ENIAC, Scott McCartney
ENIAC, Scott McCartney
1 Rating(s)
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
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ENIAC
The Triumphs and Tragedies of the World's First Computer

Author: Scott McCartney

Narrator: Adams Morgan

Unabridged: 6 hr 18 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/07/2012


Synopsis

The true father of the modern computer was not John von Neumann, as he is generally credited. That honor belongs to the two men, John Mauchly and Presper Eckert, who built the world's first programmable computer: the legendary ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). Mauchly and Eckert developed a revolutionary vision: to make electricity "think." Funded by the U.S. Army, the team they led constructed a behemoth weighing thirty tons with eighteen thousand vacuum tubes and miles of wiring that blazed a trail to the next generation of computers that quickly followed. Based on original interviews with surviving participants and the first study of Mauchly and Eckert's personal papers, ENIAC is a dramatic human story and a vital contribution to the history of technology that restores to the two inventors the legacy they deserve.

About Scott McCartney

Scott McCartney is an award-winning staff writer for the Wall Street Journal. He won the Online News Association Award for online commentary in 2003 for “The Middle Seat” and the George Polk Award for transportation reporting in 2000. He has also been honored by the Deadline Club and the New York chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He is also the author of Defying the Gods: Inside the New Frontiers of Organ Transplants and coauthor of Trinity’s Children: Living Along America’s Nuclear Highway. He lives in Dallas, Texas.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Charlene on March 26, 2016

This book is great. What a fantastic idea to spend the whole focus of a book on the invention of Eniac. I loved every delicious minute of the invention process, court battles, politics, and personal battles surrounding the development of Eniac. When I was very little, my father took me to UPenn to s......more

Goodreads review by John on January 24, 2023

An interesting read on the early history of the computer. The main flaw as I see it is that the story of ENIAC is largely outlined in the first third of the book. The rest of the slender tome goes on to detail the extended battles over patent rights. Plenty of print is spent on the creators' battles......more

Goodreads review by Jamie on March 11, 2019

The story of Eniac is a remarkable tale of inspiration, genius, hard work, and triumph, followed by some rather sordid attempts by people on the periphery to claim credit for it. John Mauchley and Presper Eckert were two brilliant men thrown together by the exigencies of World War II and the Army’s......more

Goodreads review by Richard on October 09, 2020

I have read a number of books about the history of computers -- Babbage, Turing, Gates, Jobs and so on. I knew a bit about the work of Aitken at Harvard. And I had heard of Eniac and Univac, but knew zero about their history, and I had never heard of Eckert and Mauchly. In most ways, this is just an......more

Goodreads review by Eric_W on June 08, 2009

I really enjoy reading books about the history of technology, and this audio book was particularly fascinating. World War II created a demand for lots of number crunching, especially for the development of artillery tables. Human computers — hence the origin of the word for the hardware we all use tod......more