The Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia has elected the Rev. Herman “Holly” Hollerith IV as their next bishop. Episcopal Life carries the story. From his bio, he sounds like a guy I would like:
Hollerith holds a bachelor of science degree from Denison University and a master of divinity degree from Yale Divinity School. In his leisure time, he enjoys “building things,” especially boats, and is a devotee of maritime archeology with a special interest in early marine steam technology. He is married to Elizabeth Salmons and they have three children.
The news index at Anglicans Online asserts that he is the direct descendant of Herman Hollerith (1860-1929), the German-American who invented machines that calculate using punched cards. In many computer quarters, punched cards were long called Hollerith cards in his honor. For the exceptionally geeky, one author has described Hollerith’s method over against various IBM and UNIVAC methods.
I always suspected that technology and theology had deep and intimate connections! Who would guess that Hollerith I’s method used to compute the 1890 census would be so intimately tied to the method used to calculate Hollerith IV’s episcopal election?
I don’t see the resemblance. Do you?
