And, of course, Ronald Kline, Steinmetz: Engineer and Socialist. Steinmetz was head of a GE 'calculating department' out of which came many calculating methods and materialities of considerable importance. And was one of the key fiigures behind the introduction of imaginary numbers to electrical engineering, for calculating purposes (one of his several contributions to calculation and computation). In addition to implying how important computing was from early on (an integral part of capitalist technology from the beginning), Kline's biography can be used as an excellent introduction to the important yet understudied history of many engineers who thought that socialism would evolve rather naturally from capitalism. This evolutionist view of socialism, highly compatible with a certain version of technological determinism, was endorsed by many important engineers around the world throughout the first half of the twentieth century. Including engineers with significant contributions to computing technology.

And since the list has no women (unless I missed an email): Brittain, James E. "From Computer to Electrical Engineer — the Remarkable Career of Edith Clarke," IEEE Transactions on Education, Vol. E28, No. 4 (November 1985), 184-189. Not a book, but an article on an electrical engineer of the caliber of Vannevar Bush (or so though Harvard-MIT professor Arthur Kennelly, Vannevar Bush's advisor and her advisor too) who, being a woman engineer in the first half of teh twentieth century, could only go so far. We have several stories on women computers/computors working in business and scientific contexts, and several stories of women and computing in the post-1940s. Clarke's less known story is exemplar of what computing meant for a woman in the first half of the twetieth century. Her case certainly deserves a book-length biography. By the way, Jim Brittain, who had considered writing a biography of Steinmetz after writing articles on him, decided to focus on Alexanderson (J. Brittain, Alexanderson: Pioneer in American Electrical Engineering). An exemplar biography by a pioneer and master historian of technology who helped several of us in many ways.

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

______________________________

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

From: Members on behalf of Troy Astarte
Sent: Friday, September 4, 2020 9:06 AM
To: members
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

--
Aristotle Tympas
Professor
Department of History and Philosophy of Science
Graduate Program ‘Science, Technology, Society—Science and Technology Studies’
Graduate Program ‘History and Philosophy of Science and Technology’
National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
http://scholar.uoa.gr/tympas/home