Development of reliable, high-speed ferrite core memories that could be mass-produced at low cost was probably the most important innovation that made stored-program computers a practical, commercial reality. . . . This book is about the technical innovations, the management decisions, and the people who contributed to the development of computer memories. The focus is on IBM, but important relevant activities of other organizations and individuals are describe.

--From the Preface

Pugh covers the topic thoroughly from a historical viewpoint, a technical viewpoint, and a people viewpoint. The author writes well, integrating the technical discussion with personal glimpses of the people involved. In addition, the book has many interesting photographs and introduces numerous interesting facts (many facts are, I’m sure, hitherto unknown). The reader can garner the reasons why decisions were made and very possibly use those decisions as a model for making new decisions.