The Difference Engine: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer

A portrait of early nineteenth-century mathematician Charles Babbage describes his efforts to construct the first computing machine more than one century before the invention of the modern computer. Reprint.

Science & Math

Swade, Doron

History & Philosophy

Penguin Group USA

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring\nThis lively Very Short Introduction reviews the central events, machines, and people that feature in established accounts of the history of computing, critically examining received perceptions and providing a fresh look at the nature and development of the modern electronic computer.\nThe book begins by discussing a widely accepted linear narrative of the history of computing, centred around innovatory highlights that start with the use of knotted cords to aid calculation, all the way to the smartphones of the present day. It discusses the problems and simplifications present in such a narrative, and offers instead an account, centred on users, that identifies four distinct historical threads: calculation, automatic computing, information management, and communication. These threads are examined individually, tracing their paths and the convergences of related technologies into what has come to be called 'the information age'. 
ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introduction series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

The History of Computing: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Oxford University Press

In 1821, 30-year-old inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage was poring over a set of printed mathematical tables with his friend, the astronomer John Herschel. Finding error after error in the manually evaluated results, Babbage made an exclamation, the consequences of which would not only dominate the remaining 50 years of his life, but also lay the foundations for the modern computer industry: 'I wish to God these calculations had been executed by steam!'A few days later, he set down a plan to build a machine that would carry out complex mathematical calculations without human intervention and, at least in theory, without human errors. The only technology to which he had access for solving the problem was the cogwheel escapement found inside clocks. Babbage saw that a machine constructed out of hundreds of escapements, cunningly and precisely linked, might be able to handle calculations mechanically. The story of his lifelong bid to construct such a machine is a triumph of human ingenuity, will and imagination.

The Cogwheel Brain: Charles Babbage and the Quest to Build the First Computer

Biographies & Memoirs

Professionals & Academics

ABACUS +

The Dream Machine is the story of the development of the computer and the remarkable people behind it. It is hard to interpret a revolution when you are in the midst of one, but this book is an attempt to do just that. The Dream Machine explores the computer age from the earliest attempts to represent numbers and mechanize calculation; from these modest beginnings emerged a dream of a general-purpose machine unlike anything the world had ever known before.

Dream Machine: Exploring the Computer Age

Computers & Technology

Palfreman, Jon

History & Culture

BBC Books

A portrait of early nineteenth-century mathematician Charles Babbage describes his efforts to construct the first computing machine more than one century before the invention of the modern computer. 22,500 first printing.

History

Viking Adult

Difference Engine: Charles Babbage And The Quest To Build The First Computer

Diane Pub Co.

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