Hybrid Zone

Hybrid Zone is more a social history of computing than a history of computer technology per se. It is about the intersection of people, science, and the activity of computing. The work starts with a basic premise: computers are a unique technology in that they have brought about both a new science (computer science) and a new way to do science (computational science). While the computers and their evolution are fascinating, it is of interest to know who used computers to do science. In...
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Hybrid Zone is more a social history of computing than a history of computer technology per se. It is about the intersection of people, science, and the activity of computing. The work starts with a basic premise: computers are a unique technology in that they have brought about both a new science (computer science) and a new way to do science (computational science). While the computers and their evolution are fascinating, it is of interest to know who used computers to do science. In what ways did computers provide new opportunities for the people who built, programmed, studied, and used them? How does a new science establish itself when funding is limited? These questions and others concerning the social and personal aspects of the emergence of 'big iron' are explored in Hybrid Zone: Computers and Science at Argonne National Laboratory 1946--1992.