http://www.osservatoreromano.va/portal/dt?JSPTabContainer.setSelected=J… Romano has an obituary for Fr. Roberto Busa, S.J., the man who many consider the pioneer of computational linguistics and the application of computer technology to the analysis of texts. He originated the Index Thomisticus (available on-line here), a computer-generated concordance of every word that appears anywhere in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas. It is an invaluable tool. The story is that he brought his idea to Thomas Watson, head of IBM, who said he did not think it was possible. Fr. Busa reminded him of the IBM motto: The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer, and persuaded Watson to start work on a project.I havent seen much notice taken of his death, and his accomplishments, inIBM has a tribute andLOsservatore Romano an obituary for Fr. Roberto Busa, S.J., the man who many consider the pioneer of computational linguistics, the application of computer technology to the analysis of texts. He originated the Index Thomisticus (available on-line here), a computer-generated concordance of every word that appears anywhere in the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, an invaluable tool. The story is that in 1946 he brought his idea to Thomas Watson, head of IBM, who said he did not think it was possible. Fr. Busa reminded him of the IBM motto: The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer, and persuaded Watson to start work on a project.I havent seen much notice taken of his death, and his accomplishments, in the U.S. press. An obituary in Forbes is linked at the Corpus Thomisticum site.