Bright Boys: The Making of Information Technology [Hardcover]

Tom Green (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 31, 2010

Product Description
Everything has a beginning. None was more profound and quite unexpected than Information Technology. Here for the first time is the untold story of how our new age came to be and the bright boys who made it happen. What began on the bare floor of an old laundry building eventually grew to rival the Manhattan Project in size. The unexpected consequence of that journey was huge what we now know as Information Technology. And even more unexpected: trying to convince someone, anyone, that information was the key to most everything else. For sixty years the bright boys have been virtually anonymous while their achievements have become a way of life for all of us. Bright Boys brings them home. By 1950 they'd built the world's first real-time computer. Three years later they one-upped themselves when they switched on the world s first digital network. In 1953 their work was met with incredulity and completely overlooked. By 1968 their work was gospel. Today, it's the way of the world. Special Foreword by Jay W. Forrester
Includes notes by chapter, bibliography, index, and portfolio of archival photography.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Bright Boys cuts right to the heart of how complex technologic systems are conceived, incubated, and grown across generations. Tom's clever writing style draws a reader into the story and the remarkable depth and breadth of his research holds the reader firm, often enthralled, throughout. This is a remarkable case study of the birth and development of a technological system that indispensably beats as the heart of the economy, communications, transportation, and culture circulating life's blood of information around the globe in the blink of an eye. --Dik Daso, Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum.



A fascinating story of how it felt to be present at the creation of the Information Age, at a time when, as the author says, there was less than a megabyte of computer memory on the whole planet. --Paul E. Ceruzzi Smithsonian Institution, National Air and Space Museum.



Astonishingly rich and broad recapturing of the subject period. Marvelous and exciting writing! --Wes Clark, bright boy designer of the TX-0 and TX-2 computers.

About the Author

Tom Green is an Emmy-nominated, award-winning writer, producer and playwright who uses his print and video expertise to tell stories about science, technology and engineering. His stage plays were produced at Boston's Next Move Theatre and then reproduced as radio plays for National Public Radio. He also wrote and produced the forum-based TV pilot "Lifelines" at Boston's WCVB-TV, Channel 5. In addition to working for various companies as a writer, editor, and producer, he owned and operated his own video production company for ten years where he produced video for corporations, broadcast, and cable TV. Since 1995, Green has evolved his storytelling skills and video-making experience in tandem with the arrival and growth of the Internet and Web.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: A K Peters/CRC Press; First Edition edition (March 31, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568814763
• ISBN-13: 978-1568814766
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #327,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #30 in Books > Computers & Technology > Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence > Expert Systems
  • #99 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Puzzles & Games > Math Games

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars If I teach the history of computing again, this book will be required reading June 15, 2010

By Charles Ashbacher HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

In general, when the history of computing research is studied, the majority of the ink is spent describing Xerox PARC. Rarely is there a significant mention of what was done in a research lab at MIT. This is unfortunate as it was there that a group of imaginative thinkers, referred to here as the "Bright Boys", completely revolutionized the preparation for warfare and ultimately society.
It all began in 1946, immediately after the end of World War II, when the United States had dramatically demobilized its' powerful military and the Soviet Union was absorbing countries. Recognizing that the Germans had a great deal of advanced technology, the United States sent teams of experts to identify, interpret and transfer the technology to America. This needed to be done under the Soviet spy apparatus and had to include the movement of the proper scientists to the United States.
As the military and political leaders attempted to counter the multiple threats from the Soviet Union, it was clear that only a very advanced information gathering network could provide the data that would allow the United States to recognize and respond to any attack. From these initial beginnings rose the concepts of Information Technology (IT) and networked computers.
A great deal of the work was done at the Barta building, where a collection of very imaginative and bright young men set out to invent digital computing technology. Nearly everything had to be built from scratch, both the theory and practice. There was no library of research papers or bank of software that could be consulted or used, it all had to be put together and made to work. They were extremely successful, nearly everything we take for granted in computing today can have its' roots traced back to their work.
This book is the story of that unheralded band of technical wizards, they invented digital computing and they also provided the infrastructure that allowed the United States to have a credible defense against any mass attack. Since this was the only effective deterrent to such attacks, their efforts had a significant contribution in making the Cold War survivable.
It took decades before the practitioners of these arts received their due rewards of the National Medal of Technology. Now that this book exists, their achievements can become part of the historic lore of the computing profession. If I teach a course in the history of computing again, this book will be required reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Historic moment in science June 30, 2011

By Lynn M. Pease

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

A detailed documentation of a major change in science: the switch to digital technology and the introduction of solid-state circuits, which made possible the winning of World War II with radar, anti-aircraft defense, rapid calculation of ballistic trajectories, establishment of a nation-wide military communications system, and missile and torpedo flight control. The politics and personal conflicts at the beginning were too much detail for me, but starting about page 150 the ingenuity and progress of the "bright boys" was great reading.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Tom Green managed to make this exciting story a bore. May 30, 2010

By Alan Kilian

Format:Hardcover

The history of the transition from analog computers to digital computers should have been an exciting page turner, but somehow Mr. Green turned it into a boring list of names, places and dates.

I was interested in this book because it mentions ERA our local computer heros where Seymour Cray got his start before founding Control Data and Cray Research.

I wanted to learn about the technology of Whirlwind and other digital computers, but there's very little description of just what went into designing and building these fantastic machines.

If you want a timeline of the names, places and dates of the events surrounding the building of the first digital computers, this is a good reference.

If you want an exciting book describing the details of designing building and getting the first digital computers to run, you'll likely be unhappy.