
Ask HN: How to learn about the history of computing? - vanschelven
It is often remarked in the comments here that our &quot;field&quot; appears to have a very bad memory; that we repeat past mistakes and ignore past learnings. I would like to interpret these remarks as an advice to &quot;get schooled&quot;.<p>What are some good sources (books?) to get started on this? Most things I can find appear to stop at Turing &#x2F; Von Neumann, but one would like to think that history hasn&#x27;t stopped at that point in time.
======
ganeumann
The most authoritative work is Ceruzzi's A History of Modern Computing
([http://amzn.to/1TiHgqd](http://amzn.to/1TiHgqd)). Because it's written by an
academic, not a journalist, it also has a great bibliography and footnotes.
Some of the works it cites that are very valuable in themselves, depending on
your area of interest, are:

\- R. Hodeson, Crystal Fire (on the invention of the transistor),
[http://amzn.to/1RictfF](http://amzn.to/1RictfF)

\- T.R. Reid, The Chip (on the IC),
[http://amzn.to/1Hdbu8w](http://amzn.to/1Hdbu8w)

\- E.W. Pugh, IBM's 360 and Early 370 Systems, (on the evolution of computer
architecture), [http://amzn.to/1NKZcWQ](http://amzn.to/1NKZcWQ)

Also, as others have mentioned, Soul of a New Machine is awesome.

I feel like you may be asking about computer science, though, not computer
hardware. If so, pickings are slim. Two that stand out are:

\- S. Rosenberg, Dreaming in Code,
[http://amzn.to/1HdbJk1](http://amzn.to/1HdbJk1) (Not really a history of
code, just the history of a single project)

\- M. Campbell-Kelly, From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog,
[http://amzn.to/1RicYpS](http://amzn.to/1RicYpS) (which, while not quite as
amazing as the others, is the only history of the software industry as a whole
I know of.)

~~~
krallja
The "History of Computing" class I took in college used Ceruzzi's "A History
of Modern Computing" and "From Airline Reservations to Sonic the Hedgehog" as
our textbooks.

------
steverb
Some that I liked:

\- Hackers : [http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-
Anniversar...](http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Computer-Revolution-Anniversary-
Edition/dp/1449388396)

\- The Soul of a New Machine: [http://www.amazon.com/The-Soul-A-New-
Machine/dp/0316491977](http://www.amazon.com/The-Soul-A-New-
Machine/dp/0316491977)

\- Show Stopper! : [http://www.amazon.com/Show-Stopper-Breakneck-Generation-
Micr...](http://www.amazon.com/Show-Stopper-Breakneck-Generation-
Microsoft/dp/0029356717)

\- Dealers of Lightning: [http://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-
Computer/...](http://www.amazon.com/Dealers-Lightning-Xerox-PARC-
Computer/dp/0887309895)

\- Where Wizards Stay Up Late: [http://www.amazon.com/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-
Late/dp/06848326...](http://www.amazon.com/Where-Wizards-Stay-Up-
Late/dp/0684832674)

~~~
deutronium
I'll second Hackers Heroes of the Computer Revolution, I found that a really
fascinating book.

~~~
ritchiea
Hackers was a fun read but I don't think it's really an answer to the original
question asking about computing history and expressing a concern that our
field has a short memory. The OP's complaint was that most history stops at
Turing and everything in Hackers is about MIT post-Turing.

~~~
duaneb
> The OP's complaint was that most history stops at Turing and everything in
> Hackers is about MIT post-Turing.

Before Turing, it was a handful of people obsessed with computing things
efficiently. That history is difficult to extract from the hardware pre-
Turing.

------
matt_d
Computer History Museum:
[http://www.computerhistory.org/](http://www.computerhistory.org/)

In particular, Software Preservation Group (SPG):
[http://www.computerhistory.org/groups/spg/](http://www.computerhistory.org/groups/spg/)
[http://www.softwarepreservation.org/](http://www.softwarepreservation.org/)

Even more in particular ;-) -- the videos at the Oral History Collection:
[http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/](http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/)

They're also on YouTube --
[https://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerHistory/playlists](https://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerHistory/playlists)
\-- but the ones above have synced transcripts.

To get a flavor, take a look at the one with Bjarne Stroustrup, really enjoyed
it:
[http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/vid...](http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/oralhistories/video/30/)

// More in this category (with some big names):
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQsxaNhYv8daKdGi7s85u...](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQsxaNhYv8daKdGi7s85ubzbWdTB36-_q)

~~~
jballanc
I'll echo the Computer History Museum suggestion. If you're in the Bay Area
and haven't paid it a visit, it's well worth your time. Books are nice and
all, but sometimes seeing the physical artifacts give things a nice
perspective.

------
bibinou
I started Steven Levy's _Hackers_ and I'm really enjoying it.
[http://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/books/hackers](http://www.stevenlevy.com/index.php/books/hackers)

Seeing as he wrote Crypto and Insanely Great too, it seems to be his kind of
thing.

Also folklore.org is a nice collection of fables on how the sausage got made.

Charles Petzold's _Code_ is interspersed with enjoyable historical perspective
too.

[http://www.charlespetzold.com/code/](http://www.charlespetzold.com/code/)

~~~
coldpie
Seconding Code. It's not about the history of culture, but it's a walkthrough
of how computing hardware evolved to what we have today.

~~~
stevenmays
Thirding Code

~~~
rubiquity
Fourthing Code.

