[SIGCIS-Members] The Communicators

[Janet Abbate]

Hi Evan, 

David Ferro and Eric Swedin’s anthology, "Science Fiction and Computing: Essays on Interlinked Domains" (McFarland & Company, 2011) is a series of essays about science fiction that affected real-life computing. I don’t recall how much coverage there was of pre-1965 SF. 

I used to teach Asimov’s short story “The Last Question” (1956), which is one of his most widely read, but I don’t know if it influenced actual computing. 

Janet

Dr. Janet Abbate
Professor, Science, Technology and Society
Virginia Tech
Co-director, VT National Capital Region STS program
liberalarts.vt.edu/sts
www.facebook.com/VirginiaTechSTS
https://sites.google.com/vt.edu/stsconnect/

> On Mar 17, 2022, at 11:23 AM, Evan Koblentz <evank at njit.edu> wrote:
> 
> Good suggestion! Science fiction often tells us about the present, sometimes more than the future.
> 
> ----
> Evan Koblentz
> 
> Staff Writer, Office of Strategic Communications
> Adjunct Instructor, Ying Wu College of Computing
> 
> evank at njit.edu
> (973) 596-3065
> Https://web.njit.edu/~evank
> @TechnicallyEvan
> 
> 
> -------- Original message --------
> From: Adam Hyland <achyland at uw.edu>
> Date: 3/17/22 11:15 AM (GMT-05:00)
> To: Jean Graham <jean.graham at stonybrook.edu>
> Cc: Evan Koblentz <evank at njit.edu>, "members at SIGCIS.org" <members at sigcis.org>
> Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] The Communicators
> 
> I wouldn't know how to begin writing about this, but Asimov comes immediately to mind for pre 1965. 
> 
> On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 8:04 AM Jean Graham <jean.graham at stonybrook.edu> wrote:
> Definitely the people who wrote hacker zines and bulletin boards, not least because they combined a political point of view with their technical writing
> 
> On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 10:58 AM Evan Koblentz <evank at njit.edu> wrote:
> I’m interested in a new-to-me research angle: the people who changed computing by writing about it.
> 
>  
> 
> Lovelace comes to mind. So do Vannevar Bush and Edmund Berkeley.
> 
>  
> 
> 	• Who else should I consider from prior to 1965? (I have the microcomputer generation covered.)
> 	• Are there existing papers on this subject?
>  
> 
> 
> 
> Evan A Koblentz
> Staff Writer, Office of Strategic Communications
> Adjunct Instructor, Ying Wu College of Computing
> evan.a.koblentz at njit.edu • (973) 596-3065
> https://web.njit.edu/~evank
> @TechnicallyEvan
> 
>  
> 
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> 
> -- 
> Adam Hyland (he/him)
> adampunk.com
> UW HCDE PhD Student
> _______________________________________________
> This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org