THE COMPUTER PIONEERS: The Making of the Modern Computer

by David Ritchie ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 10, 1986

What can another pre-microchip history of computers add to the already bulging shelf of pre-silicon sagas? Interestingly enough, some things new, and most things well told in this meticulously researched and fair accounting of the pioneers and their projects. Among the new: chapters dealing with English and German developments in the 1940's. Ritchie paints a colorful portrait of the British crypt-analysis crew at Bletchely Park--a group that included Ian Fleming--and their success in breaking the Germans' Enigma cypher, buiding some of the first special-purpose computers to do the work. Ritchie also describes British postwar contributions to computer technology, such as the use of a cathode-ray tube for memory input. An odd German turns up: Konrad Zuse, who apparently reinvented Babbage's Analytical Engine and developed a compact computer used to guide the Nazis' glider bombs. Correctives also adorn the text. Readers will learn that the building of IBM's fortunes was not due to Watson pÉre but rather Watson fils. The elder man was a keen manager and salesman (and inventor of THINK), but he presided over a modest firm. He did, however, back Howard Aiken, the pioneer who built Harvard's Mark I computer. But egos clashed, and to this day, the name Aiken is scarce mentioned at Armonk. Inevitably, Ritchie comes to grips with the tangled battles involving von Neumann, J. Presper Eckert, John Mauchly, and J.V. Atanasoff over who could rightfully claim to have invented stored programs (yon Neumann vs. Eckert and Mauchly) and who first produced the automatic electronic digital computer (Eckert and Mauchly vs. Atanasoff). A judge gave credit to Atanasoff but saw no intent of fraud; there the matter rests, leading Ritchie to conclude that the modern computer is one of the first ""group"" inventions. Those savvy about hardware will appreciate the author's succinct descriptions of evolving innovations and the special challenge of building better and bigger memories. Blessedly, Ritchie has had the great good sense to include an appendix chronicling the machines and their essential features, as well as a glossary. A fine job overall.

Pub Date: Feb. 10, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1986

Categories: NONFICTION