------
nekkoru
If you want a very detailed account of the super early history of electronic
computing, George Dyson's "Turing's Cathedral: The Origins of the Digital
Universe."

[http://www.amazon.com/Turings-Cathedral-Origins-Digital-
Univ...](http://www.amazon.com/Turings-Cathedral-Origins-Digital-Universe-
ebook/dp/B005IEGK5C)

Other great titles I'd recommend is Steven Levy's "Hackers"
[http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Heroes-Computer-Revolution-
Ann...](http://www.amazon.com/Hackers-Heroes-Computer-Revolution-Anniversary-
ebook/dp/B003PDMKIY/) and Phil Lapsley's "Exploding the Phone"
[http://www.amazon.com/Exploding-Phone-Untold-Teenagers-
Outla...](http://www.amazon.com/Exploding-Phone-Untold-Teenagers-Outlaws-
ebook/dp/B009SAV5W0/)

Hope you enjoy!

~~~
rcruzeiro
George Dyson's Turing's Cathedral is by far the best book I have read on this
subject.

------
csixty4
Lots of great book suggestions here. I'm going to throw in a video series put
out by PBS in the 90s in cooperation with the Boston Computer Museum (now the
Computer History Museum in California).

"The Machine that Changed the World"

Part 1:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYFRdV1r4nU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYFRdV1r4nU)

Part 2:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krlZf5H7Hp4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krlZf5H7Hp4)

Part 3:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwEpKy_7mYM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwEpKy_7mYM)

Part 4:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXMaFhO6dIY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXMaFhO6dIY)

Of course, a lot of computer history materials are going to focus on the
commercial aspects, hardware and software, rather than advances in Computer
Science itself.

One thing that might help there is to track down old CS textbooks on eBay to
understand what used to be the state of the art. The "dinosaur book" on
operating systems usually has a bonus chapter on the architecture behind some
recent operating system. It was Windows XP when I took my OS class. I found an
older copy that talked about VMS once.

~~~
csixty4
Part 5:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z8OmqY3zJI](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z8OmqY3zJI)

------
brudgers
One of the features of Knuth's _The Art of Computer Programming_ is a thorough
documentation of the history of ideas. Given that Knuth has been writing for
the majority of the period in which we have had digital computers [and nearly
all of the time in which we have had high level languages] he has been able to
document many things as they have happened. _TAoCP_ has created much of
contemporary computing practice _and_ the history of the field.

There is no replacement for primary sources. If you want to understand what
makes Lisp the object of love songs, Graham's _On Lisp_ is the book to read.
If you want to understand what made Smalltalkers so smug, then grab you a
Smalltalk manual and take the time to learn it [and here Knuth's patient
approach to "really knowing" is informative...and there's a Norvig short
course for just-get-to-the-point Pythonistas].

The pre-internet history of computing lives on the web in PDF's and in boxes
at the used book store. Our quilt of knowledge is mostly missing patches and
there are a lot of candidate patches sitting unconnected in the box. Even
Knuth knows he'll never know it all.

Good luck.

~~~
maxiepoo
Sorry to be pedantic, but in what way is 'On Lisp' a primary source?
Especially compared to a Smalltalk manual.

~~~
brudgers
_On Lisp_ is:

    
    
      1. Oft cited.
      2. Minimally citing.
      3. Primarily comprised of original material.
      4. Written by an academic.
    

I don't think that there is only one way of being a primary source. This is
pretty common: for example, all the works of Aristotle are believed to be his
student's notes, not his original words.

Don't get me wrong, it is worth reading McCarthy's original paper and the Lisp
1.5 manual as well as _On Lisp_. The bandpass filter should be set to a broad
spectrum. Computing is so young that we don't know what will constitute it's
canon in 100 years: Today, C. S. Pierce's pragmaticism is philosophical,
William James' is considered scientific psychology via historic
interpretation. Computing hasn't yet gone through a thorough rewriting as
described by Kuhn in _Structure of Scientific Revolution_. But the interwebs
are perhaps the paradigm shift that could cause one.

