History of Science & Technology Q&A (August 24, 2022)

Stephen Wolfram answers questions from his viewers about the history of science and technology as part of an unscripted livestream series, also available on YouTube here: https://wolfr.am/youtube-sw-qa

Questions include: If we had discovered combinatory logic before statistical mechanics, what else might have ensued? - I've been wondering why Stephen didn't explore chess in his paper on games. Maybe he could discuss the history of chess AI. - Can we design a better game somehow? Do you think it's regrettable that the history of science and technology is almost never taught? - Political and social history seem absurdly dominant. The history of science and technology mostly focuses on the results and consequences of discoveries instead of the background of the characters behind them. - In the history of science and technology, have you ever seen something really unexpected? Like someone pulling something out of their hat with no prior experience? - A surprising event is when someone is an expert in field A, but somehow finds an "isomorphism" with field B and makes a discovery in field B. - I feel like Einstein's thought experiments were up there... like how did he think to follow a beam of light? - ​I think intuition is very underrated in science. But why does our intuition even work? - Will we ever get a philosophical programming language? - What do you think about the relationship of philosophical thinking and experimental mathematics? - The limits of reason and the limits of Turing machines? - ​​It seems in the history of science and technology that the "hard research" is usually kept out of the public eye. Mr. Wolfram, has it been beneficial or overwhelming having your work open to the public?