BOOTSTRAPPING: DOUGLAS Engelbart’s invention of the mouse the user was seated cross-legged on ENGELBART, COEVOLUTION built upon the 1950s light pen as well as the floor. During this time the science AND THE ORIGINS OF Ivan Sutherland’s Sketchpad (Suther- of user testing as a part of interface PERSONAL COMPUTING land’s 1963 Ph.D. thesis project). The design had developed, and the much- mouse finally appeared on a successful discussed “users” progressed from by Thierry Bardini. Stanford Univ. commercial product, the 1984 Apple hypothetical ones to users of real Press, Palo Alto, CA, U.S.A., 2001. 312 Macintosh. Work applying Fitt’s Law computer products. pp., illus. $22.95. Paper. ISBN: 0-8047- soon established the relation between Engelbart was captivated by the 3871-8. distance and size of an onscreen target, human potential movement and the when using hand movement for point- rigidly controlled EST organization in Reviewed by Mike Mosher, Saginaw Valley ing at it. I remember a presentation by the 1970s, which some of his critics State University, University Center, MI the man who was then Apple’s inter- think muddled his work in technology 48710, U.S.A. E-mail: . (whose name appears mangled in this Yet it may have been his own philosophy book), on Fitt’s Law and the Mac that was no longer right for the per- Many artists working with computers mouse at SIGGRAPH ’89. sonal computer development of the have drifted in and out of Silicon Val- Bootstrapping is also valuable for its times: Engelbart was an advocate of the ley’s computer industry in the past two glimpse into the political and some- sometimes long and difficult process of or more decades, and many have influ- what Machiavellian world of govern- co-evolutional learning rather than enced the tools and software in one way ment research funding. Engelbart’s user-friendliness. Alan Kay, who cham- or another, whether through icon work was a rival to that of J.R. Licklider, pioned computers usable by children, design or participation in user testing. whose projects in artificial intelligence said “Engelbart, for better or worse, was This cohort has sought to add graceful- sought “man/computer symbiosis” trying to make a violin.” Not everyone ness to the service of productivity and rather than mere augmentation. The wants to take to the time to learn a to promote, through technology, ele- well-placed Licklider was the director violin—the learning curve demands gant visual, audial and behavioral solu- of the Department of Defense’s Ad- commitment and early mistakes are tions. These artist-designers (which vanced Research Projects Agency Infor- discouraging. include myself) always appreciate a mation Processing Technology Office From the spread of the personal good history of the early days of the (ARPA-IPTO) in 1962. After 1967, computer in the 1970s and 1980s, to computer-human interface field. Licklider’s office funded Engelbart’s multimedia CD-ROMs and the Web, Thierry Bardini provides one in his projects, including one called “H-LAM/ power users, dot-com entrepreneurs book on Douglas Engelbart. T Sys” (Human Using Language, Arti- and a generation of computer-savvy Engelbart was born 1925 in Oregon fact Methodology), in which he was children and students, Engelbart has and served in the U.S. Navy from 1944 trained. lived to see a world transformed. Engel- to 1946 before returning to attend Like the hypertext visionary Ted bart’s admitted laxity in office politick- Oregon State University. He then ob- Nelson, Engelbart’s thought was influ- ing, presenting and packaging his work tained a Ph.D. in engineering at the enced by Vannevar Bush’s “As We May and ideas is the reason he is neither University of California, Berkeley, Think” essay. Engelbart’s NLS (which more widely recognized outside of the where he was exposed to the early days stood for “oN Line System”), at SRI in computer field nor wealthier. The story of computers, realizing that he did not the 1960s, was established for group of Xerox Corporation’s failure to suc- feel drawn towards a career in acade- communication and collaboration cessfully market the Star computer, the mia. He briefly had his own consulting employing natural language links. His one that embodied many of Engelbart’s company, then went to work for Stan- influential demos at the ACM/IEEE innovations and inspired the Apple ford Research Institute (SRI) in 1957. Computer Society Fall Joint Computer Macintosh, is well-known. At SRI, Engelbart’s Augmentation of Conference in San Francisco in Decem- Anyone who has worked in