{"product_id":"when-computers-were-human-9780691133829","title":"When Computers Were Human","description":"\u003cp\u003eBefore 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. \u003ci\u003eWhen Computers Were Human\u003c\/i\u003e represents the first in-depth account of this little-known, 200-year epoch in the history of science and technology. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eWhen Computers Were Human\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-4131518\"\u003eDavid Alan Grier\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Princeton University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/16\/2007\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 424\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.34lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.22h x 6.38w x 0.99d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780691133829\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0691133824\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-SCI\"\u003eScience\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-SCI034000\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-MAT\"\u003eMathematics\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-MAT015000\"\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Philosophy\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-COM\"\u003eComputers\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-COM080000\"\u003eHistory\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid Alan Grier\u003c\/b\u003e is Associate Professor in the Center for International Science and Technology Policy at George Washington University. His articles on the history of science have appeared in the \u003ci\u003eAmerican Mathematical Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eChance\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eChristian Science Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e, and the \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e. He is Editor in Chief of the \u003ci\u003eIEEE Annals of the History of Computing\u003c\/i\u003e. Long before he learned that his grandmother had been trained as a human computer, he absorbed the methods of programming the electronic computer from his father, who was a scientific computing specialist for the Burroughs Corporation.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44547289252077,"sku":"9780691133829","price":83.92,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_f8d2f687-8a43-4f53-ae62-53465d999c94.jpg?v=1701617293","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/when-computers-were-human-9780691133829","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}