The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America (Inside Technology Series) Book + PRICE WATCH * Amazon pricing is not included in price watch

The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America (Inside Technology Series) Book

This text is an alternative history of computers and cognitive science. How Cold War social and cultural contexts shaped emerging technology is discussed. Beginning...Read More

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  • Amazon Review

    Edwards traces how computers have emerged as the dominant technology as a direct result of Cold War politics and the defense research it engendered. From the first use of room-size mainframes to coordinate missile systems, Pentagon research aimed toward complete computer control, including the budget-busting and ultimately impractical Strategic Defensive Initiative. Edwards relates how the technolog--which is now so open as to be nearly anarchic--began in strictly enclosed secrecy. The military computer goal of perfect "command, control and communication" systems was understood to mean communication only within a very closed world. Edwards' thesis is that this approach influenced the very structure of our modern computers.

  • Product Description

    "The Closed World is astonishing. One of the most important books of the 20th century." -- Howard Rheingold, editor, Whole Earth Review

    "A fascinating glimpse into the history of computing and a cogent reminder of the extent to which this history continues to inform our vision of the future." -- Grant Kester, The Nation

    The Closed World offers a radically new alternative to the canonical histories of computers and cognitive science. Integrating political, cultural, and technological history, it argues that we can make sense of computers as tools only when we simultaneously grasp their roles as metaphors and political icons.

    In this extended exploration of the relations of science and engineering to the evolution of modern society, Paul Edwards argues that what people have said, thought, and experienced through computers--as reflections of the nature of their minds; as solutions to political, commercial, and military problems; as icons of rationality--is as significant as anything computers have actually accomplished. Social and cultural context has shaped the growth of computer technology as much as it has been shaped by it.

  • 0262550288
  • 9780262550284
  • PN Edwards
  • 30 September 1997
  • MIT Press
  • Paperback (Book)
  • 462
  • New edition
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