eLSE 2016 - paper by M. Vlada and A. Adascalitei

eLSE 2016, Bucharest, April 21-22, 2016

ROMANIAN EXPERIENCE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE UNIVERSITY COURSES ON INFORMATICS. VISION ON

LEARNING OF PROFESSOR GRIGORE C. MOISIL

Marin VLADA*, Adrian ADĂSCĂLIŢEI***University of Bucharest, Bucharest, România

e-mail: vlada@ fmi.unibuc.ro, web: www.unibuc.ro/prof/vlada_m

**Technical University "Gh. Asachi" of Iasi, Romaniae-mail: [email protected], web: www.ee.tuiasi.ro/~aadascal/


DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENCE - THE NEED FOR THEORIES, CONCEPTS AND COMPUTERSMotto: “A man has no right to despise another one’s

job. And to respect it, he must know it. There is a profession of which all the children only know its unpleasant aspects, this is the teaching profession. There is a profession, yet, that one only knows about certain less pleasant aspects: it is the researcher".

Grigore C. Moisil, "Professions" posthumous article, Mathematical Gazette, Series A no. 5/1974, pp. 163-164.

The topic of this article was suggested to us by the documentation and research we did to understand the personality of Acad. Grigore C. Moisil (Jan. 10 1906 - May 21 1973) and its role in the development of new theories and applications - in mathematics, automation, cybernetics and computer science, to build electronic computers, their use in education and research, thus contributing to the foundation in the period 1950-1970 Informatics Romanian. Efforts of that period underlie today's development of computer science and information technology use in education, research and society.


AbstactThe article describes some aspects of the mathematician Gr. Moisil’s

contributions for the first Romanian computer and Informatics foundation in Romania.

The paper particularly described Gr. C. Moisil's view on computer use in the development of science, especially its impact on education development and evolution of society.

After 1965, Informatics has become a science of sciences due to the development of the following areas: Systems (emergence and development of Cybernetics); Circuits and automatic (mathematical logic and Boolean algebra); Algorithms and computing (computing processes); Languages (Formal languages and Programming languages).

In Romania, Informatics appeared and was developed due to the opening and development of School of Algebraic theory automatic mechanisms. Professor Gr. C. Moisil fought in various forms until the end of life.


OBSERVATIONThe topic of this article was suggested to us by the

documentation and research we did to understand the personality of Acad. Grigore C. Moisil (Jan. 10 1906 - May 21 1973) and its role in the development of new theories and applications - in mathematics, automation, cybernetics and computer science, to build electronic computers, their use in education and research, thus contributing to the foundation in the period 1950-1970 Informatics Romanian. Efforts of that period underlie today's development of computer science and information technology use in education, research and society.

The topic of this article was suggested to us by the documentation and research we did to understand the personality of Acad. Grigore C. Moisil (Jan. 10 1906 - May 21 1973) and its role in the development of new theories and applications - in mathematics, automation, cybernetics and computer science, to build electronic computers, their use in education and research, thus contributing to the foundation in the period 1950-1970 Informatics Romanian. Efforts of that period underlie today's development of computer science and information technology use in education, research and society.


Computer in RomaniaComputer Development in Romania is

marked by initiatives and personalities that in certain circumstances knew, as professionals with a great openness to new knowledge, to capitalize on what they offered as possibilities and resources for the historical period in which he promoted initiatives

Today, Gr. C. Moisil would say "'mathematics and computer science/informatics are part of culture and humanist values are indispensable to any man"


CIFA-1, the first Romanian computer, in BucharestWe should mention that Romania has launched this competition on

computer systems, so that in 1957 there was created CIFA 1, the first Romanian computer, in Bucharest, conducted at the Physics Institute of the Academy, in Magurele (Coordinator Eng. Victor Toma).

At that time, Romania was the 8th country in the world that built such a calculator and the second of the former socialist countries after the former USSR. Romania tried to get involved in creating the III-rd computer generation, based on microprocessors, but due to the embargo computer technologies that socialist states were subjected by the U.S., this involvement was much more difficult.

In 1968 (during the visit of General Charles de Gaulle in Romania) we managed to sign a secret agreement of cooperation in computer science with France, the agreement that was likely due to the autonomous position of France within NATO


From The mechanical calculator Walther


To Products of microelectronics and microprogramming: microprocessor, motherboard of an electronic computer


II EMERGENCE OF NEW THEORIES AND THE EVOLUTION OF UNIVERSITY COURSES

Motto: "What a teacher can give cannot be found anywhere else. The rest are technicalities which you can find in the textbooks" Dr. Prof. Dan Cristea stated at a meeting in 2008 with graduates from the Faculty of Informatics of Iasi.

When working on a particular topic, they say that after a period

of 5 years research is to be changed, invoking that results will be harder to get if you continue with the same topic.

The same happens with the content of university courses. In every field there are new theories, new methods, and new approaches to solving problems.

Therefore, every 5-8 years, academic course content must be adapted to these changes, more didactic and pedagogical methods that are improved by ICT advertise adapt these courses to students for different learning styles.


