Computing: A Concise History (The MIT Press Essential Knowledge series)

Price: $16.95 - $11.33
(as of Aug 05, 2025 23:01:52 UTC – Details)


Discover the history of computing through 4 major threads of development in this compact, accessible history covering punch cards, Silicon Valley, smartphones, and much more.
In an accessible style, computer historian Paul Ceruzzi offers a broad though detailed history of computing, from the first use of the word “digital” in 1942 to the development of punch cards and the first general purpose computer, to the internet, Silicon Valley, and smartphones and social networking.
Ceruzzi identifies 4 major threads that run throughout all of computing’s technological development:
• Digitization: the coding of information, computation, and control in binary form
• The convergence of multiple streams of techniques, devices, and machines
• The steady advance of electronic technology, as characterized famously by “Moore’s Law”
• Human-machine interface
The history of computing could be told as the story of hardware and software, or the story of the Internet, or the story of “smart” hand-held devices. In this concise and accessible account of the invention and development of digital technology, Ceruzzi offers a general and more useful perspective for students of computer science and history.
ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0262517671
Publisher ‏ : ‎ The MIT Press
Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 15, 2012
Edition ‏ : ‎ Illustrated
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 199 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780262517676
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262517676
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5 x 0.56 x 7 inches
Part of series ‏ : ‎ MIT Press Essential Knowledge
Best Sellers Rank: #926,161 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #145 in Computing Industry History #306 in History of Engineering & Technology #648 in Cloud Computing (Books)
Customer Reviews: 4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 277 ratings var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });