In 1947, a team of Harvard computer scientists was stumped when their then-cutting-edge computer, the Mark II, began yielding unexpected results. Since the Mark II was used by the U.S. Navy for ballistics calculations, the margin for error was simply too low to allow such deviation. The team opened up the monolithic machine to find that, in its deep and largely analog recesses, the simplest culprit had been wreaking havoc: the team found a bug, quite literally a bug--a moth that had been trapped in the intricate architecture of the computer and had been interfering with computing processes. The team extricated the moth and restored the Mark II's full functionality, with a memorable log note attaching the bug committed to history.
Bugs, computer and otherwise, are always peeves and annoyances. But with computer bugs, they are also sources of wisdom. Consider the questions one learns to ask (and then answer) as they encounter their formative waves of bugs as a beginner programmer: How can I write code more elegantly to ensure that debugging is either unnecessary or altogether avoidable? Is there a way to write this code to handle all error cases? Can I map out code to detect bugs more easily or have some core functionalities insulated from bugs elsewhere?
Being stung by bugs is a trial by which all coders become better, more thorough, and more productive. This is true not only in computer science but in practically all fields: the inconveniences and setbacks of errors are a great impetus to improve and, at scale, innovate and change the paradigm of doing things. Geometrid's founding team was fascinated by this inspiring power of bugs--their ability to bring the best out of us and help us innovate better--on their journey to tackling bugs of another kind in another industry: the inefficiencies and errors caused by manual building progress tracking. Taking our cue from the Mark II moth and the beautiful geometry inherent in Geometrid moths, the name emerged out of our team's common spirit of pushing the envelope and continuously improving.
Geometrid moths are a family of moths whose larvae (inchworms) seem to "measure" the earth as they move in circles. This ambition--to measure all things in a building project successfully and effectively with the dedication of an inchworm setting out to measure the earth--is one we share with Geometrid moths.
But beyond measuring things and the wisdom of bugs, there is simply the fact that Geometrid moths are beautiful insects--with symmetric geometry across their wings that represent some of the finest patterns to flutter in the heavy wings of moths. A large focus of our team is to build not only a powerful product but an elegant one that, by design, enables clients to access its features easily and in a way that pleases the eye and the mind. We share a relationship with Geometrids rooted in the elegance of geometry in product thinking and organisational philosophy as well as our aim to help anyone measure anything in a building project and the innovative drive that bugs have handed down from the Mark II to the present.
And just like the Geometrid of our namesake, we're taking wing and are drawn to fly to the moon.