Books on Computer History? 21
catf00d asks: "My Dad
has been in the computer biz since there was a computer biz.
(He programmed the UNIVAC-1 and just retired from IBM.) For X-mas,
I'd like to get him a book on the history of computers, so that he
can see his place in the grand scheme. Can you guys recommend a good
book?"
Hackers (Score:2)
It's not as far reaching as you are looking for, but still a very good book. The title refers to the old-style hacker, one who likes to find out how things work, rather than the more malevolent cracker.
Hackers outlines the desktop software development movement, starting from the halls of MIT to the early days of the PC. It's less a definitive history and more of an interesting story, but it definitely gives good perspective of how big computing movements develop from small beginnings.
It was written over ten years ago, so it is not "up-to-date" but it is a great snapshot of the personalities involved at the start of the PC era.
this might be a good book (Score:1)
It's more then the usual microsoft/apple stories, but also includes histories of some programming languages and stuff.
if your dad is old-school he might actually remember a lot of the stuff that happened in this book.
Re:this might be a good book (Score:2)
Computer... (Score:1)
Havn't seen any good ones about general computing (Score:1)
Personal Computer History (Score:1)
I don't know of any whole books that cover the UNIVAC era, but if your dad is an ex-IBMer he might be interested in Computer Wars : The Fall of IBM and the Future of Global Technology [amazon.com]. The first third of the book covers IBM history including the lead up to the PC. It does a great job of cataloging all the pointy-haired management decisions along the way. The second third of the book covers what was happening at IBM around the time the book was written. The last third is comprised of suggestions from the authors on what they believed at the time IBM needed to do to get back to its position among industry leaders.
Fire in the Valley: The Making of The Personal Computer [amazon.com] is an even meatier tome but with an emphasis on Silicon Valley.
Here's a few: (Score:1)
The Computer From Pascal to von Neumann
Herman H. Goldstine
ISBN 0-691-08104-2 (Hard cover) ISBN 0-691-02367-0 (Paperback)
This book covers the WWII era development in detail. Well written. I think the author is the Naval officer responsible for getting the Eniac funded when all the other experts said it wasn't worth developing.
Eniac - The triumphs and Tragedies of the Worlds First Computer
Scott McCartney
ISBN 0-8027-1348-3
A detailed look inside the development of the Eniac. Extensively researched, a great read.
In the Beginning: Recollections of Software Pioneers
Robert L. Glass
ISBN 0-8186-7999-9
This book comprises a series of anecdotes and histories, by 15 software pioneers. It's unevenly written, but tremendous fun reading.
Hope that helps!
Re:Here's a few: (Score:1)
Bit by Bit: an Illustrated History of Computers
Stan Augarten
A History of Computing Technology
Michael R. Williams
The Origins of Digital Computers
Brian Randell (editor)
A Computer Perspective
Charles & Ray Eames
Some books (Score:2)
"Eniac" is good.
"Nerds" is a good history of the genesis of the Internet.
"We were burning" is a good book about the japanese semiconductor industry.
"A history of modern computing" is good.
"The invention that changed the world", actually about radar, but nice lead-ins from 1940s technology providing the genesis for the computer industry.
try From Dits to Bits (Score:1)
Out of Their Minds (Score:2)
[amazon.com]
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/03879826
Regards,
Winton
"The Best Of Byte" (Score:1)
It includes tons of Byte magazine articles from the '80s and early '90s. Year-by-year timeline of developments, many of which have been utterly forgotten over time. Old ads from companies long gone, extremly rare interviews with legends of the industry.....highly reccomended.
Actually... (Score:2)
Finding such books can be a long and difficult task - almost all of them will be out of print. I suggest if you (or anyone else) take this route to build a "history", to check in the antique district where you live for used/rare/antique books - sometimes you will find the strangest things (like, I found one book that described how to build your own radio telescope - however it was tube based).
For something in print, the best computer history book I have come across is "Computer: A History of the Information Machine" by Martin Campbell-Kelly and William Aspray (ISBN 0-465-02989-2).
It starts out with basically Charles Babbage, moves on to Herman Hollerith, then into Remington Rand, NCR, and the birth of IBM (spawned from Hollerith's enterprise - which is a whole book unto itself), then into Lord Kelvin's Tide Predictor, the Harvard Mark I, the ABC, the MTI - then into ENIAC and EDVAC, EDSAC. Then it goes into business machines - UNIVAC, BINAC, IBM's early boxes, starting with the 701 - then onto the large iron - beginning with the 1401, moving into the System/360, then ending with IBM's decline with the PC market. Then, chapters on Project Whirlwind and SAGE, the SABRE system (airline reservation). Then, software, timesharing and simple computer languages (such as Fortran and BASIC), the rise of the minicomputers and Unix, finally ending with microcomputers, the internet, and more.
A very good read - not overly technical, not overly detailed - but a good "overall" history, with enough detail to see how it all came together, who the major (and minor) players were, etc. It isn't like other books which start out with calculators and end with the ENIAC - instead, it starts closer to our time, with the beginnings of a true computer, albeit a mechanical one (Babbage).
Actually, couple this book in a collection with "Herman Hollerith" by Geoffrey D. Austrian, "Hackers" by Steven Levy, and the recent American release of "The Difference Engine" by Doron Swade, and I daresay you will probably have as near as can be imagined "complete" history of computers (ok, there are a few other books I would add in - the book on the ENIAC, Where Wizards Stay Up Late, Soul of a New Machine, etc).
You know - I look at my bookshelf - seeing these tons of contemporary and historical computer books - I think to myself "Amazing - the sheer vastness of this industry - this hobby - seems almost overwhelming!" - makes me wonder why man still fights one another over petty things... sigh.
Book ideas, History resources (Score:1)
I put together a list of key resources in the history of computing [tomandmaria.com] for a recent NSF backed workshop on using history to teach computer science better . It has books as well as some links to history sites and other resources. People interested in this topic might also want to check out the [cra.org] site for my computer history and culture course [tomandmaria.com] at Colby College -- the pages for each session include additional links and readings." Hackers was one of the main texts -- it's a great book, but more recent. (I posted something anonymously -- sorry to duplicate. I got myself an account now).
Levy. (Score:2)
Oh, and _Fire in the Valley_ is supposed to be good, though I haven't read it myself.
--saint
Another good one (Score:1)
Life with UNIX (Score:1)