Overview
The SUPERMEN
"After a rare speech at the National Center for AtmosphericResearch in Boulder, Colorado, in 1976, programmers in the audiencehad suddenly fallen silent when Cray offered to answer questions.He stood there for several minutes, waiting for their queries, butnone came. When he left, the head of NCAR's computing divisionchided the programmers. 'Why didn't someone raise a hand?' After atense moment, one programmer replied, 'How do you talk to God?'"-from The SUPERMEN The Story of Seymour Cray and the TechnicalWizards behind the Supercomputer
"They were building revolutionary, not evolutionary, machines. . .. They were blazing a trail-molding science into a product. . . .The freedom to create was extraordinary." -from The Supermen
In 1951, a soft-spoken, skinny young man fresh from the Universityof Minnesota took a job in an old glider factory in St. Paul.Computer technology would never be the same, for the glider factorywas the home of Engineering Research Associates and the recentcollege grad was Seymour R. Cray. During his extraordinary career,Cray would be alternately hailed as "the Albert Einstein," "theThomas Edison," and "the Evel Knievel" of supercomputing. Atvarious times, he was all three-a master craftsman, inventor, andvisionary whose disdain for the rigors of corporate life becamelegendary, and whose achievements remain unsurpassed.
The Supermen is award-winning writer Charles J. Murray'sexhilarating account of how the brilliant-some would sayeccentric-Cray and his gifted colleagues blazed the trail that ledto the Information Age. This is a thrilling, real-life scientificadventure, deftly capturing the daring, seat-of-the-pants spirit ofthe early days of computer development, as well as an audacious,modern-day David and Goliath battle, in which a group of maverickengineers beat out IBM to become the runaway industryleaders.
Murray's briskly paced narrative begins during the final months ofthe Second World War, when men such as William Norris and HowardEngstrom began researching commercial applications for thecode-breaking machines of wartime, and charts the rise oftechnological research in response to the Cold War. In those dayscomputers were huge, cumbersome machines with names like Demon andAtlas. When Cray came on board, things quickly changed.
Drawing on in-depth interviews-including the last interview Craycompleted before his untimely and tragic death-Murray provides rareinsight into Cray's often controversial approach to his work. Craycould spend exhausting hours in single-minded pursuit of aparticular goal, and Murray takes us behind the scenes to witnesslate-night brainstorming sessions and miraculous eleventh-hourfixes. Cray's casual, often hostile attitude toward management,although alienating to some, was more than a passionate need forindependence; he simply thought differently than others. SeymourCray saw farther and faster, and trusted his vision with anunassailable confidence. Yet he inspired great loyalty as well,making it possible for his own start-up company, Cray Research, tobring the 54,000-employee conglomerate of Control Data to itsknees.
Ultimately, The Supermen is a story of genius, and how a unique setof circumstances-a small-team approach, corporate detachment, and agovernment-backed marketplace-enabled that genius to flourish. Inan atmosphere of unparalleled freedom and creativity, SeymourCray's vision and drive fueled a technological revolution fromwhich America would emerge as the world's leader in supercomputing.
"After a rare speech at the National Center for AtmosphericResearch in Boulder, Colorado, in 1976, programmers in the audiencehad suddenly fallen silent when Cray offered to answer questions.He stood there for several minutes, waiting for their queries, butnone came. When he left, the head of NCAR's computing divisionchided the programmers. 'Why didn't someone raise a hand?' After atense moment, one programmer replied, 'How do you talk to God?'"-from The SUPERMEN The Story of Seymour Cray and the TechnicalWizards behind the Supercomputer
"They were building revolutionary, not evolutionary, machines. . .. They were blazing a trail-molding science into a product. . . .The freedom to create was extraordinary." -from The Supermen
In 1951, a soft-spoken, skinny young man fresh from the Universityof Minnesota took a job in an old glider factory in St. Paul.Computer technology would never be the same, for the glider factorywas the home of Engineering Research Associates and the recentcollege grad was Seymour R. Cray. During his extraordinary career,Cray would be alternately hailed as "the Albert Einstein," "theThomas Edison," and "the Evel Knievel" of supercomputing. Atvarious times, he was all three-a master craftsman, inventor, andvisionary whose disdain for the rigors of corporate life becamelegendary, and whose achievements remain unsurpassed.
The Supermen is award-winning writer Charles J. Murray'sexhilarating account of how the brilliant-some would sayeccentric-Cray and his gifted colleagues blazed the trail that ledto the Information Age. This is a thrilling, real-life scientificadventure, deftly capturing the daring, seat-of-the-pants spirit ofthe early days of computer development, as well as an audacious,modern-day David and Goliath battle, in which a group of maverickengineers beat out IBM to become the runaway industryleaders.
Murray's briskly paced narrative begins during the final months ofthe Second World War, when men such as William Norris and HowardEngstrom began researching commercial applications for thecode-breaking machines of wartime, and charts the rise oftechnological research in response to the Cold War. In those dayscomputers were huge, cumbersome machines with names like Demon andAtlas. When Cray came on board, things quickly changed.
Drawing on in-depth interviews-including the last interview Craycompleted before his untimely and tragic death-Murray provides rareinsight into Cray's often controversial approach to his work. Craycould spend exhausting hours in single-minded pursuit of aparticular goal, and Murray takes us behind the scenes to witnesslate-night brainstorming sessions and miraculous eleventh-hourfixes. Cray's casual, often hostile attitude toward management,although alienating to some, was more than a passionate need forindependence; he simply thought differently than others. SeymourCray saw farther and faster, and trusted his vision with anunassailable confidence. Yet he inspired great loyalty as well,making it possible for his own start-up company, Cray Research, tobring the 54,000-employee conglomerate of Control Data to itsknees.
Ultimately, The Supermen is a story of genius, and how a unique setof circumstances-a small-team approach, corporate detachment, and agovernment-backed marketplace-enabled that genius to flourish. Inan atmosphere of unparalleled freedom and creativity, SeymourCray's vision and drive fueled a technological revolution fromwhich America would emerge as the world's leader in supercomputing.
This book title, The Supermen (The Story of Seymour Cray and the Technical Wizards Behind the Supercomputer), ISBN: 9780471048855, by Charles J. Murray, published by Wiley (January 18, 1997) is available in hardcover. Our minimum order quantity is 25 copies. All standard bulk book orders ship FREE in the continental USA and delivered in 4-10 business days.
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