Human Intellect Project explored the ber 1968 were videotaped by Stewart computer-human interface or in and technical and social aspects of comput- Brand, who had just edited the Whole around Silicon Valley institutions such ing. Not only did he see this as a way to Earth Catalog. Engelbart had a pro- as SRI, Xerox PARC, IBM Almaden improve human capability, but as an found influence on the “baby boomer” Research Center or Apple Computer exploration of the philosophy of lan- generation of computer scientists and will certainly relish this book. More- guage and the body. theorists, which included Nelson, Larry over, those in a private, government or Engelbart is known for many techni- Tesler, Ivan Sutherland, Alan Kay and non-profit office filled with the fruits of cal innovations that contemporary Brenda Laurel. In a picture taken contemporary productivity technology computer users take for granted: the around 1970, Engelbart is, in his mid- will appreciate Bardini’s tales of poli- outline processor, the windowed user forties, a handsome presence with dark tics, committees, funding and grants, interface, the mouse, and one with eyebrows, sporting longish silver hair demos to funders and skeptical man- which his name has not generally been like a southern senator, the white shirts agement, and all those fascinating associated—electronic mail. He also and ties of the 1960s put aside for turtle- projects at PARC and SRI. explored some technologies that have neck sweaters. The reader is treated to My biggest complaint about the not yet blossomed into common use, as rarely published images of Engelbart’s book is a small but highly visible one: I when he came to advocate a chording various team presentations and experi- make a distressed face at an overly keyset (he saw this as superior to the ments, like a knee-controlled mouse complicated back cover image designed conventional, hegemonic “QWERTY” rigged up (and here photographed) by Janet Wood that makes its text keyboard). under the table, or a system in which nearly unreadable. I hope this graphic

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Downloaded from http://direct.mit.edu/leon/article-pdf/35/4/449/1571265/leon.2002.35.4.449.pdf by guest on 29 September 2021 confusion (so contrary to the clarity in The articles in the first section trace The strength of the “Analysis” section Engelbart’s own prototypes) does not some of the early influences on Xe- comes from the fact that each article scare away the grazers in bookstores nakis’ music, such as Greek folk music has essentially one point of focus, so that should be the book’s buyers, thus and the music of Bartok. They also that the articles together provide a harming the sales of a book that cele- explore Xenakis’ early interest in elec- broad perspective on Xenakis’ composi- brates one of the great inventors of our tronic music and his involvement with tional techniques. Topics include Xe- time. the GRM (Groupe de Recherche Musi- nakis’s use of mathematical techniques cale), positioning his later works in the to generate the pitch material, articula- context of these early influences. James tion, register, duration and form of his PRESENCES OF/PRÉSENCES DE Harley’s article, “Formal Analysis of the work Nomos Alpha; the use of spatial- IANNIS XENAKIS Music of Iannis Xenakis by Means of ization and timbre to articulate the edited by Makis Solomos. Cdmc (www. Sonic Events: Recent Orchestral structure of Terretekthor; the analysis of cdmc.asso.fr), Paris, 2001. 268 pp. Music,” provides a useful overview of textural elements as formal structure in Paper. ISBN: 2-9516440-1-9. (In English Xenakis’ orchestral music from 1957 to Evryali; a programmatic approach to and French.) 1997. Harley’s approach is more de- the understanding of Evryali; the idea scriptive than analytical, but the result of breath as the genesis element in Reviewed by Robert Coburn and François is a survey of orchestral writing that N’Shima and how it becomes the inspi- Rose, Conservatory of Music, University of reveals a significant evolution of mate- ration source for the composition of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211, U.S.A. rial and proposes an analytical the work’s textures; the use of mathe- E-mail: , . Makis Solomos’s well-documented and temporal aspects of the percussion illustrated article, “Du projet bartókien work Psappha; an analysis of the formal The passing of John Cage in 1992 and au son. L’évolution du jeune Xenakis,” structure of XAS, developed from Xe- of Iannis Xenakis in 2001 brought