College and Research Libraries Machines that Think Giant Brains; or, Machines that Think. By E d m u n d C a l l i s B e r k e l e y . N e w Y o r k , J o h n W i l e y & Sons [01949], xvi, 27op. $4.00. " T h e l i b r a r i e s a r e f u l l of b o o k s : m o s t of t h e m w e c a n n e v e r h o p e t o r e a d in o u r l i f e - t i m e . . . . T h e r e is a big g a p b e t w e e n s o m e - body's k n o w i n g s o m e t h i n g and e m p l o y m e n t of t h a t k n o w l e d g e by you o r m e w h e n w e need i t . " T h u s M r . B e r k e l e y describes one of t h e p r o b l e m s w h i c h o u r " g i a n t b r a i n s " m u s t solve. T h i s a c c o u n t of t h e d e v e l o p m e n t of c o m p l e x c a l c u l a t i n g m a c h i n e s is p r e s e n t e d in as r e a d a - ble a style as could be devised, c o n s i d e r i n g t h e difficulty of t h e s u b j e c t . M r . B e r k e l e y h a s n o t been c o m p l e t e l y s u c c e s s f u l in w r i t i n g an a c c o u n t to be r e a d , as he i n t e n d e d , by everyone, b u t he h a s succeeded in p r e s e n t i n g t h e m e c h a n i c a l b r a i n s in a f a s h i o n simple e n o u g h to be u n d e r s t o o d by t h e c a r e f u l r e a d e r w i t h a f a i r a m o u n t of m a t h e m a t i c a l k n o w l - edge. M r . B e r k e l e y ' s s c h e m a t i c a n d v e r b a l d e s c r i p t i o n s of " S i m o n , " a simple m e c h a n i c a l b r a i n , s e r v e t o give t h e a v e r a g e r e a d e r suffi- cient confidence t o go on to t h e e x p l a n a t i o n s of t h e c a l c u l a t o r s a t M . I . T . , H a r v a r d , and e l s e w h e r e . H o w e v e r , t h o s e e x p l a n a t i o n s a r e n e c e s s a r i l y t o o involved f o r t h e l a y m a n . A l t h o u g h it m a y be d i s h e a r t e n i n g in s o m e respects, one of t h e p r o p o s e d a p p l i c a t i o n s of m e c h a n i c a l b r a i n s m u s t be c o n s i d e r e d by t h e l i b r a r i a n : " W e can foresee the development of m a - chinery that will make it possible to consult information in a l i b r a r y automatically. Sup- pose that you go into the l i b r a r y of the f u t u r e and wish to look up ways f o r m a k i n g biscuits. You will be able to dial into the catalogue m a c h i n e ' m a k i n g biscuits.' T h e r e w i l l be a flutter of m o v i e f i l m in t h e m a c h i n e . S o o n it w i l l stop, a n d , in f r o n t of y o u on t h e s c r e e n , w i l l be p r o j e c t e d t h e p a r t of t h e c a t a l o g u e w h i c h s h o w s t h e n a m e s of t h r e e or f o u r b o o k s c o n t a i n i n g r e c i p e s f o r b i s c u i t s . I f y o u a r e s a t i s - fied, y o u w i l l p r e s s a b u t t o n ; a c o p y of w h a t y o u s a w w i l l b e m a d e f o r y o u a n d c o m e o u t of t h e m a c h i n e . " A f t e r f u r t h e r d e v e l o p m e n t , all t h e p a g e s of a l l b o o k s w i l l be a v a i l a b l e b y m a c h i n e . T h e n , w h e n y o u p r e s s t h e r i g h t b u t t o n , y o u w i l l be a b l e t o g e t f r o m t h e m a c h i n e a c o p y of the e x a c t r e c i p e f o r b i s c u i t s y o u c h o o s e . " W e a r e not y e t at t h e e n d of f o r e s e e a b l e d e v e l o p m e n t . T h e r e w i l l be a t h i r d s t a g e . Y o u w i l l t h e n h a v e in y o u r h o m e a n a u t o m a t i c c o o k - i n g m a c h i n e o p e r a t e d b y p r o g r a m t a p e s . Y o u w i l l stock it w i t h v a r i o u s s u p p l i e s , a n d it w i l l p u t t o g e t h e r a n d c o o k w h a t e v e r d i s h e s y o u d e - s i r e . T h e n , w h a t y o u w i l l n e e d f r o m t h e l i - b r a r y w i l l be a p r o g r a m or r o u t i n e on m a g n e t i c t a p e to c o n t r o l y o u r a u t o m a t i c c o o k . A n d t h e l i b r a r y , i n s t e a d of p r o d u c i n g a p i c t o r i a l c o p y of t h e r e c i p e f o r y o u to r e a d a n d a p p l y , w i l l p r o d u c e a r o u t i n e on m a g n e t i c t a p e f o r c o n - t r o l l i n g y o u r c o o k i n g m a c h i n e . . . . " ( p p . 1 8 1 - 8 2 ) W h i l e this conception of t h e l i b r a r y m a y at first seem to lead t o w a r d t e c h n o l o g i c a l u n - e m p l o y m e n t ( a topic c o n s i d e r e d in C h a p t e r 12—"Social C o n t r o l " ) , t h e relief f r o m r o u t i n e s r e s u l t i n g could give t h e l i b r a r i a n t i m e f o r r e s e a r c h and reflection on t h e m a j o r p r o b l e m s c o n f r o n t i n g h i m . A n y l i b r a r i a n i n t e r e s t e d in m e c h a n i z i n g r e p e t i t i v e t a s k s s h o u l d r e a d at l e a s t C h a p t e r 4 ( " C o u n t i n g H o l e s : P u n c h - C a r d C a l c u l a t i n g M a c h i n e s " ) and r e v i e w t h e b i b l i o g r a p h y on p u n c h - c a r d m a c h i n e s on p a g e s 232-39.—Ralph Blasin- game, Jr., School of Library Service, Co- lumbia University. Photography and Librarians The History of Photography from 1839 t° the Present Day. By B e a u m o n t N e w h a l l . N e w Y o r k , t h e M u s e u m of M o d e r n A r t , I949- Die Geschichte der Kleinbildkamera ( T h e H i s t o r y of t h e M i n i a t u r e C a m e r a ) . By E r i c h S t e n g e r . W e t z l a r , E r n s t L e i t z , 1949. T h e r e a r e s e v e r a l excellent r e a s o n s w h y t h e l i b r a r i a n , i n d i v i d u a l l y a n d collectively, should w a n t t o c o n c e r n himself w i t h t h e h i s t o r y of p h o t o g r a p h y . 1. I n his use of t h e m i c r o f i l m a n d t h e p h o t o s t a t he is n o t only b e n e f i t i n g f r o m c e r - t a i n specific f o r m s of p h o t o g r a p h y , b u t he is also d e v e l o p i n g t h e m and m a k i n g a c o n t r i - b u t i o n of f a r - r e a c h i n g i m p o r t a n c e . T h e l i b r a r i a n ' s e m p l o y m e n t of p h o t o g r a p h i c m e t h o d s as t i m e - s a v i n g devices, as i n s t r u m e n t s 180 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES