Technology and Culture

174 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE John von Neumann and the Origins of Modem Computing. By William Aspray. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1990. Pp. xvii+ 376; illus­ trations, notes, bibliography, index. $35.00. In 1943, the Hungarian-born mathematical physicist John von Neumann visited London on behalf of his adopted country, the United States. He was studying aspects of mine warfare for the U.S. Navy. While in England, von Neumann developed what he jokingly called “an obscene interest in computational techniques.” This volume shows how von Neumann’s interest in computing and computing machines shaped the description, design, and use of the first elec­ tronic computers. William Aspray begins with a brief account of von Neumann’s family, education, research, and migration to the Institute for Ad­ vanced Study (IAS) at Princeton. He then describes wartime work on the Manhattan Project and several other government-funded pro­ grams that prompted von Neumann’s interest in computation. Dur­ ing this time, von Neumann was closely associated with those building the pioneering ENIAC computer at the University of Pennsylvania. In the closing months of the war, he wrote a draft description of the next computer they hoped to build, the EDVAC. This work, the first account of a stored-program electronic computer, would have enor­ mous influence in the following years. The ENIAC and other wartime computers were used to carry out large numbers of relatively routine calculations, such as those needed in the preparation of firing tables. By early 1945, von Neumann wanted to build a computer devoted to scientific research. Finding funds for the project, hiring staff, and securing a place to build the machine all offered challenges. The core of Aspray’s book is his account of how von Neumann and his associates came to build a computer at the IAS; what von Neumann contributed to the logical design and engineering of the IAS computer; and how the instru­ ment was used in studies of numerical analysis, meteorology, and diverse other areas. Aspray concludes with an account of von Neu­ mann’s contributions to the theory of information and of his postwar work as a consultant to government and industry. Three aspects of this book deserve special mention. The first is Aspray’s skillful use of a wide range of publications, government documents, manuscripts, and oral histories. Some of these materials have only become available recently, and this volume suggests how they can and should be incorporated into the history of computing. Second, Aspray examines the electronic computer as a mathematical tool. As its name suggests, the computer was originally designed to do computations. Von Neumann and others who pioneered in comput­ ing worked out the logical design of such instruments and mathemat­ ical procedures for using them efficiently. They often used computers to solve problems of mathematics and mathematical physics. To those TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 175 familiar with the history of early computing, these statements will come as no surprise. For those preoccupied with later computer technology and its applications, Aspray’s account may be a useful reminder. Finally, Aspray’s book bears powerful witness to the role of military considerations not only in the history of computing but in postwar American science. Von Neumann built a computer to solve “scientific” problems. Some of this work, such as Martin Schwarzschild’s astrophysical research, was notjustified by its possible military importance. However, von Neumann persuaded military agencies that they should contribute funds to build the IAS computer not only because copies of it could then be built at military installations, but because the work he and his associates planned to do was of direct military significance. The first large problem run on the IAS computer related to the design of the hydrogen bomb. Computations for weather forecasting, which took the largest amount of the computer’s time, were important to the U.S. Navy. During the same period, von Neumann made theoretical studies of linear programming that proved of great use in solving logistics problems of the U.S. Air Force. Computer develop­ ment in the 1950s was often described in terms of “business” and “scientific” applications. Scientific applications included not only projects like the IAS...