Computer: A History of the Information Machine

by Martin Campbell-Kelly, William F. Aspray, Jeffrey R. Yost, Honghong Tinn, Gerardo Con Díaz

Overview

Computer: A History of the Information Machine traces the history of the computer and its unlimited, information-processing potential.

Comprehensive and accessibly written, this fully updated fourth edition adds new chapters on the globalization of information technology, the rise of social media, fake news, and the gig economy, and the regulatory frameworks being put in place to tame the ubiquitous computer. Computer is an insightful look at the pace of technological advancement and the seamless way computers are integrated into the modern world. The authors examine the history of the computer, including the first steps taken by Charles Babbage in the nineteenth century, and how wartime needs and the development of electronics led to the giant ENIAC, the first electronic computer. For a generation IBM dominated the computer industry. In the 1980s, the desktop PC liberated people from room-sized mainframe computers. Next, laptops and smartphones made computers available to half of the world’s population, leading to the rise of Google and Facebook, and powerful apps that changed the way we work, consume, learn, and socialize.

The volume is an essential resource for scholars and those studying computer history, technology history, and information and society, as well as a range of courses in the fields of computer science, communications, sociology, and management.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032203478
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	06/19/2023
Edition description:	4th ed.
Pages:	394
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Martin Campbell-Kelly is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Computer Science at Warwick University. His most recent book is Cellular: An Economic and Business History of the International Mobile-Phone Industry (with Daniel Garcia-Swartz, 2022).

William F. Aspray is a Senior Research Fellow at the Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota. His recent books include Fake News Nation: The Long History of Lies and Misinterpretations in America (with James Cortada, 2019).

Jeffrey R. Yost is Director of the Charles Babbage Institute and Research Professor in the Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine, at the University of Minnesota. His books include Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (2017).

Honghong Tinn is Assistant Professor in the Program in the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Minnesota. Her works on the history and globalization of information technology have been published in Technology and Culture, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, and Osiris.

Gerardo Con Díaz is Associate Professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of Software Rights: How Patent Law Transformed Software Development in America (2019) and has held fellowships at Yale Law School and the Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

Table of Contents

Part 1: BEFORE THE COMPUTER 1. When Computers Were People 2. The Mechanical Office 3. Babbage’s Dream Comes True Part 2: CREATING THE COMPUTER 4. Inventing the Computer 5. The Computer Becomes a Business Machine 6. The Maturing of the Mainframe: The Rise of IBM Part 3: INNOVATION AND EXPANSION 7. Real Time: Reaping the Whirlwind 8. Software 9. New Modes of Computing Part 4: GETTING PERSONAL 10. The Shaping of the Personal Computer 11. Broadening the Appeal 12. The Internet Part 5: THE UBIQUITOUS COMPUTER 13. Globalization 14. The Interactive Web: Clouds, Devices, and Culture 15. Computing and Governance

Editorial Reviews

"I strongly recommend to you the third edition of Computer; it is simultaneously a thorough, accurate, and highly readable history of the evolution of the computer and its impact on all aspects of our society. I am an old guy, having written my first computer program over 50 years ago, and I have personally known many of the people mentioned in the book so I can attest to the accuracy of the events described."
—Bill Wulf, University of Virginia

Praise for Prior Editions:

"Terrific! This is the best general history of computing yet written, by two of the field's most prominent historians. Computer is comprehensive, engaging, and a pleasure to read. Aspray and Campbell-Kelley paint the big picture of the information revolution that is affecting all of our lives."
—David A. Mindell, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and author of Between Human and Machine: Feedback, Control, and Computing Before Cybernetics

“This book is a splendid account of the history of computing machines. From Jacquard's punch card loom to today's Dick Tracy-like Internet connectors, the book provides a wealth of fascinating historical and technological information, especially for first-time readers. Highly recommended.” —Choice

"A welcome update to the classic text on the history of the computer—sure to extend its relevance to a new generation of students and scholars."
—David Mindell, MIT, author of Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight

"This authoritative yet accessible history of computing improves with each edition. This latest version provides enhanced coverage of recent developments such as the Internet, while sharpening and deepening its treatment of earlier events. A balanced, reliable account that holds interest for specialists and provides a ready entry into the topic for students, professionals, and general readers."
—Steven W. Usselman, Georgia Institute of Technology

From the Publisher