Review Essay: Alice Burks, 'Who Invented the Computer? The Legal Battle that Changed Computing'

Posted: 14 Oct 2006

See all articles by Douglas J. Sylvester

Douglas J. Sylvester

Arizona State University - College of Law

Abstract

Alice Burks' book, 'Who Invented the Computer?' attempts to answer, once and for all, the question of who is the computer's true inventor. The book focuses on a patent infringement trial that, according to Burks, provides nearly all the answers to this question. This review questions those claims and examines the use of legal materials to support historical claims.

Keywords: computers, history, patents, Mauchly, Atanasoff, Eniac, infringement

Suggested Citation

Sylvester, Douglas J., Review Essay: Alice Burks, 'Who Invented the Computer? The Legal Battle that Changed Computing'. Jurimetrics, Vol. 44, pp. 367-84, 2004, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=937508

Douglas J. Sylvester (Contact Author)

Arizona State University - College of Law ( email )

Box 877906
Tempe, AZ 85287-7906
United States

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