On Adam’s House in Paradise: The Idea of the Primitive Hut in Architectural History by Joseph Rykwert (review)

316 Books of a mathematical bent who wish to obtain an overview of computers. The text in Computers and Society is such that an artist interested in computers can understand it without being familiar with specialized terminology. In a book of such wide scope, some subjects are covered well, some poorly. As an example, I thought the attempt at introducing the concepts of basic machine language programming was not successful. Fortunately, the parts that I consider poorly written do not affect the book’s general usefulness. Following the Introduction, the authors introduce the basic concepts of computers, including how computers function as hardware and how the programs (software) that direct the computers are prepared. I found the chapter titled ‘People and Problems’ interesting , because the authors discuss, in a general manner, the typical organization needed to operate computers. They also point out how errors are introduced into computer programs and how systems have been designed to detect these errors. The third section deals with applications of computers and their import on human affairs. General applications are the kind that most people encounter, such as billing in commerce, airline reservations and health and medical services. Government applications involve income tax, military command systems and crime control. The social implications of computers concern the invasion of privacy and power over individuals. The authors make an honest attempt to give a balanced presentation of issues but readers may arrive at different conclusions. The text is well illustrated and contains many useful references. I think the book is worth reading as an introduction to the complexities of the problems of Computers and Society. Kemeny opens his book with a reference to The Lijie of Science by H. G. Wells and Julian Huxley in which they define symbiosis as ‘two organisms of different kinds in intimate union and to the benefit of both’. From this point of view he then presents his personal interpretation of the consequences of the coming of the computer. The first part of the book describes the development and use of the computer time sharing system (DTSS) at Dartmouth College, U.S.A. The second part is a presentation of Kemeny’s views of potential future developments of what he calls ‘symbiotic evolution’ and he covers computer networks, computers in education, the library of the future (computer-based), computers as management tools, and computers in the home. He foresees a widespread computer time-sharing network serving the U.S.A., with central computers at nine key locations. I enjoyed the book but I find that the author has a very narrow view of the potentialities of computers, no doubt because he is so concerned with the time-sharing problem. On Adam’s House in Paradise: The Idea of the Primitive Hut in Architectural History. Joseph Rykwert. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1972. 224 pp., illus. Paper, $4.95. Reviewed by Arp5d Mezei* I value this book because it treats its subject with exceptional thoroughness. If there were any omissions, only the author himself would have the competence to point them out. This is so because the technically oriented architects of the 19th century, though repeating and imitating the styles of the past, despised the technology of that very same past that underlay them. Even today journals seldom ask contributors to take into account the antecedents of their statements beyond those of the very recent past. Since this disrespect for past achievements has seriously damaged progress, Rykwert deserves credit for recognizing the challenge and for filling in the gaps in the theoretical aspects of architecture. His starting point is the view of Le Corbusier and of other modern architects that the origins of architecture go back to the huts of primitive people, or even to the natural caves that they used. He *Dorozsmai u. 9/c, 1142 Budapest, Hungary. then proceeds to trace the historical antecedents of this view. The question as to what was mankind‘s first house was posed in certain historical periods by various architects with varying clarity. Boullte’s position in the 18th century was that architectural conceptions had priority over their execution. Rykwert shows, with the help of numerous illustrations, that architectural ideas have been...