When Computers Were Human / / David Alan Grier.
Before Palm Pilots and iPods, PCs and laptops, the term "computer" referred to the people who did scientific calculations by hand. These workers were neither calculating geniuses nor idiot savants but knowledgeable people who, in other circumstances, might have become scientists in their o...
Saved in:
Superior document: | Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013 |
---|---|
VerfasserIn: | |
Place / Publishing House: | Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2013] ©2005 |
Year of Publication: | 2013 |
Edition: | Course Book |
Language: | English |
Online Access: | |
Physical Description: | 1 online resource (424 p.) :; 50 halftones. |
Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
id |
9781400849369 |
---|---|
ctrlnum |
(DE-B1597)447639 (OCoLC)861199767 |
collection |
bib_alma |
record_format |
marc |
spelling |
Grier, David Alan, author. aut http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut When Computers Were Human / David Alan Grier. Course Book Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press, [2013] ©2005 1 online resource (424 p.) : 50 halftones. text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier text file PDF rda Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction. A Grandmother's Secret Life -- Part I: Astronomy and the Division of Labor 1682-1880 -- Chapter One. The First Anticipated Return: Halley's Comet 1758 -- Chapter Two. The Children of Adam Smith -- Chapter Three. The Celestial Factory: Halley's Comet 1835 -- Chapter Four. The American Prime Meridian -- Chapter Five. A Carpet for the Computing Room -- Part II: Mass Production and New Fields of Science 1880-1930 -- Chapter Six. Looking Forward, Looking Backward: Machinery 1893 -- Chapter Seven. Darwin's Cousins -- Chapter Eight. Breaking from the Ellipse: Halley's Comet 1910 -- Chapter Nine. Captains of Academe -- Chapter Ten. War Production -- Chapter Eleven. Fruits of the Conflict: Machinery 1922 -- Part III: Professional Computers and an Independent Discipline 1930-1964 -- Chapter Twelve. The Best of Bad Times -- Chapter Thirteen. Scientific Relief -- Chapter Fourteen. Tools of the Trade: Machinery 1937 -- Chapter Fifteen. Professional Ambition -- Chapter Sixteen. The Midtown New York Glide Bomb Club -- Chapter Seventeen. The Victor's Share -- Chapter Eighteen. I Alone Am Left to Tell Thee -- Epilogue. Final Passage: Halley's Comet 1986 -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix: Recurring Characters, Institutions, and Concepts -- Notes -- Research Notes and Bibliography -- Index -- Illustration Credits restricted access http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec online access with authorization star Before Palm Pilots and iPods, PCs and laptops, the term "computer" referred to the people who did scientific calculations by hand. These workers were neither calculating geniuses nor idiot savants but knowledgeable people who, in other circumstances, might have become scientists in their own right. When Computers Were Human represents the first in-depth account of this little-known, 200-year epoch in the history of science and technology. Beginning with the story of his own grandmother, who was trained as a human computer, David Alan Grier provides a poignant introduction to the wider world of women and men who did the hard computational labor of science. His grandmother's casual remark, "I wish I'd used my calculus," hinted at a career deferred and an education forgotten, a secret life unappreciated; like many highly educated women of her generation, she studied to become a human computer because nothing else would offer her a place in the scientific world. The book begins with the return of Halley's comet in 1758 and the effort of three French astronomers to compute its orbit. It ends four cycles later, with a UNIVAC electronic computer projecting the 1986 orbit. In between, Grier tells us about the surveyors of the French Revolution, describes the calculating machines of Charles Babbage, and guides the reader through the Great Depression to marvel at the giant computing room of the Works Progress Administration. When Computers Were Human is the sad but lyrical story of workers who gladly did the hard labor of research calculation in the hope that they might be part of the scientific community. In the end, they were rewarded by a new electronic machine that took the place and the name of those who were, once, the computers. Issued also in print. Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web. In English. Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Jul 2021) Calculus History. Mental calculators History. Science Mathematics History. SCIENCE / History. bisacsh Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013 9783110442502 print 9780691133829 https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400849369?locatt=mode:legacy https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781400849369 Cover https://www.degruyter.com/cover/covers/9781400849369.jpg |
language |
English |
format |
eBook |
author |
Grier, David Alan, Grier, David Alan, |
spellingShingle |
