The First Computers--History and Architectures (History of Computing)

Rojas, Raul; Hashagen, Ulf (Editors)

ISBN 10: 0262181975 / ISBN 13: 9780262181976

Published by Mit Press, 2000

About this Item

469 Pages.

Seller Inventory # ABE-1767147530546

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The First Computers--History and Architectures (History of Computing)
• Publisher: Mit Press
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0262181975
• ISBN 13: 9780262181976
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Dimensions: 3.18W x 16.51H x 23.5D centimeters 3.18 centimeters width by 16.51 centimeters height by 23.5 centimeters depth
• Weight: 2.1 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

This history of computing focuses not on chronology (what came first and who deserves credit for it) but on the actual architectures of the first machines that made electronic computing a practical reality. The book covers computers built in the United States, Germany, England, and Japan. It makes clear that similar concepts were often pursued simultaneously and that the early researchers explored many architectures beyond the von Neumann architecture that eventually became canonical. The contributors include not only historians but also engineers and computer pioneers.

An introductory chapter describes the elements of computer architecture and explains why "being first" is even less interesting for computers than for other areas of technology. The essays contain a remarkable amount of new material, even on well-known machines, and several describe reconstructions of the historic machines. These investigations are of more than simply historical interest, for architectures designed to solve specific problems in the past may suggest new approaches to similar problems in today's machines.

Contributors: Titiimaea F. Ala'ilima, Lin Ping Ang, William Aspray, Friedrich L. Bauer, Andreas Brennecke, Chris P. Burton, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Paul Ceruzzi, I. Bernard Cohen, John Gustafson, Wilhelm Hopmann, Harry D. Huskey, Friedrich W. Kistermann, Thomas Lange, Michael S. Mahoney, R. B. E. Napper, Seiichi Okoma, Hartmut Petzold, Raul Rojas, Anthony E. Sale, Robert W. Seidel, Ambros P. Speiser, Frank H. Sumner, James F. Tau, Jan Van der Spiegel, Eiiti Wada, Michael R. Williams.

About the Author

Raśl Rojas is Professor of Computer Science at the Free University of Berlin. Ulf Hashagen is Chief Curator for Calculating Machines, Computers, and Mathematics at the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum in Paderborn, Germany.