[SIGCIS-Members] Our "Automation by Design..." Special Issue of IEEE Annals is out!
herbert.bruderer at bluewin.ch
herbert.bruderer at bluewin.ch
Tue Dec 30 08:22:01 PST 2025
In 1949, the German computer pioneer Konrad Zuse and his closest colleagues considered fleeing to Switzerland with their families. This is evident from a request dated October 20, 1949, which the president of the Swiss Federal School Board, Hans Palmann, sent to the relevant border authorities. In this letter, which was only recently discovered in the archive of the ETH Library in Zurich, he asked the authorities at the Swiss-German border not to turn Zuse and his colleagues back.
For more details see
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-010001424
Warum wollte Konrad Zuse 1949 in die Schweiz fliehen? https://www.research-collection.ethz.ch/entities/publication/5da6f225-32b6-4890-9bff-0f0ab3cbaec6
and
Bruderer, Herbert: Milestones in Analog and Digital Computing, Springer Nature Switzerland AG, Cham, 3rd edition 2020, 2 volumes, 2113 pages, 715 illustrations, 151 tables, translated from the German by Dr John McMinn, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40974-6
Best,
Herbert
> Ceruzzi, Paul via Members <members at lists.sigcis.org> hat am 30.12.2025 16:30 CET geschrieben:
>
>
> Congratulations on an excellent issue of the IEEE Annals. I especially enjoyed the piece by Raúl Rojas https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Ra%FAl&surname=Rojas, about Konrad Zuse and Operation Paperclip. It clarified a lot of questions I had about Zuse's postwar activities. One of the reports retrieved from the Archives mentioned concern that the US Army had about Zuse's plant being located so close to the East German border. More than that: Zuse's residence, in the town of Huenfeld, was very close not only to the border, but to the "Fulda Gap": the low plain that the US and NATO thought would be a route of a Soviet invasion to the west. It has been called "the hottest place in the Cold War." I can't find the documents, but I had read evidence that the Army made plans to secure Zuse in the event of an invasion across the Gap.
>
> Here's the Wikipedia entry about the modest museum/installation commemorating the Gap:
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observation_Post_Alpha
>
> Best,
>
> Paul Ceruzzi
>
> ---------------------------------------------
> From: Members <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of Jeffrey Yost via Members <members at lists.sigcis.org>
> Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2025 5:26 PM
> To: Troy Astarte <t.k.astarte at swansea.ac.uk>
> Cc: sigcis <members at sigcis.org>
> Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Our "Automation by Design..." Special Issue of IEEE Annals is out!
>
>
> External Email - Exercise Caution
>
> Many thanks Troy!! Colette, Con and I are so grateful for your amazing work and guidance in helping to make this issue happen and to making it shine!!
>
> I posted on social platforms on the articles that we as guest editors worked directly with, and quickly cut and pasted from that to the SIGCIS listserv before heading out to visit family in the Pacific NW for the holidays. Tremendous thanks to all who contributed content appearing in the issue--I so enjoyed and appreciate these wonderful department articles and the issue in its entirity!!
>
> Happy upcoming New Year's Eve/Day to all!
>
> Best, Jeff
>
>
> * * * * * *
> Jeffrey Yost, Ph.D.
> Director, Charles Babbage Institute for Computing, Information & Culture
> Research Professor, History of Sci., Tech., Med., University of Minnesota
>
> Just Code: Power, Inequality and the Political Economy of IT (Johns Hopkins U. Press out in Nov. 2025 co-edited w/ Gerardo Con Diaz) https://press.jhu.edu/books/title/12804/just-code
> Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (MIT Press) https://amzn.to/3gqe4R6
> Studies in Computing and Culture book series, Johns Hopkins U. Press https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/series/studies-computing-and-culture Co-Editor (w/ Con Diaz)
> PI, NSF-funded CBI project "Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy."
> Blockchain & Society https://www.blockchainandsociety.com/ (crit. inq. essays & resources) (Founder/Leader)
>
> Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/interfaces Co-Editor-in-Chief (w/ Amanda Wick)
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Sat, Dec 27, 2025, 8:01 AM Troy Astarte <t.k.astarte at swansea.ac.uk mailto:t.k.astarte at swansea.ac.uk> wrote:
>
> > Dear all,
> >
> > Jeff, many thanks for announcing this for me! Its publication while I was at a conference/on leave delayed my own announcement. I’ll forgo an additional email, but will give the full ToC here.
