New Books Network W. Patrick McCray, "README: A Bookish History of Computing from Electronic Brains to Everything Machines" (MIT Press, 2025)
W. Patrick McCray, historian of science and technology and UCSB professor, explores computing’s rise by tracing nonfiction books that shaped public understanding. He covers early popular works like Giant Brains, cybernetics and AI hype, the rise of personal computing and chip-design textbooks, and how books seeded communities that made computers ubiquitous.
48:16
Books Made Computers Understandable
- Books shaped public understanding of early computers by translating technical ideas into familiar metaphors like "giant brains."
- Patrick McCray shows that popular books made computing intelligible and socially relevant after WWII.
Cybernetics Bridged Math And Morality
- Norbert Wiener's cybernetics books connected math, engineering, and social ethics and unexpectedly reached wide audiences.
- McCray uses Wiener to show how technical books fueled public fascination and moral debate about machines.
Brain Metaphors Shaped AI Expectations
- Early analogies between computers and the human brain seeded long debates about machine intelligence and limits.
- McCray traces these metaphors into 1950s AI claims and persistent media hype.
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Intro
00:00 • 1min
Why Write a Bookish History of Computing
01:01 • 1min
Selecting Nonfiction Books as a Lens
02:08 • 1min
Edmund Berkeley and Giant Brains
03:35 • 5min
Norbert Wiener and Cybernetics' Influence
08:37 • 3min
Early AI Debates and Subjunctive Science
11:37 • 2min
Ethics, Military Funding, and Computer Scientists
13:54 • 3min
Trenton, New Jersey's Role in Personal Computing
16:29 • 5min
Publishing's Role in Popularizing Computing
21:25 • 2min
Bestsellers, Tofflers, and The Dummies Phenomenon
23:45 • 3min
Books as Seeds for Technological Communities
26:32 • 2min
Conway & Mead: A Textbook That Changed Chip Design
28:30 • 2min
Why a Textbook Can Spark Industry Change
30:40 • 3min
1984 as a Moment: Silicon Valley and Tech Journalism
34:04 • 4min
1990s: The Computer Disappears, Internet Emerges
37:59 • 4min
Epilogue: Authorship, AI, and Books About Books
42:16 • 3min
What's Next: Habitability and Environmental Projects
45:18 • 3min
Outro
48:15 • 29sec
#10444
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The third wave
Alvin Toffler
The Third Wave describes the transition in developed countries from the Industrial Age society (the 'Second Wave') to the Information Age society (the 'Third Wave').
The book covers broad topics such as technology, politics, gender roles, and the new definitions of work, play, love, and success.
It also projects new forms of twenty-first-century democracy and social changes necessary for survival in a rapidly changing world.
#14575
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Computer Lib/Dream Machines
Ted Nelson
Published in 1974, *Computer Lib/Dream Machines* is considered one of the first books about personal computers.
It explores both the technical and political aspects of computing, advocating for a deeper understanding of computers beyond mere literacy.
The book is divided into two parts: *Computer Lib* and *Dream Machines*, each addressing different aspects of computing and its potential.
#2037
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The Big Score
David K. Randall
No information available for this title.
David K. Randall is known for his non-fiction works on topics such as sleep and historical events.
#1914
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Future shock
Toffler.
Published in 1970, 'Future Shock' by Alvin Toffler and his wife Adelaide Farrell examines the profound effects of rapid industrial and technological changes on individuals, families, and society.
The book defines 'future shock' as a state of disorientation and confusion resulting from the overwhelming pace of change.
Toffler argues that this rapid change leads to psychological ailments such as anxiety, hostility, and depression, and erodes traditional social structures like families and communities.
He identifies three main forces driving future shock: transience, novelty, and diversity.
The book also discusses the need for resilience and adaptive strategies to cope with these changes and suggests that societal institutions must evolve to support individuals in managing the 'adaptive range' required to deal with the accelerating pace of life.
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The Whole Internet Catalog
Various authors
The Whole Internet Catalog was an early printed resource designed to help people understand and navigate the Internet before web search engines scaled.
Published around 1991, it explained basic concepts, access methods, and provided a directory of websites and URLs that readers could visit.
The guide reflects a transitional moment when books were essential for learning about digital networks that users could not yet readily explore online.
It served both as an instructional manual and a snapshot of the Internet's early landscape.
As the web rapidly expanded, such catalogs became obsolete, but they remain valuable records of early online culture and infrastructure.
