Jeffrey R. Yost - Böcker

An essential contribution to the study of the history of computers, this work identifies the computer's impact on the physical, biological, cognitive, and medical sciences. References fundamental to the understudied area of the history of scientific computing also document the significant role of the sciences in helping to shape the development of computer technology. More broadly, the many resources on scientific computing help demonstrate how the computer was the most significant scientific instrument of the 20th century.The only guide of its kind covering the use and impact of computers on the the physical, biological, medical, and cognitive sciences, it contains more than 1,000 annotated citations to carefully selected secondary and primary resources. Historians of technology and science will find this a very useful resource. Computer scientists, physicians, biologists, chemists, and geologists will also benefit from this extensive bibliography on the history of computer applications and the sciences.

Originally a military and scientific computational tool of a small number of government, scientific, and corporate elites in the late 1940s, the computer has evolved significantly in less than 70 years to become a revolutionary technology and the basis for one the largest industries in America. The Internet, email and personal computer have become necessities in most offices and college dorm rooms and many homes. Narrative chapters trace the emergence and development of the computer industry in the United States as seen in the economic, historical, and social context of its times from the early 20th century to the present. From punched cards and tabulating machines to the first digital computer companies in the early 1950s, Yost clearly describes how the concept of the computer was born in the late 1800s but did not evolve into the personal computer until the late 1970s and 1980s. The computer has emerged from a relatively narrow scientific computational machine to a vast data processing and communication technology.Such well-known concepts and terms as IBM and Bill Gates, Apple and Macintosh, and the Internet and the World Wide Web, along with lesser known histories of the mainframe digital computer, the invention of the transistor, software development, supercomputing and minicomputing are discussed. Includes an appendix of over twenty company profiles of key businesses in the industry, a timeline, and suggestions for further reading and research. Ideal for students and general readers interested in the development of computers and related technology, such as its software and hardware, and the history of the computer industry.

Computer: A History of the Information Machine traces the history of the computer and its unlimited, information-processing potential.Comprehensive and accessibly written, this fully updated fourth edition adds new chapters on the globalization of information technology, the rise of social media, fake news, and the gig economy, and the regulatory frameworks being put in place to tame the ubiquitous computer. Computer is an insightful look at the pace of technological advancement and the seamless way computers are integrated into the modern world. The authors examine the history of the computer, including the first steps taken by Charles Babbage in the nineteenth century, and how wartime needs and the development of electronics led to the giant ENIAC, the first electronic computer. For a generation IBM dominated the computer industry. In the 1980s, the desktop PC liberated people from room-sized mainframe computers. Next, laptops and smartphones made computers available to half of the world’s population, leading to the rise of Google and Facebook, and powerful apps that changed the way we work, consume, learn, and socialize.The volume is an essential resource for scholars and those studying computer history, technology history, and information and society, as well as a range of courses in the fields of computer science, communications, sociology, and management.

Computer: A History of the Information Machine traces the history of the computer and its unlimited, information-processing potential.Comprehensive and accessibly written, this fully updated fourth edition adds new chapters on the globalization of information technology, the rise of social media, fake news, and the gig economy, and the regulatory frameworks being put in place to tame the ubiquitous computer. Computer is an insightful look at the pace of technological advancement and the seamless way computers are integrated into the modern world. The authors examine the history of the computer, including the first steps taken by Charles Babbage in the nineteenth century, and how wartime needs and the development of electronics led to the giant ENIAC, the first electronic computer. For a generation IBM dominated the computer industry. In the 1980s, the desktop PC liberated people from room-sized mainframe computers. Next, laptops and smartphones made computers available to half of the world’s population, leading to the rise of Google and Facebook, and powerful apps that changed the way we work, consume, learn, and socialize.The volume is an essential resource for scholars and those studying computer history, technology history, and information and society, as well as a range of courses in the fields of computer science, communications, sociology, and management.

Since 2000, the National Science Foundation has depended upon its pioneering FastLane e-government system to manage grant applications, peer reviews, and reporting. In this behind-the-scenes account Thomas J. Misa and Jeffrey R. Yost examine how powerful forces of science and computing came together to create this influential grant-management system, assessing its impact on cutting-edge scientific research. Why did the NSF create FastLane, and how did it anticipate the development of web-based e-commerce? What technical challenges did the glitch-prone early system present? Did the switch to electronic grant proposals disadvantage universities with fewer resources? And how did the scientific community help shape FastLane? Foregrounding the experience of computer users, the book draws on hundreds of interviews with scientific researchers, sponsored project administrators, NSF staff, and software designers, developers, and managers.