to a deserves a special mention. It exposes nakis’ idea of order/disorder; and the close a century of musical creation that, in a clear and concise fashion the com- use of re-synthesis in the analysis of the in the hands of many composers, val- position techniques used by Xenakis in electroacoustic work, Gendy3. This ued experience over object, discovery his early pieces, making the article an group of eight articles provides a signif- over predictability. Although the musi- excellent preparation for the articles icant contribution to the analysis of cal end results of the two composers’ on his later music. Xenakis’ music and alone makes work were quite different, Cage’s use of In the “Theories” section, the articles Présences worth reading. compositional process in denial of explore some of the mathematical The “Architecture and Polytopes” intention and Xenakis’ use of mathe- techniques used by Xenakis to generate section presents a somewhat lesser- matics to create musical experience musical elements. The scope of these known portion of Xenakis’ creative unavailable through any other means articles varies widely, from the general output. Beginning with the article, had more in common than one might and holistic approach of Jean-Luc “Espaces et sources d’auditions et de at first suspect. This is but one interest- Hervé’s “Les images sonores xenaki- spectacles,” in which Xenakis describes ing thought that surfaces after reading ennes: actualité de la pensée de Xe- his own reflections on space, this last the collection of essays Présences de nakis pour la création musicale section brings together concept, theory Iannis Xenakis. aujourd’hui” to the complex and more and application in an interesting look Throughout the second half of the technical “Théorie des cribles” of at the merging of aural, visual, spatial 20th century, the composer and archi- Benoît Gibson (one may want to brush and constructed media. It is in this tect Iannis Xenakis integrated musical up on one’s math before dealing with work that Xenakis integrates his cre- creativity and architectural thinking, this inspiring and challenging article). ative activities as composer and archi- bridging the two with mathematical In “Clarification on Xenakis: the Cyber- tect to generate a total experience processes. Présences de Iannis Xenakis is netics of Stochastic Music,” the com- larger and more meaningful than any comprised of 27 articles presented in poser Agostino Di Scipio takes a close of the separate parts. Sven Sterken’s 1998 at a symposium organized in Paris look at the role stochastic processes article presents a clear and compelling by the Centre de Documentation de la played in the composition of Xenakis’ overview of how Xenakis attempted to Musique Contemporaine and Radio electroacoustic works (Concret PH, subjugate architecture and music to the France. This was the first symposium Gendy3, etc.) and proposes an “order same formal quantization. In “Mor- completely devoted to the work of from non-order” theory, finding a “rich phologies,” Elizabeth Sikiaridi traces Xenakis. The resulting book is divided experience where the scientific and the development of Xenakis’ architec- into five sections, each focusing on a humanistic elements meet and con- ture and his transferal of structure different aspect of Xenakis’s music: front each other.” from space to sound and time. In “Ar- “Sources and Late Works,” “Theories,” It is not surprising that all the articles chitecture of Densities,” Philipp Oswalt “Aesthetics,” “Analysis” and “Architec- in the “Aesthetics” section are in describes the source of Xenakis’ ideas ture and Polytopes.” The 27 articles are French. While not exclusive to the of space as a “permanently changing presented in their original languages, French culture, aesthetics has always field of densities.” These four brief 18 in French and nine in English. The been one of its prime considerations. articles provide a significant introduc- book closes with a complete list of These four texts, which fit very well tion to the work of Xenakis as com- Xenakis’s music compositions written within that tradition, consider the sonic poser/architect, a subject that clearly between 1949 and 1997, and an exten- phenomena in Xenakis’s music as an deserves much more examination. sive bibliography collected and anno- abstract element and comment on its With such a consistently high quality tated by Makis Solomos. cultural and historical contributions. of content, it is unfortunate that the

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