ENIAC Audiobook By Scott McCartney cover art

ENIAC

The Triumphs and Tragedies of the World's First Computer

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ENIAC

By: Scott McCartney
Narrated by: Adams Morgan
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For all his genius, John von Neumann was not, as he is generally credited, the true father of the modern computer. 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, who met in 1941, developed a revolutionary vision: to make electricity "think." Funded by the U.S. Army, the team they led constructed a behemoth - weighing 30 tons with 18,000 vacuum tubes and miles of wiring - that blazed a trail to the next generation of computers that quickly followed, and in the process ignited a controversy over ownership that exists to this day. After their groundbreaking achievement, Mauchly and Eckert were shadowed by personal tragedies and professional setbacks as their accomplishment was laid claim to by others. They formed the world's first computer company, the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation, but were quickly outdistanced by IBM.

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, and it restores to the two inventors the legacy they deserve.

©1999 by Scott McCartney (P)1999 by Blackstone Audiobooks Computer Science History & Culture Science & Technology Professionals & Academics Technology History Biographies & Memoirs Artificial Intelligence
Fascinating Computer History • Detailed Historical Context • Intrigued Anticipation • Engaging Technological Development

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i love Computer History Field, and audiobook version help me to analyze history, i enjoy this quality audible

Thank you for Computer History books

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This was an excellent audiobook. As other reviewers have stated, it starts off slow, but really picks up after an hour or two. It gets so interesting once you get past the beginning that it's hard to stop listening. I really enjoyed learning about others opinions of John Von Neumann, I had no idea he was suck a controversial figure among the early computer scientists.

Enthralling

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This book contains a lot of testimony about early pioneers in the computer industry. The patent battle details and the resulting lawsuits were unfortunate for all parties involved. This is not a technical book that a computer engineer or computer programmer could relate too. This is more a book for a non-technical historian. Phrases like “stored program”, “general purpose computer” and “programmable computer” were distinctions between some of the early computers. This is not a book comparing specifications and technologies of the first computers. This is more a book about the lives of two guys that worked on some of the first computers.

For the non-technical historian

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Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

The chapters on the actual conception of, and building of Eniac, were excellent, and well worth the time reading.

The long sections on the legal fights, and especially the arguments about who gets credit for inventing computers, was much less worthwhile.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

The most interesting part of this book was the history of the creation of Eniac, and the associated early history of computing.

The least interesting part, especially true in the 2nd half of the book, was all the personal drama of the legal battles, and battles over who should be credited as the inventor of computers.

Rather than the later I would have preferred much more information about Univac, and more of the early history of mainframe computers.

Focuses too much on the drama

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Ends of sentences seam to go missing sometimes. Content itself is informative and interesting to listen. Overall liked it.

Informativ, could be read better

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