Computing in the Middle Ages
This is the story of a young boy and some of his experiences growing up in the Southern part of the United States in the 40's and 50's of this twentieth century. It includes some accounts of incidents that are deeply filled with pathos and sadness. However, in contrast it climbs the heights of happiness and unfettered joy of the carefree days of southern culture. It is not only his story, but the interactions of parents, siblings, and other kin and also the, rare to this age, endearing, educational, and just simple fun of grandparents and even great-grandparents. The scope is wide and yet focused enough to enable one to become familiar with the people and places in a personal way. History, biography, humor, entertainment-it is all of the above.
Stats for nerds
8recommend
11mentions
10people
2009–2025years
82% recommend18% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- The Dream Machine by M. Mitchell Waldrop
Computing in the Middle Ages by Severo Ornstein - https://worrydream.com/refs/Ornstein_2002_-_Computing_in_the...
- Not really about history of technology as a whole but the book Computing in the Middle Ages was really fascinating. Made me realize that lots of the challenges software engineers face are much older than we assume.
https://www.amazon.com/Computing-Middle-Ages-Trenches-1955-1...
- Severo Ornstein's "Computing in the Middle Ages" [1] has plenty of detail on the development and lab usage of the LINC. He claims it as the first personal computer.
Wes Clark presents "The LINC was Early and Small" at the ACM Conference on the History of Personal Workstations in 1986.[2]
[1] https://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/BookDetails/230036-Com...
[2] https://computerhistory.org/blog/the-1986-acm-conference-on-...
- Since these have not been mentioned already:
* Brian Bagnall trilogy on the history of Commodore/Amiga: http://variantpress.com
* Severo Ornstein's "Computing in the Middle Ages", about how it used to be a professional programmer back in the early days. You can find his CHM oral history interview at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q243lfVdQ9E.
* "Stan Veit's History of the Personal Computer". A candid view about how the PC industry unfolded.
* "Introduction to Algorithms" by Udi Manber. IMHO one of the best books about how to approach problems with a programmer's mindset.
- All good recs so far. Here's a few I haven't seen mentioned yet -
Computing in the Middle Ages: A View From the Trenches 1955-1983 - Severo Ornstein
Early British Computers - Simon Lavington
Geeks Bearing Gifts - Ted Nelson (and also Computer Lib/Dream Machines)
more recently - UNIX: A History and a Memoir by Brian Kernighan
- To learn more about the LINC (and why, in the grand scheme of things, it was so incredibly important):
- "The LINC Revolution", in "Biomedical Computing" by Joseph November: http://www.amazon.com/Biomedical-Computing-Digitizing-Univer...
- "Computing in the Middle Ages" by Severo Ornstein: http://www.amazon.com/Computing-Middle-Ages-Trenches-1955-19...
- "The Dream Machine" by M. Mitchell Waldrop: http://www.amazon.com/The-Dream-Machine-Licklider-Revolution...
R.I.P.
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