I hate to toot my own horn, but the second volume in the "Hollyweird Science" series I've been co-authoring may be of interest to you: it focuses more on technology than the first volume, with chapters on computers and AI and while the main interest is in how science and technology turns up on screen, that happens in the context of feedback loop between scientists and engineers. (at the very least, it should help you identify some of the most conceptually influential screen sci fi for later searches) You might also be interested in reading the long-form interview with Neal Stephenson, based on a stage Q&A with Jason Pontin at MIT, that appears in the 2013 edition of "Twelve Tomorrows" where he mentions the "magnetic field" concept of the role of science fiction, i.e. an invisible force that aligns engineers towards particular visions -- if you can't find a copy of the interview, I can send one, as I edited that issue. https://www.amazon.com/Hollyweird-Science-Generation-Spaceships-Microchips/d... https://www.amazon.com/Twelve-Tomorrows-TRSF-Annual-2013/dp/B00OED98F2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534522674&sr=1-1&keywords=twelve+tomorrows+2013 For other titles NOT written or edited by me :) -- I've found that often the best source for tracing the fiction-to-reality side is biographies of scientists and technologists. For example, Strange Angel by George Pendle details the close relationship between JPL co-founder Jack Parson and the California science fiction scene (leading to L. Ron Hubbard moving into his home and all kinds of subsequent shenanigans). In iWoz, Steve Wozniak writes how Tom Swift was his literary hero. I haven't read one, but I'm sure that any biography of Minsky would include the seminal impact of reading Asimov's "Runaround" (and how Minsky pretty much never bothered to read anything in the fiction domain that wasn't sci-fi for the rest of his life), and any bio of Goddard would mention how was influenced by (now obscure) unauthorized sequel to War of the Worlds, "Edison's Conquest of Mars" written by astronomy writer George Servis and serialized in The Boston Post. On Fri, Aug 17, 2018 at 11:48 AM David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net> wrote:

Dear All,

I would be very grateful to learn of your favorite pieces that you’ve read on this topic: the place, role, and function of science fiction and science fiction fandom in the history of technology, and especially the history of computing. I’m wholly ignorant about it, bibliographically.

Thanks as ever,

David

+++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock

_______________________________________________ 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

David Ferro and Eric Swedin edited a volume called "Science Fiction and Computing: Essays on Interlinked Domains” (McFarland & Company, 2011). I have an essay in there on Vernor Vinge and the Internet. I used to assign SF in an undergrad history of technology course as a way for students to grasp both cultural meanings of technology and the fact that assumptions about how technology will evolve are often wrong. For example, Isaac Asimov’s 1956 story “The Last Question” (which students love) assumes that as computers get more powerful they must become physically larger, culminating with planet-sized supercomputers. Miniaturization was not a self-evident trend. Then I ask students what current conventional wisdom about computers might be wrong. Janet

On Aug 17, 2018, at 11:48 AM, David C. Brock <dcb@dcbrock.net> wrote:

Dear All,

I would be very grateful to learn of your favorite pieces that you’ve read on this topic: the place, role, and function of science fiction and science fiction fandom in the history of technology, and especially the history of computing. I’m wholly ignorant about it, bibliographically.

Thanks as ever,

David

+++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock

_______________________________________________ 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

Hello, This is a bit of a tangent, but as I have been reading with interest this discussion of various resources on history of technology, history of computing and science fiction, I happened to be going over an old Eastern Joint Computer Conference Keynote from 1954 and the subject comes up in what I find a interesting way, thought it might be of interest. It also touches on the way minaturization was not realized as a trend by a science fiction author, and the way it is brought up tells us something about the way technical specialist respond to popualar depictions of their domain and perhaps some other things. I don't have much experience or knowledge of 1950s science fiction and computers but I think the example proferred might be novel, because of how slow science fiction was to even respond to computers as a thing, not sure many other stories of the day mentioned computers in any way at all and in some ways the story seems to be a reflection of elements actually at work in the computers of 1950... So from C. W. Adams, "Small Computers in a Large World" (Proceedings of the Eastern Joint Computer Conference, 1954, Philadelphia, Pa. December 8-10, pages 1-3 of the volume) he is discussing the theme of the conference, the design and application of small digital computers, and starts with a large digital computers as a contrast class, listing a whole bunch of machines from the Harvard Mark I on and continues: But largest by far are the Goliaths of science fiction. Some of you have no doubt, probably to your sorrow, struggled through a pocket-sized novel called "Year of Consent" full of overdone parable and underdone science. In it, trie author pictures for us an intellectual dinosaur, all bulk and no brains. Here is his description of a large computer of 1990. "The giant electronic brain filled up the first ten floors of our building. There were additional memory banks in several sub-cellars and in another nearby building.... It contained 500,000 electronic tubes and about 860,000 relays. Not counting the extra memory banks, it had 400 registers totalling 6,400 decimal digts of very rapid memory in electronic tubes and about 6,000 registers totalling 120,000 decimal digits of less rapid memory in relays... Officially the giant brain was the SOCIAC, but simply because we were a little afraid of its ability we were seldom that formal. To everyone around the office it was known as Herbie." Perhaps the antithesis of 1990's Herbie is the 1950's Curta, one of the very smallest hand-operated calculators. It adds and subtracts, can be made to multiply or divide 6 to 11 decimal digits at a time, costs only $150, uses practically no power, will fit in every elevator and go through every door. But, if I may coin a distinction, it is merely a calculator, an arithmetic element. It has no storage to speak of, no fully automatic sequence control. [Novel referred to is Year of Consent by Kendell Foster Crossen, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1633394.Year_of_Consent ] -- Yours Truly, Allan Olley, PhD http://individual.utoronto.ca/fofound/ On Fri, 17 Aug 2018, David C. Brock wrote:

Dear All,

I would be very grateful to learn of your favorite pieces that you’ve read on this topic: the place, role, and function of science fiction and science fiction fandom in the history of technology, and especially the history of computing. I’m wholly ignorant about it, bibliographically.

Thanks as ever,

David

+++++++++++++++ David C. Brock dcb@dcbrock.net 40 Russell Street, Greenfield, MA 01301 Mobile: 413-522-3578 Skype: dcbrock Twitter: @dcbrock

_______________________________________________ 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