- Paperback: 368 pages
- Publisher: Basic Books; Reprint edition (July 1997)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0465029906
- ISBN-13: 978-0465029907
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.4 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 858,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Description
Product Description
Blending strong narrative history and a fascinating look at the interface of business and technology, Computer: A History of the Information Machine traces the dramatic story of the invention of the computer. More than just the tale of a tool created by scientists to crunch numbers, this book suggests a richer story behind the computers creation, one that shows how business and government were the first to explore the unlimited potential of the machine as an information processor. Blending strong narrative history and a fascinating look at the interface of business and technology, Computer: A History of the Information Machine traces the dramatic story of the invention of the computer. More than just the tale of a tool created by scientists to crunch numbers, this book suggests a richer story behind the computers creation, one that shows how business and government were the first to explore the unlimited potential of the machine as an information processor. Not surprisingly, at the heart of the business story is IBM. A story of old-fashioned entreprenuership in symbiotic relationship with scientific know-how, it begins way back when computers were people who did the computational work of scientists, and Charles Babbage attempted in vain to mechanize the process. But it also shows how entrepreneurs like Herman Hollerith, seeing a business opportunity in a machine that could mechanically tabulate the U. S. census, created a punched-card tabulator that became the technology that created IBM. The authors show how ENIAC, the first fully electronic computer, emerged out of the wartime need of the military for computers that performed at lightning speed and did not need human intervention at any stage of the process. Most interesting is the story of how the computer began to reshape broad segments of our society when the PC enabled new modes of computing that liberated people from dependence on room-sized, enormously expensive mainframe computers. Filled with lively insightsmany about the world of computing in the 1990s, such as the strategy behind Microsoft Windowsas well as a discussion of the rise and creation of the World Wide Web, here is a book no one who owns or uses a computer will want to miss.
From the Publisher
Description of Sloan Science Series
The Sloan Science Series presents personal stories by 20th century scientists that introduce to a general audience important scientific discoveries and how these were achieved. For other Sloan Technology Series books, search using keywords: sloan science.
The Sloan Science Series presents personal stories by 20th century scientists that introduce to a general audience important scientific discoveries and how these were achieved. For other Sloan Technology Series books, search using keywords: sloan science.
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First Sentence
The word computer is a misleading name for the ubiquitous machine that sits on our desks. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
The word computer is a misleading name for the ubiquitous machine that sits on our desks. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Campbell-Kelly and Aspray write a detailed account of the history of the computer, from when a computer was not a machine but rather a person who calculated numbers to the contemporary personal computer.
The book provides a very readable, while factual, history which illustrates the evolution of the computer over the past 200 years and provides many insights along the way. A new historical world of personalities and machines which were critical in the shaping of the computer of the late 20th century are removed from relative obscurity and made accessible to the reader.
The book provides a very readable, while factual, history which illustrates the evolution of the computer over the past 200 years and provides many insights along the way. A new historical world of personalities and machines which were critical in the shaping of the computer of the late 20th century are removed from relative obscurity and made accessible to the reader.
Where the book falters a little is in it's examination of the "Personal Computer" (or PC) and it's evolution over the last 25-30 years. The authors seem to go light on some details which are readily available in current media and some of their observations in this area are not as insightful as their earlier ones. The documentary "Triumph of the Nerds" would be a better source of information on this period of computer history. It consists of interviews with the people who were there when it happened, and many of the details Campbell-Kelly and Aspray skip/avoid/omit are in this entertaining documentary. On a personal note - since I grew up with the PC, and watched it make the computer a home appliance like a microwave or VCR, I was a little disappointed with this part of the book.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this title, and consider it a "must read" in the subject area.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
An excellent account of the history of computing. This book covers everything from America's "love affair" with the mechanical office (typewriters, adding machines. etc.), through Babbage's dream of an "all purpose" Analytical Engine, all the way through the dawn of "Software Engineering", and ending with a brief account of the "World Wide Web".
I used this book as a reference for two Dissertation projects with great results; though I put that down to my resourcefulness and intelligence, rather than claiming this to be a miracle maker! Still, as a brief history of "The Information Machine", this book is both reliable and interesting to read. It documents such machine's as "Colossus" and Konrad Zuse's electronic computer, whilst providing clear explanations as to why they did not directly impact upon the development of the PC (due to the secrecy of such projects).
I was pleased to see an accounting of the "Software Crisis" of the 1960's. I was even more pleased by the rich and vivid explanations provided surrounding the movement from Software development as an "art" to Software development as a "Science"! My only gripe lays in its final analysis of modern day computing and the "World Wide Web". I felt it could have gone into a little more depth; it felt like an add on, rather than a natural extension of the story of the Computer.
I used this book as a reference for two Dissertation projects with great results; though I put that down to my resourcefulness and intelligence, rather than claiming this to be a miracle maker! Still, as a brief history of "The Information Machine", this book is both reliable and interesting to read. It documents such machine's as "Colossus" and Konrad Zuse's electronic computer, whilst providing clear explanations as to why they did not directly impact upon the development of the PC (due to the secrecy of such projects).
I was pleased to see an accounting of the "Software Crisis" of the 1960's. I was even more pleased by the rich and vivid explanations provided surrounding the movement from Software development as an "art" to Software development as a "Science"! My only gripe lays in its final analysis of modern day computing and the "World Wide Web". I felt it could have gone into a little more depth; it felt like an add on, rather than a natural extension of the story of the Computer.
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a thoroughly interesting book, and I would agree that it's a "must read" if you're into computer history. However, I found it contained a dissapointing number of contradictions and inacuracies. The authors also seem to do underplay the English contribution to early computing.
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