1968 GE GENERAL ELECTRIC TIME SHARING FORTRAN PROGRAMMING COMPUTER MANUAL 227106
ITEM DETAILS
Title: Introduction To Time-Sharing FORTRAN: An Elementary Instruction Guide
Author: General Electric Company, Information Service Department
Publisher: General Electric Company, Information Service Department
Publication Date: November 1966; Reprinted June 1967, September 1967, February 1968
Edition: February 1968 Reprint
Condition: Good
ITEM DESCRIPTION
Original General Electric Computer Time-Sharing Service manual titled Introduction To Time-Sharing FORTRAN: An Elementary Instruction Guide, published by the General Electric Company Information Service Department. The title page states November 1966, with reprints in June 1967, September 1967, and February 1968. The manual number is 227106, printed on the cover and title page, and the rear cover gives the General Electric Information Service Department address at 7735 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, Maryland 20014.
This is an excellent early commercial computing manual from the period when large mainframe computers were still generally accessed through service bureaus, remote terminals, and time-sharing systems rather than personal machines. General Electric was one of the important companies bringing time-sharing into business, engineering, scientific, and institutional use, and this guide reflects the moment when users were being taught to write, run, correct, rerun, save, and debug programs interactively instead of waiting for batch-processing turnaround.
FORTRAN was one of the foundational high-level programming languages of modern computing, especially important for scientific, engineering, mathematical, and numerical work. This GE guide presents FORTRAN in a time-sharing context, making it especially desirable as a piece of early software history: not just a programming textbook, but a vendor-produced instruction manual for conversational, terminal-based computing during the 1960s.
Contents include the preface, table of contents, “What Is A Program?,” “A FORTRAN Primer,” “More Advanced FORTRAN,” and appendices covering general information, a summary of statements, a table of functions, references, and error messages. The manual walks the user through program structure, FORTRAN statements, input, print, stop, loops, flowcharts, variables, numbers, equations, arrays, lists, functions, subroutines, documentation, round-off errors, and methods for checking and debugging programs. It includes sample code, mathematical examples, a sample flowchart, terminal-style input and output, error detection examples, and references to numerical analysis and FORTRAN programming texts.
The manual is in good condition overall. Original orange-and-white printed wrappers show light to moderate toning, surface soil, edge wear, corner wear, small scuffs, and handling marks. The front cover has handwritten notations at the upper left, including “7/26/67.” The rear cover has visible rubbing and a light horizontal scuff through part of the printed text panel, along with a small dark mark near the fore edge. The manual is three-hole punched along the binding margin for binder or file use, and the punched holes show light wear from handling. Interior pages show light age toning, minor edge wear, faint handling creases, and small rust-colored spots or discoloration along portions of the inner fold/binding area. Text and diagrams remain clear and readable throughout.
Make sure to see the photos above for complete details.
iii, 32 pages.
Measures approximately 11 inches tall by 8 1/2 inches wide.
KEYWORDS
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_gsrx_vers_1736 (GS 9.9.5 (1736))