------
bsdpython
\- Steve Jobs' biographer wrote a book last year called "Innovators" which I
found to be one of the best works I have read:
[http://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Hackers-Geniuses-Created-
Re...](http://www.amazon.com/Innovators-Hackers-Geniuses-Created-
Revolution/dp/147670869X)

\- Robert X. Cringely's book "Accidential Empires" is definitely dated but you
can read most of the chapters on his blog here:
[http://www.cringely.com/tag/accidental-
empires/](http://www.cringely.com/tag/accidental-empires/)

\- Cringely also did a three part special back in the 90s that I like
revisiting every once in a while. Again, pretty dated but entertaining
nevertheless:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuBXbvl1Sg4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuBXbvl1Sg4)

\- Skip the newer Steve Jobs movies and watch the history of Apple and
Microsoft with Pirates of Silicon Valley. It's said to be mostly accurate:
[http://www.veoh.com/watch/v46093745wbEGkakh](http://www.veoh.com/watch/v46093745wbEGkakh)

\- Kind of random but if you want a look back at what the 90s tech bubble was
like then watch Startup.com:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibuiUXOTE4M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibuiUXOTE4M)

~~~
var_eps
I second the recommendation of Innovators. Even though it does not go into
deep detail, it provides a good overview of the history of computing. It is
easy to then follow-up with specific literature if a topic piques one's
interest.

In addition, I would also recommend "Intel Trinity" by Michael Malone
([http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Trinity-Robert-Important-
Compa...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-Trinity-Robert-Important-Company-
ebook/dp/B00G2A7WL2)). It covers the post-Fairchild era from Intel's point of
view.

------
grosales
The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing
Personal. I read this book 8 years ago and I still feel like quoting it
sometimes. It's not just a biography but a well researched work on the history
of the later part of computing history. [http://www.amazon.com/The-Dream-
Machine-Licklider-Revolution...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Dream-Machine-
Licklider-Revolution/dp/014200135X)

------
RNeff
Gordon Bell and Allen Newell edited wrote "Computer Structures: Readings and
Examples" 1971, which is a collection of original technical papers and their
commentary on significant computers. It is online at:
[http://research.microsoft.com/en-
us/um/people/gbell/Computer...](http://research.microsoft.com/en-
us/um/people/gbell/Computer_Structures__Readings_and_Examples/index.html)

With Daniel P. Siewiorek, they revised the book in 1982 as "Computer
Structures: Principles and Examples" with new material, it is online at:
[http://research.microsoft.com/en-
us/um/people/gbell/Computer...](http://research.microsoft.com/en-
us/um/people/gbell/Computer_Structures_Principles_and_Examples/index.htm)

There are lots of inexpensive copies of the books available at used book sites
or Amazon. All of Gordon Bell's publications are at:
[http://research.microsoft.com/en-
us/um/people/gbell/Pubs.htm](http://research.microsoft.com/en-
us/um/people/gbell/Pubs.htm)

In 2011, Ron Mak taught a course at San Jose State University: CS 185C: The
History of Computing. He invited a number of famous experts to speak to the
class, including Bell, Knuth, Kay, Gosling, Feigenbaum, Alcorn, etc. (I am
certainly not famous; I gave a lecture on the HP-35 and other early pocket
calculators).
[http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/~mak/CS185C/](http://www.cs.sjsu.edu/~mak/CS185C/)

There are a lot of links to papers and other videos. The textbook used in the
class was "A History of Modern Computing, 2nd edition" by Paul E. Ceruzzi

Visit the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA, Paul Allen's Living
Computer Museum in Seattle, WA (computers that still run), and London's
Science Museum.

~~~
dwarman
And the CCS at Bletchley.
[http://www.computerconservationsociety.org/index.htm](http://www.computerconservationsociety.org/index.htm)

Simon Lavington wrote a book about the Elliott Brothers company, one of the
earliest UK computer manufacturers. They did a lot of stuff. I worked there
for a couple of years at their end-of-life (ICL mergers) on the 4100 series,
and some prototype peripherals.

[http://www.amazon.com/Moving-Targets-Elliott-Automation-
Comp...](http://www.amazon.com/Moving-Targets-Elliott-Automation-Computer-
Computing/dp/1848829329)

------
alricb
For programming languages, the HOPL papers, many of which can be found online
for free. [http://www.multicians.org/](http://www.multicians.org/) is also a
fascinating site on the OS that served as an inspiration/opposite for Unix. On
that note, you can gain a good amount of perspective by reading on the "losing
side" of history: Ada, Multics, Wirth's languages, Lisp machines, Smalltalk,
etc.

