A History of Modern Computing

by Paul E. Ceruzzi

Introduction, Defining Computer, 1

  1. The Computer Revolution and the History of Technology, 2
  2. Themes, 5
  1. The Advent of Commercial Computing, 1945-1956, 13
    1. The UNIVAC in Context, 15
      1. Punched Cards, 15
    2. The Card-Programmed Calculator (IBM 601/603), 18
    3. The Stored-Program Principle, 20
      1. John von Neumann’s role, 21
    4. The von Neumann architecture and Its Significance, 23
    5. From ENIAC to UNIVAC: First Transformation (EDVAC), 24
    6. UNIVAC, 27
    7. The UNIVAC in Use, 30
    8. IBM’s Response (701), 34
    9. Engineering Research Associates, 36,
    10. The Drum Machines, 38
      1. CRC 102a, 38
    11. Later Drum Machines, 1953-1956, 42
      1. LGP-30, 42
      2. Bendix G-15, 42
      3. IBM 650, 42
    12. Summary, 44
  2. Computing Comes of Age, 1956-1964, 47
    1. Core Memory, 49
    2. Honeywell, GE, RCA, 54
      1. GE, 54
      2. RCA, 55
    3. A Primer on Computer Architecture, 58
      1. Word Length, 58
      2. Register Structure, 59
      3. Number of Addresses, 61
      4. I/O Channels and the “Wheel of Reincarnation”, 62
      5. Floating-Point Hardware, 63
    4. The Transistor, 64
      1. Philco, 65
      2. NCR, Burroughs, 66
    5. The Rise of IBM, 67
      1. Disk Storage, 69
      2. From Vacuum Tubes to Transistors, 70
      3. A Description of a 7094 Installation, 71
    6. Small Transistorized Machines, 75
    7. Conclusion, 77
  3. The Early History of Software, 1952-1968
    1. Beginnings (1944-1951), 81
    2. UNIVAC Compilers (1952), 85
    3. Laning and Zierler (1954), 86
    4. Assemblers, 87
    5. SHARE (1955), 88
    6. Sorting Data (88)
    7. FORTRAN (1957), 90
    8. COBOL, 91
    9. Language Versus Software, 94
    10. System Software, 96
    11. MAD, 96
    12. Computer Science, 101
    13. Other Events of 1968 and 1969, 103
      1. Donald E. Knuth, 103
      2. Structured Programming, 103
      3. Intellectual Property Issues, 104
      4. Software Engineering, 105
      5. Unbundling, 106
    14. Conclusion, 108
  4. From Mainframe to Minicomputer, 1959-1969, 109
    1. The Influence of the Federal Government, 112
      1. Massachusetts Blue Cross, 112
      2. NASA-Ames Research Center, 113
      3. The IRS, 118
      4. NASA’s Manned Space Program, 122
    2. The Minicomputer, 124
      1. Architecture, 125
      2. The Digital Equipment Corporation, 127
        1. The PDP-8, 129
        2. The DEC Culture, 136
        3. The MIT Connection, 140
  5. The “Go-Go” Years and the System/360, 1961-1975, 143
    1. IBM, the Seven Dwarfs, and the BUNCH, 143
    2. IBM System/360, 144
        1. System/360 and the Full Circle of Computing, 153
      1. Time-Sharing and System/360, 154
      2. The Period of Soaring Stocks, 159
        1. Leasing Companies, 159
        2. Compatible Mainframes, 161
      3. The Plug-Compatible Manufacturers, 164
        1. UNIVAC, SDS, 165
      4. Software Houses, 167
    3. The Fate of the BUNCH, 171
    4. Conclusion, 173
  6. The Chip and Its Impact, 1965-1975, 177
    1. The Invention of the Integrated Circuit, 182
      1. Commercial Impact of the Chip, 190
        1. Second-Generation Minicomputers, 191
        2. The Founding of Intel, 193
        3. The PDP-11, 198
      2. Direct-Access Computing Triumphant, 200
      3. Computer Science Education, 201
      4. BASIC at Dartmouth, 203
  7. The Personal Computer, 1972-1977, 207
    1. Calculators and Corporate Personal Computer Projects, 211
    2. The Microprocessor, 217
    3. From Microprocessor to Personal Computer, 221
    4. Role of Hobbyists, 224
    5. Altair, 226
    6. Software: BASIC, 232
    7. System Software: The Final Piece of the Puzzle, 236
    8. End of the Pioneering Phase, 1977, 240
  8. Augmenting Human Intellect, 1975-1985, 243
    1. Digital Equipment Corporation, 243
    2. A Word about UNIX, 247
    3. IBM and the Classic Mainframe Culture, 247
    4. From “POTS” to “OLTP”, 250
    5. Viatron, 252
    6. Wang, 254
    7. Xerox PARC, 257
    8. Personal Computers: The Second Wave, 1977-1985, 263
    9. Apple II’s Disk Drive and VisiCalc, 266
    10. IBM PC (1981), 268
    11. MS-DOS, 269
    12. The PC and IBM, 272
    13. “The Better is the Enemy of the Good”, 272
    14. Macintosh (1984), 273
    15. The Clones, 277
  9. Workstations, UNIX, and the Net, 1981-1995, 281
    1. UNIX: From New Jersey to California, 282
      1. The Ironies of UNIX, 284
    2. VAX Strategy, 285
    3. RISC, 287
    4. Networking I: Ethernet, 291
    5. Networking II: Internet, 295
    6. Networking III: the World Wide Web, 298
      1. Gopher, WAIS, 299
      2. World Wide Web, Mosaic
    7. Conclusion, 304
  10. Conclusion: The Digitization of the World Picture, 307
    1. The Digitization of the World Picture, 308
APA Citation: Ceruzzi, P. E. (2003). A history of modern computing (2nd ed.). Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.