Biomedical Computing Digitizing Life in the United States

Computers 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 2012 A fine pick for medical, science and computer collections alike. Midwest Book Review 2012 Yes, it's about computers, but very readable. Reference and Research Book News 2012 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 2012 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 2012 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 2013 ... 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 2013 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 2013