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Ellen Ullman

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Ellen Ullman is an American computer programmer and author. She has written books, articles, and essays that analyze the human side of the world of computer programming. She has owned a consulting firm and worked as a technology commentator for NPR's All Things Considered. Her breakthrough book was non-fiction: Close to the Machine: Technophilia and its Discontents.

Ullman's adoptive father's family included computer scientists and mathematicians who had a major impact on her decision to pursue software engineering, a field for which she did "not have native talent." Ullman earned a B.A. in English at Cornell University in the early 1970s. She began working professionally in 1978 as a programmer of electronic data interchange applications and graphical user interfaces.

She eventually began writing about her experiences as a programmer. From 1994 until 1996, she published articles in Harper's Magazine and Resisting the Virtual Life and Wired Women collections. She lives in San Francisco.

Best author’s book

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4.2

Close to the Machine

Diana Kimball Berlin
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