------
sitruc
To echo everyone; Hackers is a great book. Steven Levy books are both
compelling reads and content rich. Crypto and In the plex both have their
place as well.
[http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&field...](http://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1?ie=UTF8&field-
author=Steven+Levy&search-alias=books-ca) I would also say "The Information"
by James Gleick. It is a page turner with some neat concepts. Which is not so
easy to do. [http://www.amazon.ca/Information-History-Theory-
Flood/dp/140...](http://www.amazon.ca/Information-History-Theory-
Flood/dp/1400096235/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436274946&sr=8-1&keywords=the+information)

~~~
anaximander
Seconding "The Information". I had it on audiobook and listened to it during
long car trips. It was very compelling and informative.

------
pjmlp
Check Niklaus Wirth work on Modula-2 and Oberon, and its respective OS.

[http://www.inf.ethz.ch/personal/wirth/](http://www.inf.ethz.ch/personal/wirth/)

[http://www.inf.ethz.ch/personal/wirth/projects.html](http://www.inf.ethz.ch/personal/wirth/projects.html)

[http://www.ethoberon.ethz.ch/books.html](http://www.ethoberon.ethz.ch/books.html)

[http://www.modulaware.com/mwbiblio.htm](http://www.modulaware.com/mwbiblio.htm)

Noteworthy

"Compiler Construction" -

"Project Oberon" both 1992 and 2013 versions

Oberon descedents "EthOS", "Active Oberon" and "Component Pascal":

[http://e-collection.library.ethz.ch/view/eth:38713](http://e-collection.library.ethz.ch/view/eth:38713)

[http://e-collection.library.ethz.ch/view/eth:27966](http://e-collection.library.ethz.ch/view/eth:27966)

All the Xerox PARC stuff about Mesa, Cedar, Interlisp-D, Smalltalk,

[http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/www.bitsavers.org/pdf/xer...](http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/www.bitsavers.org/pdf/xerox/)

How Apple used Common Lisp, Object Pascal, UNIX, Hypercard and lots of other
goodies on their early systems

[http://basalgangster.macgui.com/RetroMacComputing/The_Long_V...](http://basalgangster.macgui.com/RetroMacComputing/The_Long_View/The_Long_View.html)

Smalltalk books, specially

[http://stephane.ducasse.free.fr/FreeBooks.html](http://stephane.ducasse.free.fr/FreeBooks.html)

------
dyates
I highly recommend Jimmy Maher's Digital Antiquarian blog at
[http://www.filfre.net/](http://www.filfre.net/)

The focus is mainly on computer games from the late 70s (and currently up to
the late 80s), but that includes general posts about personal computers like
the Apple ][, TRS-80, Commodore 64 and Amiga and the personalities behind
them, on programming languages like Forth and the various tricks and
inventions required to get complex games to run on very restrained hardware.
It's all very readable, meticulously researched and quite in-depth.

------
bitsbytesbikes
"Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age" is a great book:

[http://www.amazon.com/Invention-Information-Lemelson-
Studies...](http://www.amazon.com/Invention-Information-Lemelson-Studies-
Innovation/dp/0262517264/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436279191&sr=8-1&keywords=grace+hopper&pebp=1436279192992&perid=0KFTZXQ4QV33FNDB6NS2)

------
andyjohnson0
Some important developments in computing in the sixties and early seventies
were driven by the NASA space programs. Some sources:

Computers in Spaceflight - The NASA Experience:
[http://history.nasa.gov/computers/contents.html](http://history.nasa.gov/computers/contents.html)

Digital Apollo, by David A. Mindell - [https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/digital-
apollo](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/digital-apollo)

The Apollo Guidance Computer: Architecture and Operation by Frank O'Brien -
[http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Apollo-Guidance-Computer-
Archite...](http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Apollo-Guidance-Computer-
Architecture/dp/1441908765) (highly detailed)

I'd also recommend Turing's Cathedral by George Dyson and The Soul of a New
Machine by Tracy Kidder.

Many early IT systems used special-purpose hardware, and boundary between the
software and hardware development wasn't as clear as it is now. For this
reason, I think, many surveys tend to emphasise the hardware aspect.

------
spion
"Coders at Work" [1] had some really great insights about the history of
programming. I particularly liked the interview with Fran Allen. Her thoughts
on the disastrous effect that the C programming language had on the
development of computer science were very interesting.

[1]: [http://www.codersatwork.com/](http://www.codersatwork.com/)

------
a3n
Many good sources mentioned already.

In addition, these, and most importantly where they lead you according to your
interests. "Use the links, Luke."

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computer_science](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_computer_science)

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_technology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_technology)

E. W. Dijkstra Archive
[http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/](http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/EWD/)

There are academic disciplines and degree programs in the history of science
and subsets of science, with different subset emphasis depending on where you
go and who is there.

[http://hssonline.org/about/](http://hssonline.org/about/)

------
DanBC
[http://history-
computer.com/MechanicalCalculators/Pioneers/M...](http://history-
computer.com/MechanicalCalculators/Pioneers/Morland.html)

Take a look at the ancient work in the field, and how those principles got
dragged into computing.

[https://calculating.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/calculators-
for...](https://calculating.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/calculators-for-
computers/)

This used to be a web-museum of Russian calculators:
[http://www.taswegian.com/MOSCOW/](http://www.taswegian.com/MOSCOW/)

And there are emulators here:
[http://www.emulator3000.org/c3.htm](http://www.emulator3000.org/c3.htm)

But really, Shannon's Mathematical Theory of Communication crams in so much
stuff that it's not too surprising that we don't go back further.

------
TheOtherHobbes
[http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/](http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/)

A mountain of original docs, including memos of old design meetings at DEC,
_lots_ of brochures and manuals, and copies of relics like the first edition
of the Unix Programmers' Manual.

Not much overview, but still a fascinating resource.

------
sdg1
Computers and the World of the Future
([https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/computers-and-world-
future](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/computers-and-world-future)) is a
highly recommended read. It's not a "history" text per-se, but rather, it is a
transcript of a number of talks (and the resulting discussions) given by the
then-stalwarts of computing in 1961. It's a fascinating account of the what
these people thought about the direction in which computing was taking. John
McCarthy, for example, talked about the "utility computing":

 _" We can envisage computing service companies whose subscribers are
connected to them by telephone lines. Each subscriber needs to pay only for
the capacity he actually uses, but he has access to all programming languages
characteristic of a very large system."_

------
teh_klev
"Casting The Net" is a good companion book to "Where Wizards Stay Up Late"
already mentioned here:

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0201876744](http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0201876744)

Again, and already mentioned, "The Soul of a New Machine" by Tracy Kidder is a
great read. It's a particular favourite what with being an ex-Data General
field engineer (maintained and fixed Nova 3/4 and Eclipse S/130/140's and
associated peripherals).

I can also recommend "In Search of Stupidity:Over 20 Years of High-Tech
Marketing Disasters" which about how the old giants of the early PC software
industry (Ashton Tate, MicroPro et al) made colossal mistakes resulting in
their extinction.

[http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1590597214](http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1590597214)

------
kephra
I would advise to hands on machine. You can run many classical machines in
emulators like Hercules now.

e.g. Try a bit on COBOL and REXX to process records in a batch. Next play
around with Panel Features, Overlay Generation, CICS and CODASYL to write
classical interactive applications. This will show that web is just 3270 on
steroids, with a much bigger memory and CPU footprint.

Now read Stonebraker and C.J.Date, and realize what a relieve relational
medium size databases had been. That the burden of non relational databases
only makes sense for small size high performance databases that fit into RAM,
or big databases that have to scale over a cluster.

You can also explore Lisp, Smalltalk, Forth, and P-Code machines. Operating
Systems like Oberon or Spin. Each of them will offer an insight of how virtual
machines evolved. And languages like Lisp, Smalltalk, and Forth are eye
opening as they enforce their paradigm.

