Description
Book SynopsisNovember's thoroughly researched and lively study makes clear for readers the motives behind computerizing the study of life and how that technology profoundly affects biomedical research today.
Trade ReviewComputers changed research in the life sciences in the 1950s and 1960s. Historian Joseph November engagingly relates how... November's style is convincing and compelling. -- Paula Stephan Nature A fine pick for medical, science and computer collections alike. Midwest Book Review Yes, it's about computers, but very readable. Reference and Research Book News A well-written, engaging piece of historical scholarship... One cannot help but appreciate November's talent at synthesizing and distilling a vast array of highly technical subject matter, making it accessible to not only polymaths, but also any intelligent, dedicated reader. -- Keith Mages Watermark An interesting account of information technology's grand entry into biomedicine in the US and its impact on advances in numerous life science disciplines. Choice In this finely drawn, much-needed study, November shows how a few visionary physicians, life scientists, and computer specialists first created common cause and transformed their respective fields... Conveying that mutual transformation makes Biomedical Computing a significant, timely contribution to both the history of computing and the history of biomedicine. -- Cyrus Mody Journal of American History ... This book constitutes an obligatory read for historians interested in twentieth-century science and technology; and is an important reference for philosophers and social scientists investigating contemporary developments in biomedicine. -- Sabina Leonelli Social History of Medicine This book will be essential reading for historians of both biomedicine and computing. November has done these fields a great service by mapping a complex but fundamental set of technical and institutional relations that have given momentum to our contemporary digitized lives. -- Joanna Radin IEEE Annals of the History of Computing Biomedical Computing offers a clear path into an otherwise uncharted territory of the history of computing in biomedicine. Those interested in the history of medical technology, biology, or computing will appreciate the insights of this book. -- Robin Wolfe Scheffler Technology and Culture Rich local detail... Biomedical Computing offers an essential framework for marrying the bigger picture with case-by-case local analysis. British Journal for the History of Science
Table of ContentsAcknowlegments
Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Initialisms
Introduction
1. Putting Molecular Biology and Medical Diagnosis into Metal Brains: Operations Research and the Origins of Biomedical Computing
2. Building Tomorrow's Biomedicine: The National Institutes of Health's Early Mission to Computerize Biology and Medicine
3. The LINC Revolution: The Forgotten Biomedical Origins of Personal Computing
4. A New Way of Life: Computing in the Lab, in the Clinic, and at the Foundation
5. Martians, Experts, and Universitas: Biomedical Computing at Stanford University, 1960–1966
Conclusion
Notes
Essay on Sources
Index
