When computers were human /
"Before Palm Pilots and iPods, PCs and laptops, the term "computer" referred to the people who did scientific calculations by hand. These workers were neither calculating geniuses nor idiot savants but knowledgeable people who, in other circumstances, might have become scientists in t...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
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Princeton, N.J. ; Woodstock :
Princeton University Press,
2007.
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | CONNECT CONNECT |
| Summary: | "Before Palm Pilots and iPods, PCs and laptops, the term "computer" referred to the people who did scientific calculations by hand. These workers were neither calculating geniuses nor idiot savants but knowledgeable people who, in other circumstances, might have become scientists in their own right. When Computers Were Human represents the first in-depth account of this little-known, 200-year epoch in the history of science and technology." "Beginning with the story of his own grandmother, who was trained as a human computer, David Alan Grier provides an introduction to the wider world of women and men who did the hard computational labor of science." "When Computers Were Human is the sad but lyrical story of workers who gladly did the hard labor of research calculation in the hope that they might be part of the scientific community. In the end, they were rewarded by a new electronic machine that took the place and the name of those who were, once, the computers."--Jacket. |
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| Item Description: | Originally published: 2005. EBSCO eBook Academic Comprehensive Collection North America Books at JSTOR Evidence Based Acquisitions |
| Physical Description: | 1 online resource (viii, 411 pages) : illustrations |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 333-400) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781400849369 1400849365 |
