I’m very interested in the early development of computers, up to about the UNIVAC era. However, I’ve found it next to impossible to find really GOOD information on the internet. All the sites I go to seem to have no more than a timeline-type blurb about the ENIAC, etc. I want nitty-gritty details about the development of these devices. I want to read about how they worked, how various hurdles were overcome, discussions on the architecture etc. You know, a good meaty discussion of these early systems.
I’m interested in both the specifics of various systems (esp. ENIAC) and overall historical developments.
The internet doesn’t seem up to the job…perhaps there are some good books?
Both of these have extensive collections, with much of the material available online.
For example, in the section on the ENIAC patent trial here in Minneapolis, the Babbage Insititute has all the exhibits presented by both the plaintiff & defendant available online (except for some that appear to have been lost). This includes research notebooks, original designs & drawings for ENIAC, for example.
Charles Petzold’s Code might be of interest to you. It doesn’t dwell much on the specific history of the development of those machines, but pretty thoroughly explains the functional workings of digital computers, and how they (theoretically) could have been built with 18th-century technologies (i.e., telegraph relays).