Macalester Today – “Ada Lovelace probably didn’t foresee the impact of the mathematical formula she published in 1843, now considered the first computer algorithm. Nor could she have anticipated today’s widespread use of algorithms, in applications as different as the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign and Mac’s first-year seminar registration. “Over the last decade algorithms have become embedded in every aspect of our lives,” says Shilad Sen, professor in Macalester’s Math, Statistics, and Computer Science (MSCS) Department. How do algorithms shape our society? Why is it important to be aware of them? And for readers who don’t know, what is an algorithm, anyway?…”