Digital Apollo

This is a good companion piece to the Apollo Guidance Computer work. That book covered the internal workings of the AGC, whereas this one looked much more at the human factors. It was interesting to read about the initial research into questions of just exactly *how* humans should interact with automation, what sort of interface should be provided and what was the split of responsibilities; and the inevitable conflicts between the “test pilots” and the “engineers”. I liked the detailed breakdowns of the moon landings, they really did provide some insights into how man and computer worked together. It was also hinted at (but never really explained) that the flexibility of the AGC played a major role in saving the Apollo 13 crew but to be fair the author did suggest that was covered adequately elsewhere. Shame though, it would have made this a more complete account. I was somewhat surprised on reaching the end as I had barely passed the halfway mark of the page count! There is an…