A history of computing in the twentieth century : a collection of essays /
Why a history of computing, considering how recent the past? Are there any lessons to be learned from retelling and rereading the story of the computer and the rise of computer science? First, these articles give accounts not found elsewhere. Tales of British top-secret COLOSSUS, glimpses beyond the...
| Corporate Authors: | , , |
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| Other Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Conference Proceeding eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
New York :
Academic Press,
1980
New York ; London : 1980. |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Connect to the full text of this electronic book |
| Summary: | Why a history of computing, considering how recent the past? Are there any lessons to be learned from retelling and rereading the story of the computer and the rise of computer science? First, these articles give accounts not found elsewhere. Tales of British top-secret COLOSSUS, glimpses beyond the Iron Curtain, and accounts of corporations everywhere jumping on the bandwagon--private enterprise contributing to scientific research?--kindling admiration in capitalistic hearts. There are displays of intellectual history, concern with preserving present history, and personal reminiscences of famous personalities. Giants Turing and von Neumann realized in the 1930s that the formalism of mathematical logic--long considered a sterile exercise for philosophers and mathematicians in search of a field--was the magic key to programming languages and computer design. One very meaningful message is this: the spark of life was given to computer science by men who displayed the vision gained from a broad cultural background, which resulted in inventions motivated by the purest of mathematics. These mark the beginning of the computer revolution. These essays remember the men, the machines, the science. All of it. |
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| Item Description: | "Original versions of these papers were presented at the International Research Conference on the History of Computing, held at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory, 10-15 June 1976." |
| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (xix, 659 pages) : illustrations |
| Format: | Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. |
| Bibliography: | "The origins of digital computers: supplementary bibliography, B. Randell": pages 629-659 |
| ISBN: | 0124916503 9780124916500 9781322480480 1322480486 9781483296685 1483296687 |