In Rick Cook's Wizardry series, the extreme danger presented by magic and the difficulty of analyzing the magic have stymied magic and left humanity at the mercy of the dangerous elves until a wizard summons a computer programmer from a parallel world — ours — to apply the skills he learned in our world to magic.
In Rick Cook's Wizardry series, the use of magic is hindered by its danger and complexity, leaving humans vulnerable to the elves. A solution is found by summoning a programmer from our world who can apply their skills in technology to overcome these challenges.