Grier, David Alan, Grier, David Alan, When Computers Were Human / Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction. A Grandmother's Secret Life -- Part I: Astronomy and the Division of Labor 1682-1880 -- Chapter One. The First Anticipated Return: Halley's Comet 1758 -- Chapter Two. The Children of Adam Smith -- Chapter Three. The Celestial Factory: Halley's Comet 1835 -- Chapter Four. The American Prime Meridian -- Chapter Five. A Carpet for the Computing Room -- Part II: Mass Production and New Fields of Science 1880-1930 -- Chapter Six. Looking Forward, Looking Backward: Machinery 1893 -- Chapter Seven. Darwin's Cousins -- Chapter Eight. Breaking from the Ellipse: Halley's Comet 1910 -- Chapter Nine. Captains of Academe -- Chapter Ten. War Production -- Chapter Eleven. Fruits of the Conflict: Machinery 1922 -- Part III: Professional Computers and an Independent Discipline 1930-1964 -- Chapter Twelve. The Best of Bad Times -- Chapter Thirteen. Scientific Relief -- Chapter Fourteen. Tools of the Trade: Machinery 1937 -- Chapter Fifteen. Professional Ambition -- Chapter Sixteen. The Midtown New York Glide Bomb Club -- Chapter Seventeen. The Victor's Share -- Chapter Eighteen. I Alone Am Left to Tell Thee -- Epilogue. Final Passage: Halley's Comet 1986 -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix: Recurring Characters, Institutions, and Concepts -- Notes -- Research Notes and Bibliography -- Index -- Illustration Credits |
author_facet |
Grier, David Alan, Grier, David Alan, |
author_variant |
d a g da dag d a g da dag |
author_role |
VerfasserIn VerfasserIn |
author_sort |
Grier, David Alan, |
title |
When Computers Were Human / |
title_full |
When Computers Were Human / David Alan Grier. |
title_fullStr |
When Computers Were Human / David Alan Grier. |
title_full_unstemmed |
When Computers Were Human / David Alan Grier. |
title_auth |
When Computers Were Human / |
title_alt |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction. A Grandmother's Secret Life -- Part I: Astronomy and the Division of Labor 1682-1880 -- Chapter One. The First Anticipated Return: Halley's Comet 1758 -- Chapter Two. The Children of Adam Smith -- Chapter Three. The Celestial Factory: Halley's Comet 1835 -- Chapter Four. The American Prime Meridian -- Chapter Five. A Carpet for the Computing Room -- Part II: Mass Production and New Fields of Science 1880-1930 -- Chapter Six. Looking Forward, Looking Backward: Machinery 1893 -- Chapter Seven. Darwin's Cousins -- Chapter Eight. Breaking from the Ellipse: Halley's Comet 1910 -- Chapter Nine. Captains of Academe -- Chapter Ten. War Production -- Chapter Eleven. Fruits of the Conflict: Machinery 1922 -- Part III: Professional Computers and an Independent Discipline 1930-1964 -- Chapter Twelve. The Best of Bad Times -- Chapter Thirteen. Scientific Relief -- Chapter Fourteen. Tools of the Trade: Machinery 1937 -- Chapter Fifteen. Professional Ambition -- Chapter Sixteen. The Midtown New York Glide Bomb Club -- Chapter Seventeen. The Victor's Share -- Chapter Eighteen. I Alone Am Left to Tell Thee -- Epilogue. Final Passage: Halley's Comet 1986 -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix: Recurring Characters, Institutions, and Concepts -- Notes -- Research Notes and Bibliography -- Index -- Illustration Credits |
title_new |
When Computers Were Human / |
title_sort |
when computers were human / |
publisher |
Princeton University Press, |
publishDate |
2013 |
physical |
1 online resource (424 p.) : 50 halftones. Issued also in print. |
edition |
Course Book |
contents |
Frontmatter -- Contents -- Introduction. A Grandmother's Secret Life -- Part I: Astronomy and the Division of Labor 1682-1880 -- Chapter One. The First Anticipated Return: Halley's Comet 1758 -- Chapter Two. The Children of Adam Smith -- Chapter Three. The Celestial Factory: Halley's Comet 1835 -- Chapter Four. The American Prime Meridian -- Chapter Five. A Carpet for the Computing Room -- Part II: Mass Production and New Fields of Science 1880-1930 -- Chapter Six. Looking Forward, Looking Backward: Machinery 1893 -- Chapter Seven. Darwin's Cousins -- Chapter Eight. Breaking from the Ellipse: Halley's Comet 1910 -- Chapter Nine. Captains of Academe -- Chapter Ten. War Production -- Chapter Eleven. Fruits of the Conflict: Machinery 1922 -- Part III: Professional Computers and an Independent Discipline 1930-1964 -- Chapter Twelve. The Best of Bad Times -- Chapter Thirteen. Scientific Relief -- Chapter Fourteen. Tools of the Trade: Machinery 1937 -- Chapter Fifteen. Professional Ambition -- Chapter Sixteen. The Midtown New York Glide Bomb Club -- Chapter Seventeen. The Victor's Share -- Chapter Eighteen. I Alone Am Left to Tell Thee -- Epilogue. Final Passage: Halley's Comet 1986 -- Acknowledgments -- Appendix: Recurring Characters, Institutions, and Concepts -- Notes -- Research Notes and Bibliography -- Index -- Illustration Credits |
isbn |
9781400849369 9783110442502 9780691133829 |
callnumber-first |
Q - Science |
callnumber-subject |
QA - Mathematics |
callnumber-label |
QA303 |
callnumber-sort |
QA 3303.2 G75 42007EB |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400849369?locatt=mode:legacy https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781400849369 https://www.degruyter.com/cover/covers/9781400849369.jpg |
illustrated |
Not Illustrated |
dewey-hundreds |
500 - Science |
dewey-tens |
510 - Mathematics |
dewey-ones |
510 - Mathematics |
dewey-full |
510/.92/2 |
dewey-sort |
3510 292 12 |
dewey-raw |
510/.92/2 |
dewey-search |
510/.92/2 |
doi_str_mv |
10.1515/9781400849369?locatt=mode:legacy |
oclc_num |
861199767 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT grierdavidalan whencomputerswerehuman |
status_str |
n |
ids_txt_mv |
(DE-B1597)447639 (OCoLC)861199767 |
carrierType_str_mv |
cr |
hierarchy_parent_title |
Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013 |
is_hierarchy_title |
When Computers Were Human / |
container_title |
Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013 |
_version_ |
1770176669800202240 |
fullrecord |
