ENIAC, by Scott McCartney

This is supposed to be the story of Presper Ekert and John Mauchly, the inventors of ENIAC, the first electronic computer. Actually, it is more about the politics and intrigue surrounding the invention and the various claims to fame by the people who were involved in the invention and the aftermath. The author is of the opinion that Ekert and Mauchly deserved more acclaim than they received, because others including John von Neumann received the credit because of their higher/better positions in the establishment.

It depends on what you are looking for in a book such as this. If you are mostly interested in the development of the technology, this book will be unsatisfying. It concentrates more on the personalities and the political games they played, instead of providing us with a deeper understanding of the invention and its challenges. I suppose that may be okay for many non-technical readers, but it was not for me.

Tags: science technology