{"title":"Mike Hally","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"electronic-brains-book-mike-hally-9781862078390","title":"Electronic Brains","description":"By the 1960s, IBM had beaten all rivals and dominated the world computer market. But IBM came late to the race. From the 1930s to the 1960s, small independent teams on four continents worked on the development of the first modern computers. From interviews with surviving members of those original teams, Mike Hally builds up a picture of the eccentric men and women who laid the foundations for the computerized world we now live in, recreating the atmosphere of those early days. Some of the early projects, such as LEO, the Lyons Electronic Office, developed by the catering company J. Lyons and Co in London in the 1940s, are now famous; others, such as the RAND 409, constructed in a barn in Connecticut under the watchful eye of a stuffed moose, almost unknown. This fascinating and engaging book describes these and other projects that came and went in the years before IBM ruled the world, including the Phillips Hydraulic Economics Computer, or MONIAC, which perfectly demonstrated the workings of the economy by way of coloured water flowing through plastic tubes, and the UNIVAC, which became a household name when, live on television, it correctly predicted the results of the 1952 US presidential election.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49573722882321,"sku":"GOR002133419","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49664246251793,"sku":"GOR010914140","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50717633446161,"sku":"CIN1862078394A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1862078394.jpg?v=1750996021"},{"product_id":"electronic-brains-book-mike-hally-9781862076631","title":"Electronic Brains","description":"By the 1960s, IBM had beaten all rivals and dominated the world computer market. But IBM came late to the race. From the 1930s to the 1960s, small, independent teams on four continents worked on the development of the first modern computers- practical, electronic, multi-purpose, digital machines with memory for data and programs. From interviews with surviving members of those original teams, the author builds up a picture of the eccentric men and women who laid the foundations for the computerised world we now live in, recreating the atmosphere of those early days. Some of the early projects, such as \"LEO\", the Lyons Electronic Office, developed by the catering company J Lyons and Co in London in the 1940s, are now famous, others, such as the ABC, built in the basement of Iowa State College and abandoned when war broke out, and the RAND 409, constructed in a barn in Connecticut under the watchful eye of a stuffed moose, almost unknown. This fascinating and engaging book describes these and other projects that came and went in the years before IBM ruled the world, including the Phillips Hydraulic Economics Computer, or MONIAC, which perfectly demonstrated the workings of the economy by way of coloured water flowing through plastic tubes and the UNIVAC, which became a household name when, live on television, it correctly predicted the results of the 1952 US presidential election.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49593752224017,"sku":"GOR001643948","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49630271799569,"sku":"GOR004047432","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1862076634.jpg?v=1751436118"},{"product_id":"electronic-brains-book-mike-hally-9780309096300","title":"Electronic Brains","description":"We've come so far, so fast. Within a relatively short period of time, we've managed to put enormous computing power in offices and homes around the globe. But before there was an IBM computer, before there were laptops and personal PCs, there were small independent teams of pioneers working on the development of the very first computer. Scattered around the globe and ranging in temperament and talent, they forged the future in basement labs, backyard, workshops, and old horse barns. Tracing the period just after World War II when the first truly modern computers were developed, Electronic Brains chronicles the escapades of the world's first \"techies.\" Some of the initial projects are quite famous and well known, such as \"LEO\", the Lyons Electronic Office, which was developed by the catering company J. Lyons \u0026amp; Co. in London in the 1940s. Others are a bit more arcane, such as the ABC, which was built in a basement at Iowa State College and was abandoned to obscurity at the beginning of WWII. And then - like the tale of the Rand 409 which wss constructed in a barn in Connecticut under the watchful eye of a stuffed moose - there are the stories that are virtually unknown. All combine to create a fascinating history of a now-ubiquitous technology. Relying on extensive interviews from surviving members of the original teams of hardware jockeys, author Mike Hally recreates the atmosphere of the early days of computing. Rich with provocative and entertaining descriptions, we are introduced go the many eccentric, obsessive, and fiercely loyal men and women who laid the foundations for the computerized world in which we now live. As the acronyms fly fast and furious - UNIVAC, CSIRAC, and MESM, to name just a few - Electronic Brains provides a vivid sense of time, place, and science.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49874419843345,"sku":"CIN0309096308G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":53336506237201,"sku":"CIN0309096308VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0309096308.jpg?v=1751005328"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/collections\/author-books-by-mike-hally.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}