No sooner had I learned about Jane Jacobs by finding this fantastic summary of her thinking via del.icio.us than I heard she had died. Saul Griffith pointed out this lovely article about her life and work. Her thoughts about the relationship between cities and rural areas and the different types of cities really rang true with me now that I’m living in a rural area near a major city. Through her obituary I learned that she also had interesting ideas about the networked nature of economics, so (having already ordered her books on cities) I’ve now got another book to order.
I’d just written to Stewart Brand recommending Jane for a Long Now talk, but of course now it’s too late. I’m acutely conscious that there are many interesting people from science, economics, arts, and technology who die every year. For example, I recently saw an obit for one of the first coders, a woman whose job it was to program ENIAC. I’d love to put people like that on stage at OSCON and other conferences, to give us all the benefit of their experience and historical perspective. Do you know any such pioneers and historical figures, people who are over 60 and whom we should have speak before they’re lost to us forever? I look forward to seeing your suggestions in the comments …