> >
> > You can find the issue on the Computer Society Digital Library https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2025/04 or IEEE Xplore https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/mostRecentIssue.jsp?punumber=85 according to your preference/subscription. Here is the table of contents:
> >
> > Guest Editors’ Introduction
> >
> > Introduction to Automation by Design https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2025/04/11304148/2cygClfVW8w
> > by Colette Perold https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Colette&surname=Perold, Jeffrey R. Yost https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Jeffrey%20R.&surname=Yost
> >
> > Theme Articles: Automation by Design
> >
> > Digital Construction Comes to the Pacific Northwest: Timber and the Landscapes of Automation https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2025/04/11031182/27sQG5Y18u4
> > by Megan Wiessner https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Megan&surname=Wiessner
> >
> >
> > Machinery of Ethnic Cleansing: Punched Card Machines and the 1920 Greek Population Census https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2025/04/11208589/2aYh0oUQOZi
> > by Christos Karampatsos https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Christos&surname=Karampatsos, Polyxeni Malisova https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Polyxeni&surname=Malisova
> >
> >
> > Autocoding at Work: COBOL and the Specification of the American Office https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2025/04/10938681/25n2yWIBtYI
> > by David E. Dunning https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=David%20E.&surname=Dunning
> >
> >
> > Governing Collaboration: Data and Work Relationships in U.K. Software for Building Design, 1970–1980 https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2025/04/11029403/27qQcf3RL6E
> > by Eliza Pertigkiozoglou https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Eliza&surname=Pertigkiozoglou
> >
> >
> > The Legality of Logistics: On Techno-Orientalism and Geopolitics in Semiconductor Production https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2025/04/10964384/25UAaLnTI88
> > by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Ranjodh%20Singh&surname=Dhaliwal
> >
> > Theme Think Piece
> >
> > Computing Racial Order https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2025/04/11304157/2cygCLOhoyI
> > by Jason Ludwig https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Jason&surname=Ludwig
> >
> > Department: Anecdotes
> >
> > Konrad Zuse and Operation Paperclip https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2025/04/11304160/2cygBlQCgta
> > by Raúl Rojas https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Ra%FAl&surname=Rojas
> >
> >
> > A Simulated Differential Analyzer https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2025/04/11304149/2cygBMGhfPi
> > by Richard Pawson https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Richard&surname=Pawson
> >
> > Department: Events and Sightings
> >
> > “The Computer in Motion”: Symposium Report From the 27th International Congress of History of Science and Technology (ICHST) https://www.computer.org/csdl/magazine/an/2025/04/11304150/2cygBSWAvLy
> > by Ksenia Tatarchenko https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Ksenia&surname=Tatarchenko, Barbara Hof https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Barbara&surname=Hof, Arianna Borrelli https://www.computer.org/csdl/search/default?type=author&givenName=Arianna&surname=Borrelli
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > Dr. Troy Kaighin Astarte (they/them / nhw)
> >
> > I often dictate messages due to motor disability; please forgive any oddities resulting.
> >
> > Senior Lecturer, Computer Science / Uwch Darlithydd, Cyfrifiadureg
> > Swansea University / Prifysgol Abertawe
> > Editor-in-Chief / Prif Olygydd, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
> >
> > troyastarte.com https://troyastarte.com/
> >
> > For students: my drop in hours are on the Intranet https://fse-intranet.swan.ac.uk/intranet/staff_officehours?selected_staff_id=203842 (office CoFo 407)
> > I fyfyrwyr: mae fy oriau swyddfa ar y fewnrwyd.
> > Meeting booking: via Office Booking https://outlook.office.com/bookwithme/user/8e101a47e22e4af793d033901758d0e4@Swansea.ac.uk/meetingtype/SVRwCe7HMUGxuT6WGxi68g2?anonymous&ep=mlink.
> > Zoom office: https://swanseauniversity.zoom.us/my/t.k.astarte
> >
> >
> > Every email has a cost to the climate. Please think before sending short emails.
> > Mae gan bob e-bost gost i’r hinsawdd. Meddyliwch cyn i chi anfon e-byst byr.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > On 19 Dec 2025, at 18:26, Jeffrey Yost via Members <members at lists.sigcis.org mailto:members at lists.sigcis.org> wrote:
> > >
> > >
> > > CAUTION: This email originated from outside of Swansea University. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognise the sender and know the content is safe.
> > >
> > > RHYBUDD: Daeth yr e-bost hwn o'r tu allan i Brifysgol Abertawe. Peidiwch â chlicio ar atodiadau neu agor atodiadau oni bai eich bod chi'n adnabod yr anfonwr a'ch bod yn gwybod bod y cynnwys yn ddiogel.
> > >
> > > Many thanks to David Hemmendinger for a correction. Given there is only 2008 to 2022 content on MUSE for IEEE Annals now, there seems to be a few years delay, but it is available now at IEEE Xplore. David also pointed out that it is available on the IEEE Annals main page too as of today. (it was on Xplore a day earlier, yesterday). That CSDL IEEE Annals' URL is: http://computer.org/annals
> > >
> > > Best, Jeff
> > >
> > > Jeffrey Yost, Ph.D.
