ENIAC: The Triumphs and Tragedies of the World's First Computer by Scott McCartney; Unabridged MP3 Audio Book; Narrator Adams Morgan

The true father of the modern computer was not John von Neumann, as he is generally credited. That honor belongs to the two men, John Mauchly and Presper Eckert, who built the world's first programmable computer: the legendary ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer).

Mauchly and Eckert developed a revolutionary vision: to make electricity "think." Funded by the U.S. Army, the team they led constructed a behemoth weighing thirty tons with eighteen thousand vacuum tubes and miles of wiring that blazed a trail to the next generation of computers that quickly followed.

Based on original interviews with surviving participants and the first study of Mauchly and Eckert's personal papers, ENIAC is a dramatic human story and a vital contribution to the history of technology that restores to the two inventors the legacy they deserve.

“[ENIAC] tells an absorbing story and sheds light on a moment when our world was transformed.”—New York Times

“This lively account of the computer pioneers of another era not only fills a black hole in the history of technology but demonstrates that the same chaotic and unpredictable creative processes that gave birth to the PC led, decades earlier, to the creation of the first mainframes. Without ENIAC, there could have been no Apple II, no IBM PC, no Macintosh.”—Wall Street Journal

“Engagingly written…this book an absorbing read for anyone who savors the human stories that always underlie great events.”—Wired

“McCartney has performed an important service by rescuing this tale from obscurity.”—Philadelphia Inquirer

“A great story…McCartney offers excellent documentation, interesting asides, and real drama.”—Publishers Weekly

“McCartney writes in a clean, smooth, journalistic style, as free as possible of jargon, which makes the story of ENIAC’s development a fascinating, yet easy read.”—School Library Journal

“A lively account…Focuses on the human interest. Adams Morgan gives a crisp, brisk, documentary-style reading that keeps us involved throughout.”—AudioFile

Scott McCartney is an award-winning staff writer for the Wall Street Journal. He won the Online News Association Award for online commentary in 2003 for “The Middle Seat” and the George Polk Award for transportation reporting in 2000. He has also been honored by the Deadline Club and the New York chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He is also the author of Defying the Gods: Inside the New Frontiers of Organ Transplants and coauthor of Trinity’s Children: Living Along America’s Nuclear Highway. He lives in Dallas, Texas.