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beckydham's review against another edition
2.0
I was so interested to learn more about this, and found myself frustrated by all the jumping around and the blizzard of names and random anecdotes.
brittany_n_henke's review against another edition
2.0
DNF because I couldn’t get into it. This book was just not for me!
benrogerswpg's review against another edition
4.0
The History of Computing
I really enjoyed this book.
I got a lot out of it, as I myself am a programmer analyst.
This was quite interesting. I like learning about the history of computing.
Would recommend!
4.2/5
I really enjoyed this book.
I got a lot out of it, as I myself am a programmer analyst.
This was quite interesting. I like learning about the history of computing.
Would recommend!
4.2/5
almartin's review
4.0
one part micro-history of the MANIAC project @ the institute for advanced study/princeton, one part meditation on the reach/speed/scope of the digital universe. a history and philosophy of science indeed; dyson is alternates between reporting back the minutiae (logs, parts sourcing and internecine internal politics) of the the IAS computer and free-associating on the deep symmetry between digital systems and biological life.
fascinating; many stars for successfully tackling the past and future history of computing/math; many-1 stars for sometimes perplexing decisions to leap erratically around the chronology of events.
fascinating; many stars for successfully tackling the past and future history of computing/math; many-1 stars for sometimes perplexing decisions to leap erratically around the chronology of events.
zfeig's review
informative
medium-paced
3.5
A really interesting read, the book focuses on the simultaneous development of the computers and nuclear technology. It makes the argument that the advancement of computers is inextricably tied to the modeling needs of hydrogen bomb design and testing. It follows a Von Neumann and a few other key computing and weapons researchers that moved from the Manhattan Project to Princeton to push the limits of computing after WW2. The book makes it's claims by leaning on newly released archives from Princeton concerning Von Neumann's work, which shows much closer links between academic and defense research. It is interesting, but I didn't get a lot of new information from reading this book. A hidden gem was learning about the work of Nils Barricelli, who pioneered using algorithms to model evolution.
feoh's review
4.0
Ultimately, this is a very good book. The only thing keeping it from being a great book is the author's almost messianic fascination with the role cellular automata and its ilk played in the digital computing revolution, and the role the results of that revolution is playing in society.
I realize this might seem counterintuitive, but the religiosity that comes through in Dyson's meandering ruminations on the ramifications of the history he is recounting do not, in my opinion anyway, actually lend itself to a proper telling of this story.
That said, there is an awful lot to recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in computing, past, present, or future, or even for anyone who can appreciate the monumental engineering achievements Von Neumann's team enacted.
I am still awe struck by some of the hardships they endured and overcame - like the fact that solid state memory didn't exist at the time, so they had to use CRT tubes as stored memory - the instant between when electrons painted an image onto the surface of a CRT and the next when it faded before the next refresh were JUST enough to impart a zero or a one. That concept alone is mind boggling to me.
One area in which this book does an excellent job is exploring the incredible connections between the development of the stored matrix digital computer and that of the hydrogen bomb, charting a path for the reader through the tempestuous times, personalities and organizations that culminated in the successful detonation of one of the most fearsome weapons ever created by human kind.
On point I am very glad to have read this book. There were definite moments of frustration where I found myself wishing that Mr. Dyson would spend less time prostrate at the altar of digital life and more detailing the technical challenges involved, but the net result was still an incredibly rewarding experience.
I learned an enormous amount from this book, and that alone makes it priceless and really worth reading, even if it at times frustrated me :)
I realize this might seem counterintuitive, but the religiosity that comes through in Dyson's meandering ruminations on the ramifications of the history he is recounting do not, in my opinion anyway, actually lend itself to a proper telling of this story.
That said, there is an awful lot to recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in computing, past, present, or future, or even for anyone who can appreciate the monumental engineering achievements Von Neumann's team enacted.
I am still awe struck by some of the hardships they endured and overcame - like the fact that solid state memory didn't exist at the time, so they had to use CRT tubes as stored memory - the instant between when electrons painted an image onto the surface of a CRT and the next when it faded before the next refresh were JUST enough to impart a zero or a one. That concept alone is mind boggling to me.
One area in which this book does an excellent job is exploring the incredible connections between the development of the stored matrix digital computer and that of the hydrogen bomb, charting a path for the reader through the tempestuous times, personalities and organizations that culminated in the successful detonation of one of the most fearsome weapons ever created by human kind.
On point I am very glad to have read this book. There were definite moments of frustration where I found myself wishing that Mr. Dyson would spend less time prostrate at the altar of digital life and more detailing the technical challenges involved, but the net result was still an incredibly rewarding experience.
I learned an enormous amount from this book, and that alone makes it priceless and really worth reading, even if it at times frustrated me :)
michael_k's review against another edition
2.0
Interesting reading with lots of facts but not what one would expect by the title. Whole passages seem to be off the point however interesting they may be.
emiann2023's review
4.0
Are we searching the search engines, or are the search engines searching us?
I rate books based on two main factors: did it make me think, or did it make me feel?
The degree to which a book achieves one of those two aims (and very, very rarely both) influences a good chunk of my rating.
I knew a tiny amount about Turing. Mostly his work on decoding the Enigma machines and as the father of modern computing. I saw this book and it intrigued me. So I picked it up.
It was not, in many respects, the read I had anticipated. For one thing, Turing is referenced very minimally until near the end of the book, and for another, the book goes into the lives of dozens of people surrounding the creation of the first computers. This is not a bad thing, but it made this a difficult read to keep track of, at points.
This was also technically a challenge for me to understand. I got the basics, like how we've gone from numbers that mean things, to numbers that do things, but much of the technical discussion of the code and mathematical or engineering principles went way over my head.
But, this book had a few truly interesting insights that I found really worthwhile. The quote at the beginning, and the discussions of the future of AI, discussions of how we are essentially building a new lifeform that will soon outlive and outpace us, and of course the connections between DNA, Nuclear bombs, computers, and the weather were interesting.
So. Did this book make me think? Yes, it did. It posed interesting theories of where we're going, and how we're likely to get there. I fear I am not smart enough to understand all the knowledge this book has to offer, but for the most part, I enjoyed what I did understand.
I rate books based on two main factors: did it make me think, or did it make me feel?
The degree to which a book achieves one of those two aims (and very, very rarely both) influences a good chunk of my rating.
I knew a tiny amount about Turing. Mostly his work on decoding the Enigma machines and as the father of modern computing. I saw this book and it intrigued me. So I picked it up.
It was not, in many respects, the read I had anticipated. For one thing, Turing is referenced very minimally until near the end of the book, and for another, the book goes into the lives of dozens of people surrounding the creation of the first computers. This is not a bad thing, but it made this a difficult read to keep track of, at points.
This was also technically a challenge for me to understand. I got the basics, like how we've gone from numbers that mean things, to numbers that do things, but much of the technical discussion of the code and mathematical or engineering principles went way over my head.
But, this book had a few truly interesting insights that I found really worthwhile. The quote at the beginning, and the discussions of the future of AI, discussions of how we are essentially building a new lifeform that will soon outlive and outpace us, and of course the connections between DNA, Nuclear bombs, computers, and the weather were interesting.
So. Did this book make me think? Yes, it did. It posed interesting theories of where we're going, and how we're likely to get there. I fear I am not smart enough to understand all the knowledge this book has to offer, but for the most part, I enjoyed what I did understand.