Stan Carey

This is good, if you're interested in tech history. Describes the ideas, circumstances, and personalities (principally John von Neumann) that gave rise to modern computers. There's a surfeit of detail on peripheral topics, but it's a complex story well told

#books #bookstodon #reading #GeorgeDyson #computers #ComputerHistory

Mar 23, 2023 at 5:41pmWeb
Show threadStan CareyMar 23, 2023
"Before Turing, things were done to numbers. After Turing, numbers began doing things." —George Dyson, Turing's Cathedral #computing #maths #Turing
Show threadJohnMasheyMar 23, 2023
@stancarey
George Dyson is an excellent computing historian. We were lucky to have him at #ComputerHistoryMuseum years ago:
https://computerhistory.org/events/turings-cathedral-author-george-dyson/
Turing's Cathedral. Author George Dyson in Conversation with John Hollar - CHM

Legendary historian George Dyson vividly re-creates the scenes of focused experimentation, incredible mathematical insight, and pure creative genius that gave us computers, digital television, modern genetics, models of stellar evolution—in other words, computer code. Join John Hollar for a captivating conversation with Dyson about John von Neumann and the beginnings of the digital universe.

CHM
Show threadOliverUvMar 24, 2023
@stancarey looks good, I think I'll give it a go!
Show threadDarryl RammMar 24, 2023
@stancarey Purchased....adding to the backlog of Kindle books to read....