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><collection xmlns="http://www.loc.gov/MARC21/slim"><record><leader>05749nam a22007455i 4500</leader><controlfield tag="001">9781400849369</controlfield><controlfield tag="003">DE-B1597</controlfield><controlfield tag="005">20210729020517.0</controlfield><controlfield tag="006">m|||||o||d||||||||</controlfield><controlfield tag="007">cr || ||||||||</controlfield><controlfield tag="008">210729t20132005nju fo d z eng d</controlfield><datafield tag="019" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">(OCoLC)979910998</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="020" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">9781400849369</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="024" ind1="7" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">10.1515/9781400849369</subfield><subfield code="2">doi</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="035" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">(DE-B1597)447639</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="035" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">(OCoLC)861199767</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="040" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">DE-B1597</subfield><subfield code="b">eng</subfield><subfield code="c">DE-B1597</subfield><subfield code="e">rda</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="041" ind1="0" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">eng</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="044" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">nju</subfield><subfield code="c">US-NJ</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="050" ind1=" " ind2="4"><subfield code="a">QA303.2</subfield><subfield code="b">.G75 2007eb</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="072" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">SCI034000</subfield><subfield code="2">bisacsh</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="082" ind1="0" ind2="4"><subfield code="a">510/.92/2</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="100" ind1="1" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Grier, David Alan, </subfield><subfield code="e">author.</subfield><subfield code="4">aut</subfield><subfield code="4">http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators/aut</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="245" ind1="1" ind2="0"><subfield code="a">When Computers Were Human /</subfield><subfield code="c">David Alan Grier.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="250" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Course Book</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="264" ind1=" " ind2="1"><subfield code="a">Princeton, NJ : </subfield><subfield code="b">Princeton University Press, </subfield><subfield code="c">[2013]</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="264" ind1=" " ind2="4"><subfield code="c">©2005</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="300" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">1 online resource (424 p.) :</subfield><subfield code="b">50 halftones.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="336" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">text</subfield><subfield code="b">txt</subfield><subfield code="2">rdacontent</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="337" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">computer</subfield><subfield code="b">c</subfield><subfield code="2">rdamedia</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="338" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">online resource</subfield><subfield code="b">cr</subfield><subfield code="2">rdacarrier</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="347" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">text file</subfield><subfield code="b">PDF</subfield><subfield code="2">rda</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="505" ind1="0" ind2="0"><subfield code="t">Frontmatter -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Contents -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Introduction. A Grandmother's Secret Life -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Part I: Astronomy and the Division of Labor 1682-1880 -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter One. The First Anticipated Return: Halley's Comet 1758 -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Two. The Children of Adam Smith -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Three. The Celestial Factory: Halley's Comet 1835 -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Four. The American Prime Meridian -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Five. A Carpet for the Computing Room -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Part II: Mass Production and New Fields of Science 1880-1930 -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Six. Looking Forward, Looking Backward: Machinery 1893 -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Seven. Darwin's Cousins -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Eight. Breaking from the Ellipse: Halley's Comet 1910 -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Nine. Captains of Academe -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Ten. War Production -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Eleven. Fruits of the Conflict: Machinery 1922 -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Part III: Professional Computers and an Independent Discipline 1930-1964 -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Twelve. The Best of Bad Times -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Thirteen. Scientific Relief -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Fourteen. Tools of the Trade: Machinery 1937 -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Fifteen. Professional Ambition -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Sixteen. The Midtown New York Glide Bomb Club -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Seventeen. The Victor's Share -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Chapter Eighteen. I Alone Am Left to Tell Thee -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Epilogue. Final Passage: Halley's Comet 1986 -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Acknowledgments -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Appendix: Recurring Characters, Institutions, and Concepts -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Notes -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Research Notes and Bibliography -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Index -- </subfield><subfield code="t">Illustration Credits</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="506" ind1="0" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">restricted access</subfield><subfield code="u">http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec</subfield><subfield code="f">online access with authorization</subfield><subfield code="2">star</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="520" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Before Palm Pilots and iPods, PCs and laptops, the term "computer" referred to the people who did scientific calculations by hand. These workers were neither calculating geniuses nor idiot savants but knowledgeable people who, in other circumstances, might have become scientists in their own right. When Computers Were Human represents the first in-depth account of this little-known, 200-year epoch in the history of science and technology. Beginning with the story of his own grandmother, who was trained as a human computer, David Alan Grier provides a poignant introduction to the wider world of women and men who did the hard computational labor of science. His grandmother's casual remark, "I wish I'd used my calculus," hinted at a career deferred and an education forgotten, a secret life unappreciated; like many highly educated women of her generation, she studied to become a human computer because nothing else would offer her a place in the scientific world. The book begins with the return of Halley's comet in 1758 and the effort of three French astronomers to compute its orbit. It ends four cycles later, with a UNIVAC electronic computer projecting the 1986 orbit. In between, Grier tells us about the surveyors of the French Revolution, describes the calculating machines of Charles Babbage, and guides the reader through the Great Depression to marvel at the giant computing room of the Works Progress Administration. When Computers Were Human is the sad but lyrical story of workers who gladly did the hard labor of research calculation in the hope that they might be part of the scientific community. In the end, they were rewarded by a new electronic machine that took the place and the name of those who were, once, the computers.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="530" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Issued also in print.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="538" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="546" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">In English.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="588" ind1="0" ind2=" "><subfield code="a">Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 29. Jul 2021)</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="0"><subfield code="a">Calculus</subfield><subfield code="x">History.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="0"><subfield code="a">Mental calculators</subfield><subfield code="x">History.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="0"><subfield code="a">Science</subfield><subfield code="x">Mathematics</subfield><subfield code="x">History.</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="650" ind1=" " ind2="7"><subfield code="a">SCIENCE / History.</subfield><subfield code="2">bisacsh</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="773" ind1="0" ind2="8"><subfield code="i">Title is part of eBook package:</subfield><subfield code="d">De Gruyter</subfield><subfield code="t">Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013</subfield><subfield code="z">9783110442502</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="776" ind1="0" ind2=" "><subfield code="c">print</subfield><subfield code="z">9780691133829</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="856" ind1="4" ind2="0"><subfield code="u">https://doi.org/10.1515/9781400849369?locatt=mode:legacy</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="856" ind1="4" ind2="0"><subfield code="u">https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9781400849369</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="856" ind1="4" ind2="2"><subfield code="3">Cover</subfield><subfield code="u">https://www.degruyter.com/cover/covers/9781400849369.jpg</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">978-3-11-044250-2 Princeton University Press eBook-Package Backlist 2000-2013</subfield><subfield code="c">2000</subfield><subfield code="d">2013</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">EBA_BACKALL</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">EBA_CL_HICS</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">EBA_EBACKALL</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">EBA_EBKALL</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">EBA_ECL_HICS</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">EBA_EEBKALL</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">EBA_ESSHALL</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">EBA_PPALL</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">EBA_SSHALL</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">EBA_STMALL</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">GBV-deGruyter-alles</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">PDA11SSHE</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">PDA12STME</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">PDA13ENGE</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">PDA17SSHEE</subfield></datafield><datafield tag="912" ind1=" " ind2=" "><subfield code="a">PDA5EBK</subfield></datafield></record></collection> |