[SIGCIS-Members] What tale do we tell, and why do we tell it the way we do?

[Brian Randell]

Hi Everyone :

I’m delighted that Doron has posted this message about his excellent little book “The History of Computing: A Very Short Introduction” (Full disclosure: I was one of OUP’s reviewers of a draft.)

The reminder has provided me with a lovely solution to some of the Christmas present problems I have been facing this year!

Season’s Greetings!

Brian Randell

—

School of Computing, Newcastle University, 1 Science Square, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 5TG
EMAIL = Brian.Randell at ncl.ac.uk   PHONE = +44 191 208 7923
URL =  https://www.ncl.ac.uk/computing/staff/profile/brianrandell.html

On 07/12/2023, 17:10, "Members" <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org> wrote:

Dear All
I thought I would flag the publication, a year ago, of The History of Computing: A Very Short Introduction.
‘Very Short’ means not exceeding 35,000 words, which is an absolute upper limit for the OUP VSI series.
I wrote the book in answer to two questions: when it comes to the history of computing, what tale do we tell, and why do we tell it the way we do?
My purpose was to present, in an accessible way, the narrative of computing’s history for those with little or no prior knowledge of the field and, in so doing, describe what it is that historians of computing do and the issues that preoccupy them.
Publisher’s Links:
US: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-history-of-computing-a-very-short-introduction-9780198831754?cc=us&lang=en&#<https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-history-of-computing-a-very-short-introduction-9780198831754?cc=us&lang=en&> <https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-history-of-computing-a-very-short-introduction-9780198831754?cc=us&lang=en&><https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-history-of-computing-a-very-short-introduction-9780198831754?cc=us&lang=en&%3e>
UK: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-history-of-computing-a-very-short-introduction-9780198831754?q=978-0-19-883175-4&cc=gb&lang=en <https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-history-of-computing-a-very-short-introduction-9780198831754?q=978-0-19-883175-4&cc=gb&lang=en><https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-history-of-computing-a-very-short-introduction-9780198831754?q=978-0-19-883175-4&cc=gb&lang=en%3e>
Book Abstract
This book describes the central events, machines, and people in the history of computing, and traces how innovation has brought us from pebbles used for counting, to the modern age of the computer. It has a strong historiographical theme that offers a new perspective on how to understand the historical narratives we have constructed, and examines the unspoken assumptions that underpin them. It describes inventions, pioneers, milestone systems, and the context of their use. It starts with counting, and traces change through calculating aids, mechanical calculation, and automatic electronic computation, both digital and analogue. It shows how four threads—calculation, automatic computing, information management, and communications—converged to create the ‘information age’. It examines three master narratives in established histories that are used as aids to marshal otherwise unmanageable levels detail. The treatment is rooted in the principal episodes that make up canonical histories of computing.
Citation:
Swade, Doron. The History of Computing: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2022.
All best
Doron




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