Sorry if this response is too much.  There are a lot of biographies about computer pioneers, but less so "computer scientists." I've left off autobiographies & memoirs but can supply a list if you wish.  The following biographies tend to skew older, which is fine with me. Warning:  the quality does vary: 

Paul Ceruzzi

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Aspray	William	John von Neumann and the Origins of Modern Computing
Austrian	Geoffrey	Herman Hollerith: Forgotten Giant of Information Processing
Belden,	Thomas and Marva	Lengthening Shadow, the: the life of Thomas J, Watson
Berlin	Leslie	Man behind the microchip, the: Robert Noyce and the Invention of Silicon Valley
Buxton	H.W.	Memoir of the Life and Labours of the Late Charles Babbage ESQ. F.R.S.
Cohen	I. Bernard	Howard Aiken: Portrait of a Computer Pioneer
Berg	Christian	Heinz Nixdorf: Eine Biographie [in German]
Hodges	Andrew	Alan Turing: The enigma: the extraordinary story of the brilliant scientist…
Hyman	Anthony	Charles Babbage: Pioneer of the Computer
Macrae	Norman	John von Neumann: The Scientific Genius Who Pioneered the Modern Computer, Game Theory, Nuclear Deterrence, and Much More
Manes	Stephen	Gates: How Microsoft's Mogul Reinvented an Industry - and Made Himself the Richest Man in America
Mollenhoff	Clark R.	Atanasoff: Forgotten Father of the Computer
Reid	Constance	Hilbert
Rodgers	William	Think: A Biography of the Watsons and IBM
Smiley	Jane	The Man Who Invented the Computer: The Biography of John Atanasoff, Digital Pioneer
Toole	Betty Alexandra	Ada: The Enchantress of Numbers - Prophet of the Computer Age
Van Dormael	Armand	Heinz Nixdorf: A German Computer Pioneer
Wallace	James	Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire
Zachary	G. Pascal	Endless Frontier: Vannevar Bush, Engineer of the American Century

 

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From: Members <members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of Troy Astarte <Troy.Astarte@newcastle.ac.uk>
Sent: Friday, September 4, 2020 9:06 AM
To: members <members@sigcis.org>
Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Request for biographies

 

External Email - Exercise Caution

Dear all, 

Very many thanks to everyone who has sent suggestions, I’ve got a great reading list! I’ve already had a look at a few of them, and there’s some high quality work indeed. The only further question I would have is whether there are biographies with a higher technical content? Perhaps that just isn’t common in biographies? 

Best, 

Troy Astarte

School of Computing

Newcastle University

On 3 Sep 2020, at 12:31, Troy Astarte <Troy.Astarte@newcastle.ac.uk> wrote:

Dear SIG-CIS, 

What is your favourite biography of a scientist or mathematician? I’m particularly interested in modern subjects and those who worked in computing/computer science. Ideally the book would cover the subject’s work in a reasonable level of technical detail as well as their life and the broader context in which they lived and worked. 

I ask because I am considering applying for funding for an essentially biographical project on a computer scientist and I would like to read some (more) biographies first. 

Best, 

Troy Astarte

School of Computing

Newcastle University

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