{"id":664,"date":"2015-08-22T17:46:39","date_gmt":"2015-08-22T15:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dcis.inf.fu-berlin.de\/rojas\/?page_id=664"},"modified":"2016-09-15T11:01:36","modified_gmt":"2016-09-15T09:01:36","slug":"encyclopedia-of-computers-and-computer-history-2","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/dcmlr.inf.fu-berlin.de\/rojas\/books-published-by-prof-r-rojas-1987-2013\/encyclopedia-of-computers-and-computer-history-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Encyclopedia of Computers and Computer History"},"content":{"rendered":"
Ra\u00fal Rojas (ed.),\u00a0<\/strong>Fitzroy-Dearborn, Chicago, London, 2001<\/strong><\/h6>\n

\"Award\"<\/a><\/p>\n

American Library Association RUSA Division<\/p>\n

Outstanding Reference Sources, 2002<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

\"Award\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Current Review for Academic Libraries<\/p>\n

Outstanding Academic Title 2001<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n

“Rojas provides an introduction to computers and computer history that has been sorely missing from reference shelves …..”<\/p>\n

“. . . . . . .Essential for undergraduate collections, academic and public libraries, and computer science researchers interested in learning more about the rich field and history of computer science.” \u2013Choice<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Foreword<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201eHistory means different things to different people and can be organized in an almost infinite number of different ways.\u00a0 This is the beauty of an Encyclopedia like this one – you are not forced into dealing with a subject in the way some author thinks is best.\u00a0 You can browse through articles to satisfy your own particular definition of “history” and the type of subject matter you find interesting.<\/p>\n

Of course a volume like this can never contain all the information on a specific subject.\u00a0 That was shown to be the case about 250 years ago when the French attempted to make an encyclopedia which would contain information on all of the Arts, Science, and Technology.\u00a0 The major editor (Denis Diderot, because of whom this work is always called “Diderot’s Encyclopedia) started with about 100 of the greatest French writers and produced a huge work that did, indeed, chronicle much of the science and technology of the day.\u00a0 While it was a brave effort, it could never have covered all human knowledge and other works had to be written to expand on many subjects.\u00a0 This current volume is no exception in that it can not be complete.\u00a0 However it does point the way by giving a basic background upon which to build more complete knowledge.\u00a0 Once the information contained in these pages is absorbed (not the whole thing of course – likely the only person to read it cover to cover will be the editor), you should be in a very good position to look elsewhere for the fine detail needed for your specific needs.\u00a0 Most major libraries will have technical books and perhaps even technical history journals.\u00a0 The World Wide Web will also allow you to go further, but you must be cautious because, unlike this volume which has been written by experts in the field, much of the material on the Web is of dubious origin.\u00a0 It is not that the designers of Web-sites are deliberately trying to mislead (although I am sure that some are), but rather that they come to a subject with specific interests and objectives — just like the readers of this Encyclopedia.\u00a0 By using this volume as a resource reference you can not only check facts found elsewhere, but can use the entries to explain things that various web designers have simply taken for granted.<\/p>\n

No matter what use you make of this volume, I know you will find it enjoyable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael R. Williams
\nProfessor of Computer Science
\nUniversity of Calgary
\nCalgary, Canada<\/p>\n