Making computing history for 40 years

Reviewer: Ernest A Kallman

This collection of five papers and a self-assessment procedure all mark the 40th anniversary of ACM. They are neatly summarized in Linda Feczko's overview. She provides the connections between the authors and establishes their credentials in preparation for the historical insights they provide. The papers offer a complete description of ACM history and, for the patient reader who can transcend the extensive detail, they also provide a lesson in the effort (and anguish) of launching a new idea and the evolutionary process through which it matures and grows. The ACM story is a dramatic success story and one with a happy ending. Franz Alt begins the recounting with a look at the very beginnings of the meetings, publications, people (membership), and organization. Even for the less well-informed reader, the listed names are impressive and recognizable. Lee Revens builds on Alt's paper and adds another ten years while providing some interesting anecdotes like the 1947 correspondence from John von Neumann advising that such an organization not be founded at that time. Anita Cochran and Eric Weiss both look at the last fifteen years. The growth and complexity of the organization become apparent from the increasing number of chapters, awards, special interests groups, publications, and people. These papers are not novels. This chronicle of the specifics of each happening will surely be of more interest to those who lived through those years, especially those who lived them as ACM members. But they will have a certain fascination for those who have only been observers. There is a proud heritage and a story of a job well done recounted here. The self assessment test provides a method for review and summary. The questions themselves tell the story of the ACM's 40 years of accomplishment. One could start by scanning the self-assessment procedure and then move to the papers as interest is aroused. Either way, the result will be a feeling of pride in what has been achieved.