Tools for thought. (book reviews) Russ Lockwood.

Tools for Thought is subtitled "the people and ideas behind the next computer revolution." Nothing could be further from the truth. Instead of a glimpse into the future, a vision of things to come, or a look at current research in the computer field, this book is yet another history of the computer.

This is not to say it is a bad history; quite the contrary. The book is well researched and traces the development of computing devices over the last 100 years. It focuses a little more on the people, from Charles Babbage to Alan Turing through Ted Nelson, than other books. While not Pulitzer prizewinning prose, Tools for Thought plods along at a steady pace, and if you have not read too many other similar books, history and accentric inventors make for interesting reading.

With few exceptions, Tools for Thought deals strictly with the history of the computer. Those with expectations of a window on the next computer revolution will be disappointed, but those with expectations of a well-researched history will emerge enlightened.

Review Grade: D