Symbolic Mathematical Computation 1965--1975: The emergence of a discipline
For historians and practitioners of symbolic computation, this survey provides context on the discipline's origins and early challenges, but it is primarily a historical review rather than a novel technical contribution.
This paper surveys the formative decade (1965-1975) of symbolic mathematical computation, documenting its evolution from specialized programs with naive algorithms to integrated systems with substantial capabilities. It highlights key figures and innovations that underpin modern systems.
Today, symbolic mathematical computation is taken for granted as part of the scientific infrastructure, but it has not always been so. This paper provides a historical survey of the discipline's formative decade, 1965-1975, viewed from a 50 year perspective. This span of years saw the evolution from a few specialized programs with naive algorithms to integrated systems with substantial capabilities. We highlight some of the important early figures in the field and the innovations upon which the current generation of systems and algorithms are built. By revisiting a period unfamiliar to most current readers, this survey aims to shed light on once-pressing issues that are now largely resolved and to highlight how some of today's challenges were recognized earlier than expected.