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This book tells the story of Emanuel Goldberg, a chemist, inventor, and industrialist who contributed to almost every aspect of imaging technology in the first half of the 20th century. Despite his accomplishments, history has not been kind to Goldberg, a name all but erased from the annals of information science. An incredible story emerges as Michael Buckland unearths forgotten documents and rogue citations to show that, contrary to public opinion, Goldberg created the first desktop search engine, developed microdot technology, and designed the famous Contax 35 mm camera. A fascinating and illuminating tribute to a great mind and a crucial period in the history of information science and technology.
An incredible story emerges as Buckland unearths forgotten documents and rogue citations to make the case that it was Goldberg, not Vannevar Bush, who created the first desktop search engine. Goldberg, not Professor Zapp (a figment of J. Edgar Hoover's imagination), who developed microdot technology. Goldberg, not Heinz Kueppenbender, who designed the famous Contax 35 mm camera. Buckland firmly yet engagingly gives credit where credit is due, in the process shedding light on the circumstances that led to Goldberg's obscurity. The result is an illuminating tribute to a great mind, and a fascinating investigation of a crucial period in the history of information science and technology.
List of contents
Preface
Origins
University Studies
Berlin
Sophie Posniak
Graphics
The Goldberg Wedge
The Great War
Ice and the Kinamo
The Goldberg Condition
Microdots
Zeiss Ikon and the Contax
Television
The 1931 Congress
The Statistical Machine
Ludwig, Killinger and Mutschmann
Paris
Palestine
Military Needs
The Microfilm Rapid Selector
Finale
After Goldberg
Goldberg in Retrospect
Appendix A: Texts in German
Appendix B: Biographical Sources
Appendix C: Goldberg Patents
Bibliography of Emanuel Goldberg's Writings
General Bibliography
Index
About the author
Michael Buckland is Emeritus Professor, School of Information Management and Systems, and Co-Director of the Electronic Cultural Atlas Initiative, at the University of California, Berkeley. He has degrees in History from Oxford and Librarianship from Sheffield University. He has been Dean of the School of Library and Information Studies at Berkeley and President of the American Society for Information Science. Previous books include
Library Services in Theory and Context (1983) and
Information and Information Systems (Praeger, 1991).
