Overview
- Offers an introduction to the history of computing during the ‘first’ (of steam) and the ‘second’ (of electricity) industrial revolution
- Suggests that the computing revolution and the industrial revolution were the same, with the one making the other possible and vice versa
- Proposes that analog and digital computing technology is inseparable, with their alleged difference actually resulting from either full or restricted view of the computing process
Part of the book series: History of Computing (HC)
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Table of contents (7 chapters)
Keywords
About this book
Although it is popularly assumed that the history of computing before the second half of the 20th century was unimportant, in fact the Industrial Revolution was made possible and even sustained by a parallel revolution in computing technology. An examination and historiographical assessment of key developments helps to show how the era of modern electronic computing proceeded from a continual computing revolution that had arisen during the mechanical and the electrical ages.
This unique volume introduces the history of computing during the “first” (steam) and “second” (electricity) segments of the Industrial Revolution, revealing how this history was pivotal to the emergence of electronic computing and what many historians see as signifying a shift to a post-industrial society. It delves into critical developments before the electronic era, focusing on those of the mechanical era (from the emergence of the steam engine to that of the electric power network) and the electrical era (from the emergence of the electric power network to that of electronic computing). In so doing, it provides due attention to the demarcations between—and associated classifications of—artifacts for calculation during these respective eras. In turn, it emphasizes the history of comparisons between these artifacts.Topics and Features:
- motivates exposition through a firm historiographical argument of important developments
- explores the history of the slide rule and its use in the context of electrification examines the roles of analyzers, graphs, and a whole range of computing artifacts hitherto placed under the allegedly inferior class of analog computers
- shows how the analog and the digital are really inseparable, with perceptions thereof depending on either a full or a restricted view of the computing process
- investigates socially situated comparisons of computing history, including the effects of a politicaleconomy of computing (one that takes into account cost and ownership of computing artifacts)
- assesses concealment of analog-machine labor through encasement (“black-boxing”)
"In this fascinating, original work, Tympas indispensably intertwines the histories of analog and digital computing, showing them to be inseparable from the evolution of social and economic conditions. " Prof. David Mindell, MIT
Reviews
“In this fascinating, original work, Tympas indispensably intertwines the histories of analog and digital computing, showing them to be inseparable from the evolution of social and economic conditions.” (Prof. David Mindell, MIT)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: Calculation and Computation in the Pre-electronic Era
Book Subtitle: The Mechanical and Electrical Ages
Authors: Aristotle Tympas
Series Title: History of Computing
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84882-742-4
Publisher: Springer London
eBook Packages: Computer Science, Computer Science (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer-Verlag London Ltd. 2017
Softcover ISBN: 978-1-4471-7410-3Published: 24 April 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-1-84882-742-4Published: 12 January 2018
Series ISSN: 2190-6831
Series E-ISSN: 2190-684X
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIV, 243
Number of Illustrations: 23 b/w illustrations
Topics: History of Computing