| A History of Modern Computing Contributor(s): Ceruzzi, Paul E. (Author) |
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ISBN: 0262532034 ISBN-13: 9780262532037 Publisher: MIT Press OUR PRICE: $39.60 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: April 2003 Annotation: Ceruzzi pens a history of computing from the development of the first electronic digital computer to the Web and dot-com crash. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Computers | History - Technology & Engineering | Social Aspects |
| Dewey: 004.090 |
| LCCN: 2002040799 |
| Series: History of Computing |
| Physical Information: 1.2" H x 5.9" W x 8.9" (1.35 lbs) 460 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: This engaging history covers modern computing from the development of the first electronic digital computer through the dot-com crash. The author concentrates on five key moments of transition: the transformation of the computer in the late 1940s from a specialized scientific instrument to a commercial product; the emergence of small systems in the late 1960s; the beginning of personal computing in the 1970s; the spread of networking after 1985; and, in a chapter written for this edition, the period 1995-2001. The new material focuses on the Microsoft antitrust suit, the rise and fall of the dot-coms, and the advent of open source software, particularly Linux. Within the chronological narrative, the book traces several overlapping threads: the evolution of the computer's internal design; the effect of economic trends and the Cold War; the long-term role of IBM as a player and as a target for upstart entrepreneurs; the growth of software from a hidden element to a major character in the story of computing; and the recurring issue of the place of information and computing in a democratic society. The focus is on the United States (though Europe and Japan enter the story at crucial points), on computing per se rather than on applications such as artificial intelligence, and on systems that were sold commercially and installed in quantities. |
Contributor Bio(s): Ceruzzi, Paul E.: - Paul E. Ceruzzi is Curator at the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution. He is the author of Computing: A Concise History, A History of Modern Computing, and Internet Alley: High Technology in Tysons Corner, 1945-2005, all published by the MIT Press, and other books.Aspray, William: - William Aspray is Bill and Lewis Suit Professor of Information Technologies in the School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin. He is the coeditor of Women and Information Technology: Research on Underrepresentation (2006) and The Internet and American Business (2008), both published by the MIT Press.Misa, Thomas J.: - Thomas J. Misa is ERA-Land Grant Professor of the History of Technology at the University of Minnesota, where he directs the Charles Babbage Institute. His books include Modernity and Technology (coedited with Philip Brey and Andrew Feenberg; MIT Press, 2003). |