[Edu-sig] Accessibility to non CS types?

[Paul D. Fernhout]

kirby urner wrote:
> I'm pleased you have become so enthusiastic about Paul's work.

I know you know this, but just as an obligatory disclaimer, if PataPata is 
any good, while I can (and will :-) certainly take some credit for yet 
another attempt at putting constructivist educational ideas (and a 
prototype-programming paradigm) into a Pythonic context, the vast bulk of 
the ideas are coming through others like David Ungar, Adele Goldberg, John 
Maloney, Randy Smith, Maria Montessori, Dan Ingalls, Alan Kay, Seymour 
Papert, Grace Llewellyn, Diane Balestri, David Ferguson, and so on -- even 
Richard Stallman for the free software movement, and of course Guido van 
Rossum, for making Python so approachable and already prototype-ish.

So, "shoulders of giants" and all that. :-)

By the way:
   "Shoulders of Giants -- A Paper on the Inevitability of Open Source 
Dominance"
   http://www.cyber.com.au/users/conz/shoulders.html

And there is nothing like even one interested user to motivate 
improvements. It's not so much recognition as just the thought it might 
actually be useful(*) and so worth the continued investment of time 
relative to other priorities and interests.

--Paul Fernhout
(*) From Winnie-The-Pooh: Chapter 7: "Piglet was so excited at the idea of 
being Useful that he forgot to be frightened any more, and when Rabbit 
went on to say that Kangas were only Fierce during the winter months, 
being at other times of an Affectionate Disposition, he could hardly sit 
still, he was so eager to begin being useful at once."