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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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Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Fri 30 Jan 2026.

A Paperback / softback by Ellen Ullman, Anna Wiener

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    View other formats and editions of Close to the Machine by Ellen Ullman

    Publisher: Picador USA
    Publication Date: 06/12/2022
    ISBN13: 9781250884121, 978-1250884121
    ISBN10: 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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