The exhibition on the history of computing catalogued in the first edition of this book was on display at IBM’s World Trade Center in New York from February 1971 through the middle of 1975. This edition does not change the form or layout of the original in any way except for a revision of the original introduction by I. Bernard Cohen and the substitution of a four-page epilogue by Brian Randell for the original set of panels that briefly summarized computer developments from 1950 to 1970.

The first edition has the form of an illustrated catalog of an exhibition, but it is capable of standing alone as a narrative history of computing from the 1890s to 1950. The text and illustrations consider the subject in three broad areas: “Logical Automata,” “Statistical Machines,” and “Calculators.” Today one might choose alternate categories, but these work very well in organizing the enormous amount of material the exhibition designers gathered.

What is most striking is how the exhibition team chose to interpret the subject in a broad, encompassing fashion. Here one sees not only the depth of scholarship that Cohen brought to the project but also the guiding hand of Charles and Ray Eames, who astutely recognized--and this was in 1970--that the computer was more than just another remarkable machine; it was an intellectual and technological development that spoke to the core of modern society. The resulting book set a standard for the history of computing that few books since then have met.

Cohen, in his new introduction, gives the reader a glimpse of the workings of the Eames and Eames studio, and of the background to the process that produced the exhibit and catalog. As one who has worked on exhibitions, I know that it is not practical, but I could not help but wish that the exhibit remained on view or that it had been placed in storage, where it could have been reconstructed and perhaps even sent to different locations. Even with this excellent catalog, there is no practical way to recreate the exhibit.

Cohen notes that two topics, the British Colossus and John Atanasoff’s contributions to computing, were not discussed, as little was known about either in 1970. In light of the proliferation of books, journals, and institutes devoted to the history of computing since then, this list of omissions is remarkably short. Part of that brevity is due to the team’s insistence on defining the topic broadly, but I am sure that part of it is because this book, appearing when it did, set the tone and direction of research for the groups of historians that followed--I know that was the case for me. The historian of computing enjoys a luxury denied to practicing computer scientists and engineers, namely that the history of a subject does not change nearly as rapidly as the subject itself. How many textbooks on computer science written in the mid-1970s are still of practical use today?

In the epilogue Randell, who is both a historian and a practitioner of computing, briefly summarizes the events of the past four decades, with some hesitant speculation about where we stand today. Both Randell and Cohen believe that the next 40 years will bring changes as profound as the last 40 have brought. Those who already own the first edition will want to look at Randell’s remarks. It must not have been an easy task to summarize in four pages (constrained by the desire to preserve the original pagination) all that has happened since 1950, but Randell has done a fine job. Perhaps when it is time to bring out a third edition of this book, the editors will include both the original concluding paragraphs and Randell’s new epilogue. They, too, will have become part of the history.