We (MIT Museum) recently acquired some of Edmund Berkeley’s games from the estate of his Berkely’s son (most of the papers went to the Babbage Institute that had already acquired materials from Berkeley.). One thing that I learned is that Patrick McGovern’s (MIT, 1959) first job was writing for Berkeley’s Computers & Automation magazine.  

 

The folks at Baker Library (or maybe people on this list) will know when the first B-School case studies about computers and computing were introduced into the curriculum. 

 

Debbie Douglas

 

 

Deborah G. Douglas, PhD • Director of Collections and Curator of Science and Technology, MIT Museum; Research Associate, Program in Science, Technology, and Society • Room N51-209 • 265 Massachusetts Avenue • Cambridge, MA 02139-4307 • ddouglas@mit.edu • 617-253-1766 telephone • 617-253-8994 facsimile • http://mitmuseum.mit.edu • she/her/hers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: Members <members-bounces@lists.sigcis.org> on behalf of Lee Vinsel <lee.vinsel@gmail.com>
Date: Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 4:12 PM
To: Evan Koblentz <evank@njit.edu>
Cc: members@SIGCIS.org <members@sigcis.org>
Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] The Communicators

Evan et al,

 

This is a great topic! I think Patrick McCray is traveling at the moment, but he is currently at work on a book that examines the history of computing via a number of books on computing. His argument is that writing on computing shaped how people experienced and thought about computing. His chapters are organized around a set number of books (can't remember the number), and his narrative covers the post-WWII period up to about 2000. As he examines this set of books, he also explores other books/writings, the publishing industry (and the role computers played in publishing), the rise of "tech journalism," and many other topics. I'm sure he would love to chat about what he's up to. 

 

Lee

 

On Thu, Mar 17, 2022 at 10:58 AM Evan Koblentz <evank@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.

 

  1. Who else should I consider from prior to 1965? (I have the microcomputer generation covered.)
  2. Are there existing papers on this subject?

 

NJIT logo

Evan A Koblentz
Staff Writer, Office of Strategic Communications
Adjunct Instructor, Ying Wu College of Computing
evan.a.koblentz@njit.edu • (973) 596-3065
https://web.njit.edu/~evank
@TechnicallyEvan

 

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Virginia Tech

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