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Electronic Brains:

Stories from the Dawn of the Computer Age
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National Academies Press, Sep 23, 2005 - Science - 277 pages
We've come so far, so fast. Within a relatively short period of time, we've managed to put enormous computing power in offices and homes around the globe. But before there was an IBM computer, before there were laptops and personal PCs, there were small, independent teams of pioneers working on the development of the very first computer. Scattered around the globe and ranging in temperament and talent, they forged the future in basement labs, backyard workshops, and old horse barns. Tracing the period just after World War II when the first truly modern computers were developed, Electronic Brains chronicles the escapades of the world's first "techies." Some of the initial projects are quite famous and well known, such as "LEO," the Lyons Electronic Office, which was developed by the catering company J. Lyons & Co. in London in the 1940s. Others are a bit more arcane, such as the ABC, which was built in a basement at lowa State College and was abandoned to obscurity at the beginning of WWII. And then--like the tale of the Rand 409 which was constructed in a barn in Connecticut under the watchful eye of a stuffed moose--there are the stories that are virtually unknown. All combine to create a fascinating history of a now-ubiquitous technology. Relying on extensive interviews from surviving members of the original teams of hardware jockeys, author Mike Hally recreates the atmosphere of the early days of computing. Rich with provocative and entertaining descriptions, we are introduced to the many eccentric, obsessive, and fiercely loyal men and women who laid the foundations for the computerized world in which we now live. As the acronyms fly fast and furious--Univac, Csirac, and Mesm, toname just a few--Electronic Brains provides a vivid sense of time, place, and science.
  

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Contents

From ABC to ENIAC
1
UNIVACSavior of the Census
29
Saluting the Moose
51
When Britain Led the Computing World
75
LEO the Lyons Computer
103
So Then We Took the Roof Off
135
Wizards of Oz
161
Water on the Brain
185
Its Not About Being First The Rise and Rise of IBM Epilogue
207
Epilogue
233
A Bibliography and Further Information
241
B Arithmetic
247
C Technical Bits
253
Index
257
Copyright

Common terms and phrases

Aiken Alan Turing American arithmetic Australia Babbage Babbage's Bartik became Bill Phillips Bill Wenning binary bomb British build built Cadby Hall Cambridge census circuit computer project Crosman CSIRAC CSIRO Mark David Caminer decimal demonstrated differential analyzer Douglas Hartree early computers Eckert and Mauchly economics EDSAC EDVAC electronic computer engineers English Electric ENIAC equations going idea invented James Meade John Atanasoff John Mauchly Kay McNulty knew Kyiv Laboratory large number later Lebedev LEO Computers Lyons Malinovsky Manchester mathematicians mathematics Mauchly's Maurice Wilkes mechanical calculators memory MESM Moore School needed Neumann never operation patent Pearcey pioneers Presper Eckert problem production professor punched cards punched-card Rameyev Remington Rand Rowayton says Science sell solve staff started stored-program Swade switch teashops things took tubes Turing Turing's UNIVAC University valves wanted Wilkes's Zuse

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References from web pages

The rise of the computer : Article : Nature
Electronic Brains: Stories from the Dawn of the Computer Age. Amazon:. Amazon US: Electronic Brains: Stories from the Dawn of the Computer Age ...
www.nature.com/ nature/ journal/ v437/ n7060/ full/ 437816a.html

European Journal of Information Systems - Electronic Brains ...
Electronic Brains: Stories from the Dawn of the Computer Age. Mike Hally Published by Granta Books, 2005, p. 274 ISBN number: 1-86207-663-4 ...
www.palgrave-journals.com/ ejis/ journal/ v15/ n6/ full/ 3000651a.html

anhc-29-01-roja 96..99
Reviews. Raúl Rojas, Editor. Freie Universität Berlin. Mike Hally, Electronic Brains: Stories from the Dawn. of the Computer Age, Granta Books, 2005, ...
ieeexplore.ieee.org/ iel5/ 85/ 4211732/ 04211745.pdf?tp=& isnumber=& arnumber=4211745

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anhc-29-04-index 103..109
2007 Annual Index. Volume 29. This index covers all technical items—articles, correspondence, reviews, and so on—that appeared in this ...
csdl.computer.org/ comp/ mags/ an/ 2007/ 04/ man2007040103.pdf

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About the author (2005)

Mike Hally trained as an electrical engineer and worked at British Aerospace for 17 years. He now works for BBC/Radio 4 as a freelance journalist and producer.

Bibliographic information

QR code for Electronic Brains
TitleElectronic Brains: Stories from the Dawn of the Computer Age
AuthorMike Hally
Editionillustrated
PublisherNational Academies Press, 2005
ISBN0309096308, 9780309096300
Length277 pages
Subjects › 

Computers / General
Science / General
  
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