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Book Synopsis

When Ellen Ullman's memoir of her life as a software engineer was published in 1997, it was greeted as a revelatory meditation on the dawn of the digital era. Now, twenty-five years later, Close to the Machine is a true classic, a touchstone work that illuminates our time and our future life in technology.

It is the story of a woman whose life is spinning out of control. Technology becomes her unlikely lifeline. As she navigates this socially flawed and male-dominated world, Ullman shows us the struggle of translating the messiness of human thought into algorithms, and also discovers unexpected beauty in the logic of code.

Close to the Machine

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    A Paperback / softback by Ellen Ullman, Anna Wiener

    £16.20

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    RRP £18.00 – you save £1.80 (10%)

    Order before 4pm today for delivery by Fri 11 Sep 2026.

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      Book details

      Publisher Picador USA
      Published 6 December 2022
      ISBN-13 9781250884121
      978-1250884121
      ISBN-10 1250884128
      Also in:
      Autobiography: science, technology and medicine History of Computing Impact of science and technology on society

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      When Ellen Ullman's memoir of her life as a software engineer was published in 1997, it was greeted as a revelatory meditation on the dawn of the digital era. Now, twenty-five years later, Close to the Machine is a true classic, a touchstone work that illuminates our time and our future life in technology.

      It is the story of a woman whose life is spinning out of control. Technology becomes her unlikely lifeline. As she navigates this socially flawed and male-dominated world, Ullman shows us the struggle of translating the messiness of human thought into algorithms, and also discovers unexpected beauty in the logic of code.

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