Stan Kelly-Bootle

Stan Kelly-Bootle (born in Liverpool in 1929) is a prolific author of books (nine or so), magazine articles, and songwriter (his folk songs have been performed by "big names" in the business, including Pete Seeger). He is also notable for achieving the first post-graduate degree in computer science, in 1954.

Kelly-Bootle is well known in the computer community for his books The Devil's DP Dictionary and its second edition, The Computer Contradictionary. These are cynical lexicographies; the reader has been warned.

His articles for magazines including AI/Expert and UNIX Review have been stunning examples of word-play, criticism of silly marketing and usage (he refers often to the computer "laxicon") and commentary on the industry in general. His web site indicates that there will soon be a collection of these under the title "Son of Devil's Advocate". Until then, older archives of his column can be found at http://www.sarcheck.com by following the "Son of Devil's Advocate" link.

External link: Kelly-Bootle's Web page: http://www.feniks.com/skb/