~~~
brudgers
For me, understanding the history of computing goes hand in hand with a
willingness to engage any computer programming language. It is easy not to
learn that COBOL solved really hard problems of data storage and control flow
and organizing teams of programmers against big big projects in the days
before...well before just about everything we see in computing today. COBOL
was NoSQL by necessity.

------
jacquesm
Some resources you might find useful:

\- the soul of a new machine

\-
[https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/History_of_Computers](https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/History_of_Computers)

Then, to answer your question a bit more directly:

IT people making past mistakes over and over again is somewhat related to the
pendulum of centralization/decentralization that swings with some regularity.
This means that every couple of years a new generation comes along with tech
that is relatively new at that point in time who experience the same needs as
were present a full cycle ago. Using the new tools they then implement
solutions which may be prettier but fundamentally not as strong as solutions
that are much older but extremely crude from a presentation point of view.

Examples of these are plentiful, and this is still besides the NIH syndrome
that plagues the industry in a more concurrent fashion.

------
AlfaWolph
This might be a bit broader but I enjoyed "How We Got Here" by Andy Kessler,
which is available for free (emailed link[1] or direct[2] if you prefer. It's
more about how the systems and engineering that predated computing influenced
its development to where it is now. Actually it's argument is it's been
computing all along since before we had vacuum tubes. Worth a read.

[1]
[http://akessler.blogs.com/andy_kessler/2005/04/hwgh.html](http://akessler.blogs.com/andy_kessler/2005/04/hwgh.html)

[2]
[http://www.andykessler.com/andy_kessler/excerpts/How_We_Got_...](http://www.andykessler.com/andy_kessler/excerpts/How_We_Got_Here_Andy_Kessler.pdf)

------
rbanffy
There is Ceruzzi's book mentioned elsewhere, but you might find some others
interesting too.

\- "The Soul of a New Machine" is about the development of a mini-computer.

\- "What The Dormouse Said" is a fun read and exploration about
counterculture, the Silicon Valley and microcomputers and on why it all
happened together.