Example: Grigore Moisil's book "The Theory of algebraic Switching Circuits" published in English (1969)The book is a good example to show, a bok

that develops mathematical theories and methods to study, investigate, model and solve complex real world. Moisil math was involved in those years, 60s 40s, when developing the fundamentals of designing, developing and building modern computer. We must mention that Informatics (Computer Science ≠ Informatics ≠ IT) is the result of contributions in science and technology, but no science can claim the invention of the computer, as may be the invention of one man


Gr. C. Moisil's book


How nice it would be if every math teacher should see "math" in this book written by Gr. C. Moisil (Fig. 3)! Today, having the computer available too, a math teacher should teach students something that is no longer abstract, useless or boring, it would be attractive, compelling, challenging, even with moments of joy, happiness and inspiration. Whose fault is that this is happening? There are answers, but what solutions would there be?

After 1965, we can say that the information has become a science due to the development of science in following areas: Systems; Circuits and automata; Languages


HARDWARE (engineering, IT) + SOFTWARE (algorithms, computability, representation and processing, etc.)If during the decade 70 (20th century) there

were several disciplines that owned computers at the university level, today there are complex areas of Computing Programming and Software Engineering, Computer Networks and Computing, Databases and Information Systems, Programming and Web Development, Graphics Computer and Virtual Reality, Computational Geometry, Modeling and simulation, parallel and Distributed Computing, Artificial intelligence and Expert systems, Knowledge engineering.


III GRIGORE C. MOISIL, FOUNDER OF INFORMATICS IN ROMANIA - THE STRUGGLE FOR COMPUTER USE IN EDUCATION AND RESEARCH

Motto: “I am for new things, but, more, than the things that are new today, I appreciate the things that will be new starting tomorrow”; „The most powerful explosive is not the toluene, is not atomic bomb, but the man’s idea” Gr. C. Moisil

"Reason does not work instinctively, but requires testing, practice and learning to gradually progress from one level of understanding to the other." Immanuel Kant


Informatics in RomaniaIn Romania, Informatics appeared and it was

developed because of the appearance and development of School of Algebraic theory automatic mechanisms. Professor Gr. Moisil fought in various forms until the end of life. Fluke on algebraic theory of automatic mechanisms appearance is due to the collaboration between the mathematician Gr. Moisil and Leon Livovschi engineer, later to be entitled professor of computer science at the Faculty of Mathematics, University of Bucharest.


Informatics in RomaniaTireless to develop and promote applications of mathematics

in science and technology Gr. Moisil had multiple concerns initiatives and challenges in various math problems where I had to apply. For example, in the period 1947-1951 he lectured in the section of Mathematics Science and Technical Courses held at the House of Scientists Lahovary Square.

In 1949 Professor Leon Livovschi was employed as an engineer at Automated Telephone Service of the Ministry of Telecommunications faced problems where analysis of circuits with contacts and relays operation. Leon Livovschi says that he accidentally came into possession of an article (it's about works of V.I. Sestakov and M. Gavrilov of Moscow) which solved the problems of analysis of circuits with contacts using Boolean algebra methods


Informatics in RomaniaThere followed the collaboration between Gr.

Moisil and Leon Livovschi for using Boolean algebra operation in analyzing circuits with contacts and relays. The result was represented by several conferences held together in Bucharest, Cluj and Iasi attended by mathematicians, engineers, and various specialists who used new applications of mathematics in solving problems encountered in the design and operation of automatic mechanisms that formed the basis for building electronic computers.


Informatics in RomaniaThese conferences, which Gr. Moisil said they were

kept "two voices”, were the times of occurrence for the Algebraic School of theory of automatic mechanisms that led to the founding of Informatics in Romania.

The concept of "automatic" dominated that period because it had developed the theory of algebraic automatic mechanisms (school founded by Gr. Moisil, 1959) and the theory of formal languages and grammars that machines are based on (school founded by Solomon Marcus, 1964) that contributed to build electronic computers (hardware) and the development of programming languages and compilers (software).


Informatics in RomaniaSince 1955 GR. Moisil travels a lot. He takes part in

the congress of pure mathematics, applied mathematics, automation and philosophy of science in Europe, America and Japan. Between 1953 and 1973, he lectures and participates in congresses with papers in England, Belgium, West Germany, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, France, Greece, Italy, Yugoslavia, Japan, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey, Hungary, U.R.S.S. and U.S. Recognition in the country and abroad did not fail to appear, he is considered the founder of the school of computer science in Romania. In a period in which political influence rebounds on cultural life, he managed to promote computer science and cybernetics in academic and university world


Informatics in RomaniaIn 2014, at the "Al. I. Cuza" University in Iasi

the initiative to set up an institute to bear the name of the great mathematician Grigore Moisil -"The Opening Event of Grigore Moisil Institute for Computer Science and Applications" was launched (Prof. dr. Sorin Istrate, Brown University - International Director, Acad. Prof. dr. Solomon Marcus, Emeritus, University of Bucharest, co-Director, Prof. Henri Luchian, University "Al. I. Cuza" Iasi, co-Director)


Gr. C. Moisil at CCUB-University of Bucharest: Left- "Computing Machines" Group at analog computer (1966) and Right- in front desk of IBM 360 computer (1968) [source for right image: prof. dr. Adrian Atanasiu]

Education

eLSE 2016 - paper by M. Vlada and A. Adascalitei