When Computers Were Human
Winner of the 2006 Book Award in Computers/Internet, Independent Publisher Book Awards"David Alan Grier's recovery of the wonderfully rich story of human computers . . . ask[s] why human computers were made to disappear in the first place. . . . It is notoriously difficult to recover details of the lives of ordinary people. . . . But Grier triumphantly achieves his aim when discussing the twentieth-century human computer, as many are alive to tell their tales."--Jon Agar,Nature"Prior to the advent of programmable data-processing electronic devices in the mid-20th century, the word computer was commonly used to describe a person hired to crank out stupefyingly tedious calculations. . . . Human computers have . . . been largely forgotten, and David Alan Grier . . . is intent on restoring them to their rightful place in history."--Ann Finkbeiner,Discover"When Computers Were Humanis a detailed and fascinating look at a world I had not even known existed."--James Fallows, National Correspondent,Atlantic Monthly"The strength of this book is its breadth of research and its human touch. . . . [A] well written, informative and enjoyable work."--Amy Shell-Gellasch,MAA Reviews"Overall, this book provides a wonderful survey of human computing from 1682 onward. . . . I recommend this book to all historians of computing, both professional and amateur."--Jonathan P. Bowen,IEEE Annals of the History of Computing