\- "Where Wizards Stay Up Late" is an account on the dawn of the Internet.

\- "Computing in The Middle Ages" is a first-person account on the birth of
the personal computer. No, not the one you thought.

\- "Accidental Empires" seems a little bit dated in retrospective, but it's an
exceedingly fun to read book and will give you great insight on what _we_ were
thinking about the personal computer revolution while it happened around us.

------
conorgdaly
I've gone through quite a few computing-related 'history' books recently
(incl. ) but by far the stand out winner was

\- 'The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of Innovation' \-
[http://amzn.com/0143122797](http://amzn.com/0143122797).

It deals with the creation of Bell Labs and continues through to modern day,
giving a deep history of it. A lot of familiar names(Shockley, Shannon et al.)
all pop up.

Another good book not yet mentioned would be: 'The Innovators: How a Group of
Inventors, Hackers, Geniuses and Geeks Created the Digital Revolution ' \-
[http://amzn.com/B00JSRQSL6](http://amzn.com/B00JSRQSL6)

------
veddox
"The Art of Unix Programming" (Eric S. Raymond) has a longish section on the
history of Unix, which is very illuminating, as it stretches several decades
of its development.

"The Hacker Crackdown: Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier" (Bruce
Sterling) I wouldn't call this a really _good_ book, but it's interesting to
have read it if you didn't yet have anything to do with computers in the early
1990s. It tells the story of how crackers (not hackers!) came to public
prominence, and gives some insight into the early days of the Internet.

Both are available for free.

------
gcmartinelli
You can find some great resources (although more unstructured) on Youtube. I
recommend the following: \- Computerphile
([https://www.youtube.com/user/Computerphile](https://www.youtube.com/user/Computerphile))
\- The Secret Life of Machines (1990's series)(some episodes touch on
computing -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOULWR4h4Io](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOULWR4h4Io))

------
rvdmei
I can recommend the book Technomanifestos: Visions of the Information
Revolutionaries by Adam Brate. The book is out of print and no digital
versions are available. The book is still for sale on Amazon:
[https://www.amazon.com/Technomanifestos-Information-
Revoluti...](https://www.amazon.com/Technomanifestos-Information-
Revolutionaries-Adam-
Brate/dp/1587991039/ref=cm_sw_em_r_awdood_qJaNvb12XG3F8_tt)

------
hawski
Rob Landley has nice collection at
[http://landley.net/history/](http://landley.net/history/)

At [http://doc.cat-v.org/](http://doc.cat-v.org/) you will find good resources
about Unix history. At [http://man.cat-v.org/](http://man.cat-v.org/) you can
find historic man pages.

------
agumonkey
This was, IIRC, on HN recently
[http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/](http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/)

very very detailed log about the computing efforts at Columbia (among others)
since the 19th. Interesting because it's an insider insider point of view, I
believe it has less bias and distortion than other historical documents.

------
jordigh
The Thrilling Adventures of Lovelace and Babbage.

It's half-comic-book, half-historical-footnotes. It's a very fun way to look
at the early history of computing. You see history as it could have been by
reading a comic and you see history as it was by reading footnotes. Both of
them are given about an equal amount of space in the book. There are great
appendices that describe how the hardware performed arithmetic.

------
garganzol
Please take a look at this book "In Search of Stupidity: Over 20 Years of
High-Tech Marketing Disasters". You may find it a good fit for your thirst of
knowledge.

[edit] Amazon link:
[http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G0OANQ?psc=1&ref_=oh_au...](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001G0OANQ?psc=1&ref_=oh_aui_d_detailpage_o01_)

------
tjr
Certainly on the informal side, but you might find interest in:
[http://www.catb.org/esr/jargon/](http://www.catb.org/esr/jargon/)

Or in printed book form: [https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/new-hackers-
dictionary](https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/new-hackers-dictionary)

------
vanschelven
Thanks to everyone for your wonderful and detailed recommendations! This
really exploded "overnight". The question went seemingly unnoticed for a
couple of hours and I left the keyboard until just now, so I'm sorry I didn't
get to interact with the individual recommendations as they came in. In any
case, I'll be heading of to the (virtual) bookstore now.

------
kornakiewicz
The Crockford's lecture about history of web-development (starting far before
first computing machines and ending on javascript) is definitely must-watch.
It's not so detailed because it's not a book, but gives a good overview.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxAXlJEmNMg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxAXlJEmNMg)

------
jokr004
I actually think I found this on HN a while back:
[http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/opensources/book/index.html](http://www.oreilly.com/openbook/opensources/book/index.html)

Covers a lot of the history of open source, pretty good read too.

------
pacofvf
Not a computing history book per se, but has some chapters about Alan Turing
and the work done at Bletchley Park in WWII. Also the best introduction book
to Cryptography.

