Book cover of The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America

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The Closed World offers a radically new alternative to the canonical histories of computers and cognitive science. Arguing that we can make sense of computers as tools only when we simultaneously grasp their roles as metaphors and political icons, Paul Edwards shows how Cold War social and cultural contexts shapedā€¦

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Philip Mirowski
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Edwards revealed how the very architecture of early computers owed a debt to the political structures of the Cold War. The innovation of a command/control/information infrastructure set the template for military regimentation, and subsequently for the surveillance society we currently inhabit. The story of how cyberneticsā€”a field that never quite made the grade as pure scienceā€”nevertheless conquered the culture, is fascinating.

From Philip's list on The best books on the politics of science.

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