Tools for Thought: The History and Future of Mind-Expanding TechnologyMIT Press, 2000 M04 13 - 360 pages In a highly engaging style, Rheingold tells the story of what he calls the patriarchs, pioneers, and infonauts of the computer, focusing in particular on such pioneers as J. C. R. Licklider, Doug Engelbart, Bob Taylor, and Alan Kay. The digital revolution did not begin with the teenage millionaires of Silicon Valley, claims Howard Rheingold, but with such early intellectual giants as Charles Babbage, George Boole, and John von Neumann. In a highly engaging style, Rheingold tells the story of what he calls the patriarchs, pioneers, and infonauts of the computer, focusing in particular on such pioneers as J. C. R. Licklider, Doug Engelbart, Bob Taylor, and Alan Kay. Taking the reader step by step from nineteenth-century mathematics to contemporary computing, he introduces a fascinating collection of eccentrics, mavericks, geniuses, and visionaries. The book was originally published in 1985, and Rheingold's attempt to envision computing in the 1990s turns out to have been remarkably prescient. This edition contains an afterword, in which Rheingold interviews some of the pioneers discussed in the book. As an exercise in what he calls "retrospective futurism," Rheingold also looks back at how he looked forward. |
Contents
The Computer Revolution Hasnt Happened Yet | 13 |
The First Programmer Was a Lady | 25 |
The First Hacker and His Imaginary Machine | 45 |
Machines to Think With | 132 |
Witness to Software History The Mascot of Project | 152 |
The Loneliness of a LongDistance Thinker | 174 |
The Birth of the Fantasy Amplifier | 232 |
Brenda and the Future Squad | 260 |
Knowledge Engineers and Epistemological | 274 |
Xanadu Network Culture and Beyond | 296 |
Other editions - View all
Tools for Thought: The History and Future of Mind-Expanding Technology Howard Rheingold No preview available - 2000 |
Tools for Thought: The History and Future of Mind-Expanding Technology Howard Rheingold No preview available - 2000 |