Simon Singh, The Code Book
[http://amzn.com/0385495323](http://amzn.com/0385495323)

------
gmoes
I did a post a while back on this topic, which might be of interest:
[http://www.elegantcoding.com/2014/08/a-brief-and-
incomplete-...](http://www.elegantcoding.com/2014/08/a-brief-and-incomplete-
history-of.html)

------
0xdeadbeefbabe
> It is often remarked in the comments here that our "field" appears to have a
> very bad memory

Since you seem ahead of the field maybe you should just start programming.
It's the people who ignore history that need historical awareness.

Anyway, I recommended Dealers of Lightning in another comment.

------
grkvlt
"History of Semiconductor Engineering" by Dr. Bo Lojek. Great book on the
underlying hardware.

\-
[http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-540-34258-8](http://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-540-34258-8)

------
pjungwir
Trying not to repeat others. Since you sound like you're interested in
"learning from the past":

\- The Mythical Man-Month by Frederick Brooks

\- Programmers at Work by Susan Lammers

\- Apple Human Interface Guidelines: The Apple Desktop Interface

\- The Data Warehouse Toolkit by Ralph Kimball

------
d0m
There is an amazing book on cryptography that explains the core concepts
through the age of the technology. It was a really insightful read and I
learned a lot about the history of computing at the same time.

~~~
falcor84
Would you mind providing a name/ISBN/url for this amazing book?

~~~
d0m
Yep, sorry I wasn't at my computer when I posted the message. Here it is:
[http://www.amazon.com/Code-Book-Science-Secrecy-
Cryptography...](http://www.amazon.com/Code-Book-Science-Secrecy-
Cryptography/dp/0385495323)

------
DyslexicAtheist
for a compilation of lesser known "fun facts" on computing pioneers there is
[http://valbonne-consulting.com/computing-pioneers/](http://valbonne-
consulting.com/computing-pioneers/)

for classic papers check [http://blog.valbonne-consulting.com/2014/06/09/an-
incomplete...](http://blog.valbonne-consulting.com/2014/06/09/an-incomplete-
list-of-classic-papers-every-software-architect-should-read/)

------
balakk
This is where apprenticeship helps a lot. Books,videos, code, everything is
good - but learning it from somebody who has been there and done that, is most
enlightening.

------
shove
2nd @grosales:

The Dream Machine: J.C.R. Licklider and the Revolution That Made Computing
Personal. Absolutely fantastic read.

------
mbrock
I enjoy the writings of Richard P. Gabriel. "Patterns of Software" is a good
place to start.

------
evo_9
Triumph of the Nerds is a very thorough PBS series that covers the beginning
through around 1995.

------
DyslexicAtheist
also to get a feel what the computing business and mood was was during the
early 80ies I highly recommend "halt and catch fire" \- it is fiction but
perfectly captures the Zeitgeist of early innovation and competition against
IBM

------
wangii
How about these boring specifications like language specifications, OS
changelogs?

------
wainstead
Time to show my age here!

Others have listed some great, entertaining reads already:

 _Hackers_ ,

 _Soul Of A New Machine_ (which won a Pulitzer),

Cringley's PBS series _Triumph Of The Nerds_ (available on YouTube),

 _Where Wizards Stay Up Late_

Some not mentioned so far (as I write):

The ancient, online _Jargon File_ is a large glossary that captures a lot of
early computer subculture through its lexicon. Eric S. Raymond maintains it
today, but it originated way back in the 1970s:
[http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/](http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/)

"American Experience," on PBS, did a stellar documentary on the origins of
Silicon Valley and the pervasive startup mentality there. It's all about the
rise of the semiconductor industry, starting with transistors. Watch online:
[http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/silicon/](http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/silicon/)

Dropping LSD was, it turns out, crucial to the origins of personal computing!
This I learned from Jaron Lanier and Kevin Kelly, who recommended John
Markoff's _What The Dormouse Said_ : [http://www.amazon.com/What-Dormouse-
Said-Personal-Computer-e...](http://www.amazon.com/What-Dormouse-Said-
Personal-Computer-ebook/dp/B000OCXFYM/ref=sr_1_3)

 _The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First
Computer_ is a short book but also a fun read. Doron Swade, technology
historian and assistant director of London's Science Museum, races to build a
copy of Charles Babbage's "difference engine" before the anniversary of said
machine; he tells his travails in building it while giving Charles Babbage's
story at the same time: [http://www.amazon.com/Difference-Engine-Charles-
Babbage-Comp...](http://www.amazon.com/Difference-Engine-Charles-Babbage-
Computer/dp/0142001449/ref=sr_1_2)

No one has mentioned books covering _the dark side of hacking_. There are some
great reads out there, and infosec is a crucial part of computer history.

