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Enthusiastically recommended for art history students.

Crucial, fascinating history of primordial computing.This is a technical history, and some essays contain technical details. A few border on pedantic, two are bad, but most utterly shine and are brilliantly illuminating. The list of references is wonderful, and with the 'net, may even be findable (most are in-context).
I cannot express what a useful and interesting book this is. Though it might appear to concentrate on U.S. efforts due to the conference location (Los Alamos) in fact most of the early computer work -- and the first *two* running stored program computers -- were British, and are well covered here. A lot of the British work was only declassified in the late 1970's, so the participants are able to talk about it for the first time publically.
There are also papers on early USSR developments, and history of pre- and proto-computing equipment.
Last, but hardly least, for me, in I.J. Good's essay I learned for the first time of Turing's open and unashamed homosexuality -- "... it was only after the war that we learned he was a homosexual... if [security] had known... he might not have obtained his clearance and we might have lost the war." Indeed!
Sadly, this was literally a last-minute collection of data; most of the contributors were quite old when it first published in 1980.
Amusingly (or not), I thought the book was expensive in 1981, at $29.50; now list price is over $100... but if you are serious this is a book to keep forever -- I would pay it now without hesitation (but critical books being this expensive keeps it out hands that could use it...)
This, plus Andrew Hodges' ALAN TURING: THE ENIGMA, have been two of my major inspirational sources for close to 20 years -- what more can I say?


Excellent book

A brief overlook at the Balkans

A divine Homeric HymnsProfessor Susan Shelmerdine's translation of the Homeric Hymns is an ideal introduction to these 33 hymns dedicated to the various Olympian gods. In clear, lively prose, she explains the hymns' literary tradition, myth sources, and forms. In easy-to-access on-the-page footnotes, she explains the relevant background that makes the hymns clear and easy to understand. But what makes her translation first-rate is that the poems are written in a clear, engaging voice that is both true to ancient Greek stylistics and yet sounds as contemporary as today. For example, this description of the abduction of Persephone by Hades:
"But the wide-pathed ground gaped open
along the Plain of Nysa, where the lord who receives many [Hades} sprang out
with his immortal horses, the son of Kronos, worshipped under many names.
He seized her against her will and on his golden chariot
carried her off wailing. And she cried aloud with a shrill voice,
But no one either of the gods or mortal men
heard her cry, not even the olives with their splendid fruit."
In addition, the book provides pictures of the gods taken from ancient Greek art, genealogy charts, and relevant maps. If you are taking a mythology class or just want an authentic introduction to stories of the ancient Greek gods, Susan Shelmerdine's Homeric Hymns is an excellent place to start.


get lost in a real world

Absolutely wonderful!

To Be Or Not To BeThe author has unveiled the complexities and ambiguities surrounding the study of literature. He has created a mental classroom where a constant and active interaction between the author and the reader exist throughout the book. The authority and the vast experience that exudes from the writer is undeniable, but he did not enforced his personal point of view on the reader or claimed that his studying methods are supreme. On the contrary, he encourages the reader to develope an unique point of view and interpretation style.
I strongly recommend this book to those (layman or students) who are entering the mysterious world of literary arts because after reading this book, I have discover greater joy and greater clarity and knowledge in reading literature, be they serious or easy.


A truly amazing publisherin the world of publishing.
enough said


So they can be pinched after all!