Wizards and Their Wonders: Portraits in Computing (Hardcover)

~ (Author), (Photographer)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Assn for Computing Machinery (December 15, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897919602
• ISBN-13: 978-0897919609
• Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,814,946 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a must for every computer history library., June 17, 1999

By A Customer

Having one photographer take all of the pictures with the subjects free to pose any way they wanted, wearing whatever they wanted, lets this book bring you some of the personality behind the people: Gordon Bell (DEC) in a cowboy hat, Scott Cook (Intuit) in a button-down shirt and swimsuit, Alan Kay (Xerox PARC) in front of the pipe organ in his home, Thomas Kurtz (Basic) standing in front of a painting of himself and John Kemeny (co-creator of Basic), me in flannel shirt and jeans, etc.

This is a must for every computer history library since you'll find nothing like it that covers such a wide cross section of the history of computing in such a human way.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A gallery of portraits, September 14, 2000

By	Primoz Peterlin (Ljubljana, Slovenia) - See all my reviews

This "Who is Who in Computer Industry" is a perfect coffee-table book for computer enthusiasts: large format, lavishly illustrated and right on the topic. Almost 200 people are presented, each with a full-page colour photograph and some 100-words abstract.

The wizards are divided into five categories: the Forerunners, the Inventors, the Enterpreneurs, the Communicators and the Venture Capitalists. As Dan Bricklin (featured on page 56 in the book) already observed, its wide scope is the strength of this book. Myself, however, I would gladly sacrifice the latter three categories - and perhaps also the first, since there seems to be no shortage of literature on the beginnings of computing - for a decent article on each of the inventors. Something along similar lines was attempted by Shasha and Lazere, but I am not entirely satisfied with their work either.

A plus side of the book is its list of sources on the presented personae, many of them from the World Wide Web. And, surprisingly, many of them still working...