 _CYBERPUNK: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier_ covers Kevin
Mitnick, the Chaos Computer Club, and Robert Tappin Morris (who, somewhat
inadvertently, wrote the first Internet worm). Mitnick disputes his section of
the book, but it's fascinating nonetheless. Worth it for the Morris part
alone: [http://www.amazon.com/CYBERPUNK-Outlaws-Hackers-Computer-
Fro...](http://www.amazon.com/CYBERPUNK-Outlaws-Hackers-Computer-
Frontier/dp/0684818620/ref=sr_1_5)

 _The Cuckoo 's Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage_ by
Clifford Stoll is a fun read. Stoll is an astronomer by trade, and his
analytical thinking can be an inspiration: [http://www.amazon.com/The-Cuckoos-
Egg-Tracking-Espionage/dp/...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Cuckoos-Egg-Tracking-
Espionage/dp/1416507787)

 _The Watchman_ is a true crime thriller you won't be able to put down. The
author set out to write a book on Mitnick but wound up detouring to do a story
on Kevin Poulsen, who is now an excellent infosec writer at Wired. You will
not believe what Poulsen does in this book. [http://www.amazon.com/Watchman-
Twisted-Crimes-Serial-Poulsen...](http://www.amazon.com/Watchman-Twisted-
Crimes-Serial-Poulsen/dp/0316528579/ref=sr_1_6)

 _The Hacker Crackdown_ by acclaimed sci fi author Bruce Sterling is a great
work on an infamous cross-country bust of many hackers. You'll get a look into
the BBS subculture, Phrack Magazine, and the phreaker scene.
[http://www.amazon.com/Hacker-Crackdown-Disorder-
Electronic-F...](http://www.amazon.com/Hacker-Crackdown-Disorder-Electronic-
Frontier/dp/055356370X/ref=sr_1_1)?

And let's not forget gaming:

 _Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture_
gives a great history of ID Software and the origins of the FPS:
[http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-
Cultu...](http://www.amazon.com/Masters-Doom-Created-Transformed-Culture-
ebook/dp/B000FBFNL0/ref=sr_1_3)

------
eternalban
The oral histories are fantastic and authoritative.

------
bane
I've been really interested in early-80s to present PC history recently.
There's actually a fair amount archived on it, but you'll sometimes have to
approach things from the point of view of a historian rather than just a
reader of history. My recent bent has been studying Atari, but there's lots of
other resources available if you look. For whatever reason, videogames seem to
have the lions share of work being done right now. I'd say that the archival
and research phase is currently happening right now, with histories finally
starting to be really written.

For anybody interested in business (like the HN readership) I really recommend
studying not only about the history of Apple, but the history of its early
competitor Atari. Equally as interesting and represents a kind of alternate
universe where the Google of its time failed spectacularly. The reasons why
are complex and very informative, especially the Tramiel years.

Some samples:

There's not _many_ books looking back, but there are a few and they're quite
good:

[http://www.amazon.com/The-Future-Was-Here-
Commodore/dp/02620...](http://www.amazon.com/The-Future-Was-Here-
Commodore/dp/0262017202)

[http://www.amazon.com/Atari-Inc-Business-Complete-History-
eb...](http://www.amazon.com/Atari-Inc-Business-Complete-History-
ebook/dp/B00CELBAJS)

[http://www.amazon.com/Edge-Spectacular-Rise-Fall-
Commodore/d...](http://www.amazon.com/Edge-Spectacular-Rise-Fall-
Commodore/dp/0973864907)

[http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-
Isaacson/dp/14516485...](http://www.amazon.com/Steve-Jobs-Walter-
Isaacson/dp/1451648545/)

Classic magazines:

[https://archive.org/details/computermagazines](https://archive.org/details/computermagazines)

There's also plenty of old shows both archived, and made more recently, some
with a stunning number of important interviews

[https://archive.org/details/computerchronicles](https://archive.org/details/computerchronicles)

[https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Dr+Sparkle...](https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Dr+Sparkle%22)

[https://archive.org/details/thescreensavers](https://archive.org/details/thescreensavers)

[https://www.youtube.com/user/MrGameSack](https://www.youtube.com/user/MrGameSack)

[https://www.youtube.com/user/tezzaNZ](https://www.youtube.com/user/tezzaNZ)

[https://www.youtube.com/user/blacklily8](https://www.youtube.com/user/blacklily8)

And there's a vast retrogaming/retrocomputing podcasting phenomenon going on
right now, often with even more amazing interviews

[http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/](http://ataripodcast.libsyn.com/)

[http://www.retronauts.com/](http://www.retronauts.com/)

and a larger list
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8544576](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8544576)

What's nice is that this all happened recently enough that you can actually go
to the primary sources and read/listen/talk with these events as they
happened, but can now look back informed by decades of the aftereffects.

------
cognitivesys
[http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/](http://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/)

------
ScootyPuff3000
If you can get to Silicon Valley, go to the Computer History Museum in
Mountain View, California.

