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The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal
vBulletin Book Store > vBulletin books beginning with D
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The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing Personal |
Author: M. Mitchell Waldrop
Published: 2002-08 |
List price: $16.00
Our price: $12.95
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As of: December 02nd, 2008 09:41:58 PM
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Customer comments on this selection.
 Excellent history of computer science through the '70s
"The Dream Machine" is billed as the story of J.C.R. Licklider, one of the main driving forces behind the research and engineering of personal computing. However, at least half of the book actually consists of general computer science history having little directly to do with Licklider, but which rather serves as context for Licklider's long and varied career. Well, it seemed to me that both aspects were handled very well by the author Mr. Waldrop and I am certainly much more educated now on computer science.
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br /Though quite long at nearly 500 pages, the book was actually a page turner for me as the style of the prose is closer to that of a novel than of a textbook. I found the transformation of government funding from virtually unlimited in the '50s and '60s (e.g. the massive SAGE project) to greatly budget constrained in the '70s fascinating, as well as the various contractors' reactions to the changing federal priorities.
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br /I give this 4.5 stars as it could have used a bit more focus on the purported subject, Licklider. Highly recommended for anyone with a strong interest in computers and software.
Fascinating and Detailed
For anyone who wants to know the history behind the personal computer revolution, this book is a must read. The author was a senior writer for Science magazine and understands both the technology and the people involved. There's almost no fluff in the book's 475-pages of fact-rich, well-written prose. My only complain it that, along with pictures of people, I'd have loved to have seen pictures and diagrams of the early equipment he describes.
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br /--Michael W. Perry, author of Untangling Tolkien: A Chronology and Commentary for The Lord of the Rings
Epic in its Scope
If there such a thing as an "epic" story of computer science, then M. Mitchell Waldrop's The Dream Machine is it. Although it purports to be the story of J.C.R. Licklider, and the birth of personal computing, this book is much more than that. It takes us from the edges of the computer science revolution, through the development of the modern computing industry and the World Wide Web.
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br /Waldrop spends more time exploring the shadowy edges of the rise of computer science in America, and the intellectuals whose raw thinking provided the structure around which computing would develop. Giants like Norbert Weiner and Claude Shannon, and more obscure players like John Atanasoff of Iowa State University are given more thoughtful attention here than in most popular history accounts that I've encountered. Not only are their concrete accomplishments covered with clarity and understandability, but the thinking that got them there is attended to as well.
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br /Of course, among the cast of great individuals is Licklider, whose efforts are worthy of the title billing Waldrop gives him. J.C.R. Licklider was a computer scientist before there was computer science, in any practical sense. While Lick (as everyone called him) himself, and the voice of technical accuracy, would likely disagree with that assertion, I stand beside it. Licklider was first a scientist, and he applied those core principles to developing his ideas in computing; computer science.
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br /However, Waldrop's book does not feel like it was about Licklider, per se - despite a very intimate coverage of the man. Instead, the book remains focused on the growth of the intellectual concepts, and the practical technology that rose from those ideas. The scope of characters and technical detail covered by the book is remarkable, and yet it remains a readable and compelling story. The science is clear and understandable to individuals with an interest in the subject, without requiring a deep background (although, those with deeper backgrounds will still find the book enjoyable, and original).
Comprehensive Historical Overview
A graduate course in a book! A tour through historical theories, accounts, and events that made up the development of the modern computer and the Net. Far more extensive than just the story of Kicklider, a historical overview of many of the minds at that time and the events that converged to form the new informaton era.
A computer chronology that reads like a novel
If The Dream Machine were a novel, you might conclude the author used every writer's technique to make it a thriller. Even though you know the outcome, you wonder how the many "miracles" and lucky breaks it took for the dream to become reality.
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