The Computing Revolution and the Physics Community

OCT 01, 1996

The information revolution that the ENIAC heralded 50 years ago has profoundly changed the ways in which physicists—along with society in general—work and interact.

DOI: 10.1063/1.881522

Alfred E. Brenner

By any measure, society—US society in particular—is now in some phase of what is being called the information revolution. This “third wave,” a term introduced by Alvin Toffler, follows the industrial revolution of the 18th century and the agricultural revolution of 10 000 years ago, and is resulting in phenomenal social, cultural and economic transformations. It is changing the ways in which people spend their time at work and at play, and the ways in which they live their lives in general. Inevitably, it will lead to major geopolitical upheavals. This revolution, as were the two previous ones, is technology based, with the seeds being planted over a long period.

References

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12. National Research Council, Evolving the High Performance Computing and Communications Initiative to Support the Nation’s Information Infrastructure, National Academy P., Washington, DC (1995).

More about the Authors

Alfred E. Brenner. Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria, Virginia.