acm-header
Sign In

Communications of the ACM

Recent Articles


bg-corner

Conjoined Twins: Artificial Intelligence and the Invention of Computer Science
From Communications of the ACM

Conjoined Twins: Artificial Intelligence and the Invention of Computer Science

How artificial intelligence and computer science grew up together.

Becoming Universal
From Communications of the ACM

Becoming Universal

A new history of modern computing.

Women's Lives in Code
From Communications of the ACM

Women's Lives in Code

Exploring Ellen Ullman's 'Close to the Machine' and AMC's 'Halt and Catch Fire.'

When Hackers Were Heroes
From Communications of the ACM

When Hackers Were Heroes

The complex legacy of Steven Levy's obsessive programmers.

The Immortal Soul of an Old Machine
From Communications of the ACM

The Immortal Soul of an Old Machine

Taking apart a book to figure out how it works.

Von Neumann Thought Turing's Universal Machine was 'Simple and Neat.'
From Communications of the ACM

Von Neumann Thought Turing's Universal Machine was 'Simple and Neat.': But That Didn't Tell Him How to Design a Computer

New discoveries answer an old question.

Hey Google, What's a Moonshot?
From Communications of the ACM

Hey Google, What's a Moonshot?: How Silicon Valley Mocks Apollo

Fifty years on, NASA's expensive triumph is a widely misunderstood model for spectacular innovation.

Defining American Greatness
From Communications of the ACM

Defining American Greatness: IBM from Watson to Trump

Reflections on a firm that encapsulated the American Century.

Colossal Genius
From Communications of the ACM

Colossal Genius: Tutte, Flowers, and a Bad Imitation of Turing

Reflections on pioneering code-breaking efforts.

How Charles Bachman Invented the DBMS, a Foundation of Our Digital World
From Communications of the ACM

How Charles Bachman Invented the DBMS, a Foundation of Our Digital World

His 1963 Integrated Data Store set the template for all subsequent database management systems.

Where Code Comes From
From Communications of the ACM

Where Code Comes From: Architectures of Automatic Control from Babbage to Algol

Considering the evolving concept of programming.

Innovators Assemble
From Communications of the ACM

Innovators Assemble: Ada Lovelace, Walter Isaacson, and the Superheroines of Computing

Can computing history be both inspiring and accurate?

The Tears of Donald Knuth
From Communications of the ACM

The Tears of Donald Knuth

Has the history of computing taken a tragic turn?

We Have Never Been Digital
From Communications of the ACM

We Have Never Been Digital

Reflections on the intersection of computing and the humanities.

Actually, Turing Did Not Invent the Computer
From Communications of the ACM

Actually, Turing Did Not Invent the Computer

Separating the origins of computer science and technology.

Software and Souls; Programs and Packages
From Communications of the ACM

Software and Souls; Programs and Packages

How can historians tell stories about software without focusing solely on the code itself?

Five Lessons from Really Good History
From Communications of the ACM

Five Lessons from Really Good History

Lessons learned from four award-winning books on the history of information technology.

Seven Lessons From Bad History
From Communications of the ACM

Seven Lessons From Bad History

Journalists, historians, and the invention of email.

The IBM PC
From Communications of the ACM

The IBM PC: From Beige Box to Industry Standard

Looking back at three decades of PC platform evolution.
Sign In for Full Access
» Forgot Password? » Create an ACM Web Account