Computing in Russia. The history of computer devices and information technology revealed. Transl. from the Russian by Alexander Y. Nitussov (Q2735644)

This collection of articles relating to the development of computers and computer science in Russia, though some have been previously published, serves as a uniquely comprehensive resource. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEIn a detailed historiographical introduction the editors explain the values and pitfalls of the book. The values are obvious: a wide-ranging work in English (though one could wish for smoother translations) covering the largely new territory of the history of computers in Russia. This book takes advantage of the abundance of source material coming to light with the opening of formerly secret archives and with more participants telling their stories. The pitfalls have to do with the nature of the sources and their evaluation. A deeper analysis of many of the basic accounts has yet to be made. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEThus the editors are careful to point out that this is an information-gathering and presentation stage, and not a stage allowing well-founded judgments about such possibly controversial questions as influences from outside Russia or a full explanation of the role of government and ideology. Nevertheless the present compilation helps to give an independent place for Russia in the history of computing. One of the intriguing turning points was the adoption of IBM standards in the 1960s. The previous, purely Russian course had interesting differences with what had been developing in the West; for example the use of ternary rather than binary logic. Other particularly interesting topics include the role of the military, attention given to artificial intelligence, the establishment of informatics, and the role of cybernetics. NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEShort ``interludes'' are interspersed between the main contributions consisting of technical descriptions, and biographies of such figures as V. Y. Bunyakovsky, P. Chebyshev, M. V. Ostrogradsky, M. A. Bonch-Bruyevich, N. P. Brusentsov, G. Mikhailov, S. Lebedev, V. Lashkarev, B. N. Naumov, A. A. Lyapunov, A. I. Berg. There are many photographs of machines and of people. A chronology from the time of the earliest abacus to today is given. Unfortunately there is no index which will make this a less useful book than its contents deserve.