New Books in Technology W. Patrick McCray, "README: A Bookish History of Computing from Electronic Brains to Everything Machines" (MIT Press, 2025)
Feb 19, 2026
W. Patrick McCray, historian and UCSB professor who wrote README, explores how books shaped public attention to computing. He traces popular works from Giant Brains to 1990s internet guides. Short takes on cybernetics, AI hype, textbooks that changed industries, and how publishing created technological communities.
48:16
Early AI Was Speculative And Public
- AI discourse began early: mid-1950s public traction and brain-computer analogies appeared in 1940s writing.
- Many early AI claims were speculative projections rather than proven capabilities.
Military Ties Shaped The Field
- Military funding strongly directed early computer research and steered problem choices.
- Ethical debates about scientists' participation in defense projects intensified during Vietnam and persist today.
Princeton Teens And Ted Nelson
- McCray highlights a Princeton-area teen group mentoring with Ted Nelson as part of early personal computing culture.
- Their access to sophisticated hardware and Nelson's book connected grassroots practice to advocacy.
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Intro
00:00 • 1min
Why write a bookish history of computing?
01:19 • 1min
Choosing which books to study
02:22 • 1min
Edmund Berkeley and Giant Brains
03:48 • 5min
Norbert Wiener and cybernetics' reach
08:47 • 3min
Early debates about artificial intelligence
11:58 • 2min
Ethics, military ties, and the 1960s critiques
14:06 • 3min
Why Trenton, New Jersey matters
16:42 • 3min
Ad break
20:05 • 29sec
Publishing, authorship, and the book business
20:33 • 2min
Bestsellers and unexpected successes
22:41 • 3min
Books as community seeds
25:47 • 2min
Lynn Conway, Carver Mead and a textbook revolution
27:45 • 4min
Teaching engineers early changes industry
31:42 • 20sec
Framing 1984: Silicon Valley across genres
32:02 • 3min
How books taught the public about computing
35:16 • 4min
The internet, atlases, and changing focus
39:15 • 2min
Epilogue on authorship and generative AI
40:50 • 2min
What McCray is working on next
43:19 • 3min
Outro
46:01 • 45sec
#22776
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
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.
#4267
• Mentioned in 11 episodes
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.
#12769
• Mentioned in 4 episodes
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.
#2907
• Mentioned in 16 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.
#24034
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
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.
#10169
• Mentioned in 5 episodes
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.
#2030
• Mentioned in 22 episodes
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.
#14596
• Mentioned in 4 episodes
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.
#23393
• Mentioned in 2 episodes
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.
#2090
• Mentioned in 21 episodes
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.
#10340
• Mentioned in 5 episodes
C++ For Dummies
7th Edition
Stephen Davis
C++ For Dummies, 7th Edition, is a highly acclaimed guide that makes learning C++ easier.
The book is fully revised for the 2014 update, with over 60% new content, including a new focus on Big Data.
It provides step-by-step instructions from the ground up, helping beginners become programmers and allowing intermediate programmers to sharpen their skills.
The book covers classes, inheritance, optional features, and teaches 10 ways to avoid adding bugs.
It also includes a companion website with all the code mentioned in the text, an updated GNU_C++ compiler, and other applications.
This guide is designed for hands-on learning and is suitable for both new programmers and those familiar with other languages.
#17436
• Mentioned in 3 episodes
God and Golem, inc
Norbert Wiener
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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