> > > Director, Charles Babbage Institute for Computing, Information & Culture
> > > Research Professor, History of Sci., Tech., Med., University of Minnesota
> > >
> > > Just Code: Power, Inequality and the Political Economy of IT (Johns Hopkins U. Press out in Nov. 2025 co-edited w/ Gerardo Con Diaz) https://press.jhu.edu/books/title/12804/just-code
> > > Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (MIT Press) https://amzn.to/3gqe4R6
> > > Studies in Computing and Culture book series, Johns Hopkins U. Press https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/series/studies-computing-and-culture Co-Editor (w/ Con Diaz)
> > > PI, NSF-funded CBI project "Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy."
> > > Blockchain & Society https://www.blockchainandsociety.com/ (crit. inq. essays & resources) (Founder/Leader)
> > >
> > > Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/interfaces Co-Editor-in-Chief (w/ Amanda Wick)
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > On Fri, Dec 19, 2025 at 10:45 AM Jeffrey Yost <yostx003 at umn.edu mailto:yostx003 at umn.edu> wrote:
> > >
> > > > Dear Colleagues,
> > > >
> > > > Wanted to share the news that our special issue of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing entitled "Automation by Design: Politics, Culture, and Landscape in an Age of Machines That Learn" came out yesterday!
> > > >
> > > > It is now available on IEEE Xplore and soon will be on MUSE too. Colette Perold and my historiographically-contextualizing article "Introduction to Automation by Design" is open access as are a few of the articles (IEEE Digital Library, link below as a UMN z link, and many libraries subscribe to IEEE library & or MUSE where there is complete access). Special thanks to Honghong Tinn, who joined Colette, me, and Con on our 2023 CBI Symposium of the same name. It was an interdisciplinary event (History, STS, Sociology, Media Studies...) and this issue represents select historical-oriented articles. Articles and authors are listed below.
> > > >
> > > > It was so wonderful to partner with tremendously gifted colleagues/friends Colette and Con on this issue and an honor for us to work with such an incredibly talented group of article authors writing cutting edge scholarship on the history of automation/"artificial intelligence"!!
> > > >
> > > > Many thanks to IEEE Annals EiC Troy Astarte for helpful guidance throughout!
> > > >
> > > > Happy holidays to everyone!
> > > >
> > > > https://z.umn.edu/AutomationbyDesign
> > > >
> > > > Best, Jeff
> > > > Articles
> > > > Introduction to Automation by Design
> > > > Colette Perold and Jeffrey R. Yost
> > > > 6-10
> > > > Digital Construction Comes to the Pacific Northwest: Timber and the Landscapes of Automation
> > > > Megan Wiessner
> > > > 11 - 23
> > > >
> > > > Machinery of Ethnic Cleansing: Punched Card Machines and the 1920 Greek Population Census
> > > > Christos Karampatsos;
> > > > Polyxeni Malisova
> > > > 24 - 37
> > > >
> > > > Autocoding at Work: COBOL and the Specification of the American Office
> > > > David E. Dunning
> > > > 38 - 49
> > > >
> > > > Governing Collaboration: Data and Work Relationships in U.K. Software for Building Design, 1970–1980
> > > > Eliza Pertigkiozoglou
> > > > 50 - 62
> > > >
> > > > The Legality of Logistics: On Techno-Orientalism and Geopolitics in Semiconductor Production
> > > > Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal
> > > > 63 - 77
> > > >
> > > > Computing Racial Order
> > > > Jason Ludwig
> > > > 79-83
> > > > * * * * * *
> > > > Jeffrey Yost, Ph.D.
> > > > Director, Charles Babbage Institute for Computing, Information & Culture
> > > > Research Professor, History of Sci., Tech., Med., University of Minnesota
> > > >
> > > > Just Code: Power, Inequality and the Political Economy of IT (Johns Hopkins U. Press out in Nov. 2025 co-edited w/ Gerardo Con Diaz) https://press.jhu.edu/books/title/12804/just-code
> > > > Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (MIT Press) https://amzn.to/3gqe4R6
> > > > Studies in Computing and Culture book series, Johns Hopkins U. Press https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/series/studies-computing-and-culture Co-Editor (w/ Con Diaz)
> > > > PI, NSF-funded CBI project "Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy."
> > > > Blockchain & Society https://www.blockchainandsociety.com/ (crit. inq. essays & resources) (Founder/Leader)
> > > >
> > > > Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/interfaces Co-Editor-in-Chief (w/ Amanda Wick)
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org http://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/ 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 http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
> > >
> >
> _______________________________________________
> 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
>
Bruderer Informatik
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