Historians and Programmers in the 1970s: Formal Languages, the Writing of History, and Ideas of Science

This article analyzes some of the issues raised by historians after turning to computers for historical research in the 1960s and 1970s. The main point is to enrich this context by looking into the debates computer programmers were having in their own field at the same time. In particular, the use of formal languages to enhance the theoretical basis of both practices is discussed. A second point, the debates in programming, is also highlighted: as historians were turning to computer programming, programmers were becoming historians of their own practice, engaged in methodological discussions on how to write their history.