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Introduction to VLSI Systems
A Primer
Lynn Conway
Lynn Conway's "Introduction to VLSI Systems" is a highly influential textbook that has shaped generations of chip designers.
The book provides a comprehensive overview of the principles and techniques involved in designing very-large-scale integrated circuits (VLSI).
It covers a wide range of topics, including logic design, circuit design, layout design, and testing.
Conway's clear and concise writing style, combined with her deep understanding of the subject matter, makes the book accessible to both students and professionals.
It remains a valuable resource for anyone interested in learning about VLSI design.
#16521
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God and Golem, inc
Norbert Wiener
#31566
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Giant Brains
Edmund C. Berkeley
Edmund Berkeley's Giant Brains was one of the first popular books explaining electronic computers to a general audience, presenting machines as 'giant brains' and describing how they functioned and might be used.
Berkeley, trained as a mathematician and working as an actuary, drew on wartime computing experience to make the subject accessible, selling multiple editions.
The book blended technical explanation with chapters on likely social and moral consequences, anticipating debates about automation and military uses.
Its use of the brain metaphor influenced later thinking about machines and intelligence, contributing to early public discourse on what computers could become.
As noted by McCray, it helped seed interest in computing among non-specialists in the postwar era.
#3925
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The Human Use of Human Beings
Norbert Wiener
Published in 1950 and revised in 1954, 'The Human Use of Human Beings' argues for the benefits of automation to society, analyzing the meaning of productive communication and discussing ways for humans and machines to cooperate.
Wiener emphasizes the potential for machines to amplify human power, release people from manual labor, and enable more creative pursuits.
He also explores the risks of dehumanization and subordination and offers suggestions on how to avoid these risks, advocating for the use of machines to increase leisure and enrich spiritual life rather than solely for profits.
#30744
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README
A Bookish History of Computing from Electronic Brains to Everything Machines
W. Patrick McCray
W.
Patrick McCray's README traces the half-century history of computing through a selection of nonfiction books that explained, popularized, and shaped public understanding of computers.
The book examines works ranging from early accounts of electronic 'giant brains' and cybernetics to writings about AI, personal computing, and the 1990s internet, using them as windows into cultural, technical, and publishing histories.
McCray emphasizes how books served as catalysts for communities, education, and broader acceptance of computing technologies, while also exploring publishing economics and authorship.
The narrative connects technological change to literary forms, showing how textbooks, popular science, and journalism each played roles in transforming perceptions and practices.
README concludes by reflecting on contemporary issues such as generative AI and the changing relationship between authorship, algorithms, and book consumption.
#2668
• Mentioned in 17 episodes
Cybernetics
Norbert Wiener
Published in 1948, 'Cybernetics' by Norbert Wiener is a seminal work that applied theories of information and communication to both biological systems and machines.
It was the first conventionally published book to discuss electronic digital computing and introduced terms such as 'input', 'feedback', and 'output'.
Wiener's work foreshadowed the development of intelligent and replicating machines, complex organizational organisms, and the physiology and failure of the human nervous system.
The book represents an interdisciplinary approach to information systems, blending history, philosophy, mathematics, information and communication theory, computer science, and biology.
In README: A Bookish History of Computing from Electronic Brains to Everything Machines (MIT Press, 2025), historian Dr. Patrick McCray argues that in order for computers to become ubiquitous, people first had to become interested in them, learn about them, and take the machines seriously. A powerful catalyst for this transformation was, ironically, one of the oldest information technologies we have: books. The author uses a carefully chosen selection of books, some iconic and others obscure, to describe this technological revolution as it unfolded in the half-century after 1945. The book begins with a fundamental question: How does a new technology become well known and widespread? Dr. McCray answers this by using books as a window into significant moments in the history of computing, publishing, and American culture.
README offers a literary history of computers and, more broadly, information technologies between World War II and the dot-com crash of the early 21st century. From the electronic brains and cybernetics craze of the 1940s to the birth of AI, the rise of the personal computer, and the internet-driven financial frenzy of the 1990s, books have proven a durable and essential way for people to learn how to use and think about computers. By offering a readable half-century of bookish history, README explains how computers became popular and pervasive.
This interview was conducted by Dr. Miranda Melcher whose book focuses on post-conflict military integration, understanding treaty negotiation and implementation in civil war contexts, with qualitative analysis of the Angolan and Mozambican civil wars. You can find Miranda’s interviews on New Books with Miranda Melcher, wherever you get your podcasts.
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