Robert Anthony Hyman (1928–2011) was a British historian of computing.

R. Anthony Hyman
Born1928
London, England
Died2011
OccupationHistorian of computing
EducationDartington Hall School
Alma materTrinity College, Cambridge
Years active1973–2007
Employer(s)English Electric LEO
University of Oxford
Notable worksCharles Babbage, Pioneer of the Computer (1982).
SpouseLaura Alice Boyd (1934–1999), daughter of the 6th Baron Kilmarnock
Children3, including the biologist Anthony A. Hyman

Anthony Hyman wrote especially on the early Victorian computer pioneer, Charles Babbage (1791–1871). He liaised with the London Science Museum, the Royal Society, the Crawford Library, the Oxford Museum of the History of Science, the Cambridge University Library, the Edinburgh Royal Observatory for source material.[1]

Hyman was born in 1928 in London. He studied at Dartington Hall and then Trinity College, Cambridge. He worked on transistors in the early 1950s, became a polymer scientist, and then worked as a computer researcher for English Electric LEO, before becoming "a free-lance computer consultant and historian of science", and the Alastair Horne Modern History Fellow at the University of Oxford.[2] In 1962, Hyman married Hon. Laura Alice Boyd (1934–1999), daughter of the 6th Baron Kilmarnock. They had three children, including noted biologist Anthony A. Hyman. Hyman died in 2011.[3]

Selected publications

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Hyman published the following books:

  • Hyman, Anthony (1973). The Computer in Design. Littlehampton Book Services. ISBN 978-0289702680.[4]
  • —— (1978). Computing: A Dictionary of Terms, Concepts and Ideas. Arrow Books. ISBN 0099123207.
  • —— (1980). The Coming of the Chip. New English Library. ISBN 978-0450049286.
  • Hyman, Anthony, ed. (1989). Science and Reform: Selected works of Charles Babbage. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521343114.[5]
  • Hyman, Anthony (1992) [1982]. Charles Babbage: Pioneer of the Computer. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0-691-08303-2.[6]
  • Hyman, R. Anthony; Mack, Gerhard; Pallasmaa, Juhani, eds. (2002). Gentle Bridges: Architecture, Art and Science. Birkhäuser. ISBN 9783764367503.
  • Hyman, Anthony (2007). The Selfseeker. Teignvalley Press. ISBN 978-0955538704.

References

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  1. ^ Hyman, Anthony, ed. (2007). Science and Reform: Selected works of Charles Babbage. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0521036764.
  2. ^ Harman, Peter Michael; Mitton, Simon, eds. (2002). Cambridge Scientific Minds. Cambridge University Press. p. 93. ISBN 9780521786126.
  3. ^ Morris, Susan (2019). Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage. eBook Partnership. p. 2547. ISBN 9781999767051.
  4. ^ Lang, C. A. (January 1974). "Review of The Computer in Design". The Computer Journal. 17 (1): 63. doi:10.1093/comjnl/17.1.63.
  5. ^ Reviews of Science and Reform:
  6. ^ Reviews of Charles Babbage: Pioneer of the Computer: