I have a shelf full of books about the ENIAC, the electronic computer whose completion in 1945 heralded the birth of the Information Age. But until now, none have captured the many facets of that machine and its place in history. Basing their book on a wealth of archival research, Haigh, Priestley, and Rope for the first time tell this story in its fullest measure. -- Paul E. Ceruzzi, Chairman, Division of Space History, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution ENIAC in Action delivers a breathtakingly original, approachable, and at times even funny reinterpretation of the dawn of computing. More than the story of one hugely important machine, told from technical, institutional, and personal perspectives, it illuminates the invention of the modern computer, the development of programming, the transformation of scientific practice around new technology, and the transition from the mathematical technology of World War II to the simulations culture of the early Cold War. -- Joseph November, Associate Professor of History, University of South Carolina This book should be read by anyone who wants to understand the initial evolution of our modern abstraction of what a computer is. The authors weave a convincing account of how ENIAC's architecture was originally developed and then continued to evolve. They combine a careful reading of the documentation and lab notebooks generated during ENIAC's development with a deep understanding of the architectural issues behind competing possible implementations. -- Mitch Marcus, RCA Professor of Artificial Intelligence, Department of Computer and Information Science, University of Pennsylvania
Thomas Haigh is Associate Professor of Information Studies at the University of Wisconsin– Milwaukee. Mark Priestley is an independent researcher. Crispin Rope is an independent researcher.
Bad history makes false claims about firsts. Good history makes
true claims about firsts. Great history, however, doesn't primarily
concern itself with firsts at all (though it may necessarily deal
with them as part of the subject matter), but redirects us to ask
deeper, more meaningful questions. Great history, like the work of
Tom Haigh, Mark Priestley, and Crispin Rope, goes beyond the
baseline of facts, the high-school textbook version, into a whole
new realm of interpretation.—Computer History Museum
...a particularly important, thorough, and balanced account, a
major contribution to the history of early computing, and certainly
required reading for any student of the subject.—SIAM News
[A] nuanced, engaging and thoroughly researched account of the
early days of computers, the people who built and operated them,
and their old and new applications.... [T]he creativity and
intelligence of good historians writing books such as ENIAC in
Action will keep us informed and entertained.—Forbes
Haigh et al. for the first time tell the whole story of the first
computer (digital, electronic, programmable), supported by
impressive research. Their book will no doubt become the standard
reference for all things ENIAC.—Joseph F. Grcar, SIAM Review
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