

Ask HN: What makes Berkeley (UC) great? - _nato_

I am having a heated debate with my friend, and we are a little young to recall where Berkeley fits in the history of Engineering, relative to schools like Stanford and MIT (among others). For those who have lived through 60+ years of this evolution, why does Berkeley matter, and why is this school significant in the grand scheme of it all.
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jaredsohn
Just did some googling; you may find this article to be interesting:

[http://www.dailycal.org/2012/11/16/a-look-back-at-uc-
berkele...](http://www.dailycal.org/2012/11/16/a-look-back-at-uc-berkeleys-
computer-evolution/)

"Flush with federal funding after World War II, UC Berkeley commenced an
unprecedented rush of computer science development that hasn’t ceased since.
The computer mouse, digital libraries, the Apple desktop computer, course
webcasts and online databases can all be traced back to UC Berkeley faculty"

Also, this article describes why computer science developed as a discipline at
some schools but not others:
[http://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/107684](http://conservancy.umn.edu/handle/107684)

Both articles found by googling "berkeley computer science history"

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brianchu
Does it really matter? I go to UC Berkeley right now, and it's not the legacy
that's important to me. It's the state of the university today. The legacy is
only important to me insofar as the legacy affects the current state of
affairs.

~~~
throwaway1979
Wise words. Institutions peak and trough. People get caught up in the storied
history of past institutions (myself included). Rationally, what matters is
the now. If you are at an institution that was once amazing but is now a
shadow of its former self, you need to understand that. Leaders of such
"fallen institutions" would like to do nothing better than confound the issue
and tout how great their faculty/scientists once were. In the language of my
old country there is a saying "mera baap badshah tha". This translates to "my
father was a king". This phrase is meant to point out one cannot rest on the
laurels of the past generation.

All this said, I still have a high regard for Berkeley CS. Their systems
research program/faculty is world class. Also, kinda cool that they have
special parking for nobel prize winners. When I saw that, I wondered if Turing
award winners could park there :-p

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yuhong
Anyone remember BSD?

