consider what kind of legacies they might leave. Along the way, we might even find ourselves thinking about how these histories are echoed in current debates about technology. Yes, I wrote “we” throughout, in recognition of what I hope to be a discussion as a group as well as a lecture.
Future dates and lecture titles forthcoming.
If you have any questions, please send them to elinor[dot]flavell[at]open[dot]ac[dot]uk.