The Soul of a New Machine

E436513

Pulitzer Prize-winning work nonfiction book technology book

The Soul of a New Machine is a Pulitzer Prize–winning nonfiction book by Tracy Kidder that chronicles the intense, behind-the-scenes effort of a small engineering team racing to design a new computer in the late 1970s.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
The Soul of a New Machine canonical	6
Soul of a New Machine	2

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4384713 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Soul of a New Machine
Context triple: [Tracy Kidder, notableWork, The Soul of a New Machine]

A. Computer Lib / Dream Machines
Computer Lib / Dream Machines is a pioneering 1974 book by Ted Nelson that passionately advocates for personal computing, hypertext, and user empowerment in the digital age.
B. Business @ the Speed of Thought
Business @ the Speed of Thought is a business and technology book by Bill Gates that explores how digital systems and information networks can transform organizations and decision-making.
C. Engines of Logic
Engines of Logic is a book by mathematician and computer scientist Martin Davis that explores the historical development of mathematical logic and its foundational role in the creation of modern computers.
D. The Machine of the World
The Machine of the World is a famous allegorical vision in Luís de Camões’ epic poem *Os Lusíadas*, in which the cosmos and its secrets are revealed to the Portuguese explorers.
E. The Road Ahead
The Road Ahead is a non-fiction book by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates that explores the future impact of personal computing and the internet on society, business, and everyday life.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Soul of a New Machine
Target entity description: The Soul of a New Machine is a Pulitzer Prize–winning nonfiction book by Tracy Kidder that chronicles the intense, behind-the-scenes effort of a small engineering team racing to design a new computer in the late 1970s.

A. Computer Lib / Dream Machines
Computer Lib / Dream Machines is a pioneering 1974 book by Ted Nelson that passionately advocates for personal computing, hypertext, and user empowerment in the digital age.
B. Business @ the Speed of Thought
Business @ the Speed of Thought is a business and technology book by Bill Gates that explores how digital systems and information networks can transform organizations and decision-making.
C. Engines of Logic
Engines of Logic is a book by mathematician and computer scientist Martin Davis that explores the historical development of mathematical logic and its foundational role in the creation of modern computers.
D. The Machine of the World
The Machine of the World is a famous allegorical vision in Luís de Camões’ epic poem *Os Lusíadas*, in which the cosmos and its secrets are revealed to the Portuguese explorers.
E. The Road Ahead
The Road Ahead is a non-fiction book by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates that explores the future impact of personal computing and the internet on society, business, and everyday life.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Pulitzer Prize-winning work ⓘ nonfiction book ⓘ technology book ⓘ
author	Tracy Kidder ⓘ
awardReceived	National Book Award for Nonfiction ⓘ Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction ⓘ linked to: Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
countryOfOrigin	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
coverArtist	Little, Brown and Company design department ⓘ
depicts	Data General Corporation ⓘ development of the Eclipse MV/8000 minicomputer ⓘ
describes	race to design a new computer ⓘ technical and personal challenges of engineers ⓘ
firstEditionPageCount	approx. 293 pages ⓘ
firstPublicationMedium	print ⓘ
focusesOn	behind-the-scenes product development ⓘ small engineering team ⓘ
genre	literary journalism ⓘ nonfiction ⓘ technology writing ⓘ
hasCriticalReception	widely acclaimed ⓘ
hasEdition	hardcover edition ⓘ paperback edition ⓘ
hasInfluenced	writing about technology and engineering culture ⓘ
hasISBN	9780316491976 ⓘ
hasOCLCNumber	OCLC 7179775 ⓘ
hasSequel	none ⓘ
hasStyle	reportage blended with narrative ⓘ
hasSubject	innovation under time pressure ⓘ minicomputers ⓘ project management in engineering ⓘ workplace motivation ⓘ
includedIn	canon of classic technology writing ⓘ
isAbout	Data General Eclipse MV/8000 project ⓘ linked to: Eclipse MV/8000 32-bit architecture
language	English ⓘ
literaryForm	narrative nonfiction ⓘ
mainSubject	computer design ⓘ computer engineering ⓘ engineering team dynamics ⓘ
notableFor	detailed portrayal of computer engineers ⓘ insight into high-tech corporate culture of the 1970s ⓘ
placeOfPublication	Boston ⓘ
publicationYear	1981 ⓘ
publisher	Little, Brown and Company ⓘ
setInPeriod	late 1970s ⓘ
targetAudience	general readers ⓘ technology professionals ⓘ
timeToWrite	several years ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Tracy Kidder → notableWork → The Soul of a New Machine ⓘ

Data General → notablePublication → The Soul of a New Machine ⓘ

Data General → subjectOf → The Soul of a New Machine ⓘ

Tracy Kidder → notableWork → The Soul of a New Machine ⓘ

subject linked to: Kidder

John Tracy Kidder → notableWork → The Soul of a New Machine ⓘ

John Tracy Kidder → wrote → The Soul of a New Machine ⓘ

Fear Factory → notableWork → Soul of a New Machine ⓘ

linked to: The Soul of a New Machine

Fear Factory → debutAlbum → Soul of a New Machine ⓘ