- Publisher: Popular Science
- Editor: Marina Galperina
- Published: February 14, 2025
From my Archives column on Pop Sci
The ENIAC was a 30-ton 'numerical monster'—and pivotal in the history of consumer technology.
Humanity’s love affair with technology stretches back more than two million years, kickstarted by the stone tool industry. Without necessarily calling it a love affair, many 20th century philosophers—from Lewis Mumford (Technics and Civilization, 1934) and Martin Heidegger (The Question Concerning Technology, 1954) to Bernard Stiegler (Technics and Time, 1994) and Andrew Feenberg (Critical Theory of Technology, 1991)—have argued that humans and their machines are inextricably intertwined, shaping and reshaping each other over centuries in a star-crossed relationship.
It’s fitting, then, that the first general-purpose electronic computer, ENIAC...
Valentine’s Day 1946—The first general-purpose electronic computer blossoms
Many thanks to Marina Galperina, Popular Science Managing Editor.
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