On Thursday, April 13, 2017 at 7:39:38 AM UTC-5, Rustom Mody wrote: > Quote from Peter Landin, one of the precursors of modern > functional programming: Most papers in computer science > describe how their author learned what someone else already > knew [And this dates from 60s/70s] Applies beyond just > CS…
There are very few truely orignal ideas. Most of what we say, do and know are derivative works. For example; the kernel of Python was formed in the mind of Guido from his observations of another language called "ABC" -- he saw many good ideas in ABC, but also, many design flaws (kinda coming full circle now, eh?). The key to success in evolution is to propagate the good traits whilst discarding the bad ones. And like most other languages, Python is simply an evolution of many likable traits with a few new features sprinkled on top to "sweeten the pot". Much is the same in any field of study. There are countless examples of theorists and experimentors who knew the answers long before the "named discoverer" was given credit for the supposed discovery. In the reams of the historical record, many times, good communication skills and friends in academic/political circles can be the difference between a Nobel laureate and a nobody. -- https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list