THE PREPARATION OF PROGRAMS FOR AN ELECTRONIC DIGITAL COMPUTER
by Wilkes, Maurice V.; Wheeler, David J.; Gill, Stanley; [Woods, Mary Lee]
- Used
- first
- Condition
- Very good plus.
- Seller
-
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
In 1951, the year of this text's publication, Woods returned from a disappointing Australian astrophysics fellowship and was swiftly recruited by Ferranti's team in Manchester, though she had never programmed before (a "significant proportion of the programmer recruits were female mathematics graduates from universities in the south-east of England," writes Simon Lavington). Known as the first book on computer programming, and proportionately influential, THE PREPARATION OF PROGRAMS was likely a major part of Woods's initial training; her neat annotations record her own additions, substitutions, and adjustments to the sample subroutines provided. In 1952, Woods led an effort to secure an official policy guaranteeing pay equality for male and female programmers and - remarkably - succeeded, though women programmers continued to struggle for equal time on the much-in-demand machine, shared with university users. In an interview years later, she recalled: "You'd be in a very deep sleep, and to be woken up - although you were dying to get on to the computer-to be woken up in the middle of the night was not very good, when your turn came! However, it was worth it. You had black coffee, and had to go on the computer." A remarkable association copy, capturing an early moment in the history of computer programming. 9'' x 6''. Original brown cloth with gilt spine lettering. Illustrated with two black and white plates. 167, [3] pages. Pencil to front free endpaper with owner's signature of "M.L. Woods" in block capitals; pencil note to rear endpaper; occasional neat and unobtrusive pencil annotations throughout. Seller's label from Scientific Computing Service Limited of London neatly mounted to title page. Spine sunned; lettering faded. Moderate bumping and edgewear.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Type Punch Matrix (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 44650
- Title
- THE PREPARATION OF PROGRAMS FOR AN ELECTRONIC DIGITAL COMPUTER
- Author
- Wilkes, Maurice V.; Wheeler, David J.; Gill, Stanley; [Woods, Mary Lee]
- Book Condition
- Used - Very good plus.
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Publisher
- Addison-Wesley Press, Inc
- Place of Publication
- Cambridge, MA
- Date Published
- 1951
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- 20th century,1950s,Association Copy,Computing,English & British,Technology,Feminism
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About the Seller
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About Type Punch Matrix
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Association Copy
- An association copy is a copy of a book which has been signed and inscribed by the author for a personal friend, colleague, or...
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- Title Page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the...
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...