AUTOMATION: The Advent of the Automatic Factory

First edition of the pioneering businessman's first book, the work that "made 'automation' a household term" (THE SATURDAY EVENING POST). In AUTOMATION, John Diebold (1926-2005) foresaw how computers would replace a vast swathe of corporate functions: "Our clerical procedures," he wrote, "have been designed largely in terms of human limitations." The book was groundbreaking in a number of ways, not the least of which was the eventual establishment of The Diebold Group, the first consulting firm dedicated to computer use in business. A classic of corporate technology and management, the book's popularity inspired a sequel (BEYOND AUTOMATION, 1964) and was later included in the American Management Association's Classics reprint series. This copy bears the 1953 inscription of an electrical engineer working for General Electric, Lucien Terry Finch (1925-2005). Finch, who studied at the University of Michigan, would go on to become an executive at Sunbeam International, retiring in 1982. The first edition is uncommon, especially in jacket. A nice example with interesting provenance of this prescient work, with continuing applications to AI. 8.5'' x 5.5''. Original beige full cloth. In original unclipped ($3.00) printed typographic jacket. x, 182 pages. Jacket edgeworn with some chipping, soil, and faint dampstains. Book toned at extremities with some soiling to lower spine area. Previous owner's February 1953 inscription and contemporary ink ownership stamp on the front pastedown. Overall sound. Very good in a very good minus jacket. …