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Picture 1 of 24
The Man Who Invented the Computer : The Biography of John Atanasoff, Digital...
US $11.84
Approximately£9.31
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Located in: Oneida, Tennessee, United States
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Estimated between Thu, 13 Jun and Sat, 15 Jun to 43230
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eBay item number:386672408929
Item specifics
- Condition
- Series
- N/A
- Subject Area
- Biography & Autobiography, Computers, Technology & Engineering, Law, Education
- Educational Level
- Adult & Further Education, High School
- Level
- Beginner
- Features
- Dust Jacket
- Country/Region of Manufacture
- United States
- Subject
- Intellectual Property / General, Hardware / General, Inventions, General, Educators, Teaching Methods & Materials / General, Science & Technology
- ISBN
- 9780385527132
- Publication Name
- Man Who Invented the Computer : the Biography of John Atanasoff, Digital Pioneer
- Item Length
- 9.6 in
- Publisher
- Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
- Publication Year
- 2010
- Type
- Textbook
- Format
- Hardcover
- Language
- English
- Item Height
- 1 in
- Item Width
- 6.4 in
- Item Weight
- 18 Oz
- Number of Pages
- 256 Pages
About this product
Product Information
From one of our most acclaimed novelists, a David-and-Goliath biography for the digital age. One night in the late 1930s, in a bar on the Illinois-Iowa border, John Vincent Atanasoff, a professor of physics at Iowa State University, after a frustrating day performing tedious mathematical calculations in his lab, hit on the idea that the binary number system and electronic switches, combined with an array of capacitors on a moving drum to serve as memory, could yield a computing machine that would make his life and the lives of other similarly burdened scientists easier. Then he went back and built the machine. It worked. The whole world changed. Why don't we know the name of John Atanasoff as well as we know those of Alan Turing and John von Neumann? Because he never patented the device, and because the developers of the far-better-known ENIAC almost certainly stole critical ideas from him. But in 1973 a court declared that the patent on that Sperry Rand device was invalid, opening the intellectual property gates to the computer revolution. Jane Smiley tells the quintessentially American story of the child of immigrants John Atanasoff with technical clarity and narrative drive, making the race to develop digital computing as gripping as a real-life techno-thriller.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
ISBN-10
0385527136
ISBN-13
9780385527132
eBay Product ID (ePID)
102924277
Product Key Features
Publication Name
Man Who Invented the Computer : the Biography of John Atanasoff, Digital Pioneer
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Subject
Intellectual Property / General, Hardware / General, Inventions, General, Educators, Teaching Methods & Materials / General, Science & Technology
Publication Year
2010
Type
Textbook
Subject Area
Biography & Autobiography, Computers, Technology & Engineering, Law, Education
Number of Pages
256 Pages
Dimensions
Item Length
9.6 in
Item Height
1 in
Item Width
6.4 in
Item Weight
18 Oz
Additional Product Features
LCCN
2010-018887
Lc Classification Number
Qa76.2.A75s64 2010
Reviews
PRAISE FORTHE MAN WHO INVENTED THE COMPUTER: "Engrossing. Smiley takes science history and injects it with a touch of noir and an exciting clash of vanities."-- Kirkus Reviews " Novelist Jane Smiley shines her talent on the underappreciated career of John Atansanoff, the man recognized as creating the first computer… . It's a rare treat to read a book about digital science in the language of an acclaimed prose stylist."- Bloomberg Businessweek " [Jane Smiley] follows the John McPhee-perfected recipe for historical journalism nicely and with élan: take an abstruse subject, research it deeply, then humanize it tenderly, adding off-kilter insights and sharp portraits of the curious folks involved.... Smiley blends all these convergent and parallel narratives into a superb whole, as fetching and gripping as any novel. She displays an unwavering, cogent grasp of all the technical details, a keen eye for historical forces, and much psychological insight; her prose is a model of smooth transparency. Anyone who wants to understand the roots of our twenty-first century digital culture needs to read this book."- Paul Di Filippo, Barnes & Noble Review, PRAISE FOR THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE COMPUTER : "Engrossing. Smiley takes science history and injects it with a touch of noir and an exciting clash of vanities."--Kirkus Reviews "Novelist Jane Smiley shines her talent on the underappreciated career of John Atansanoff, the man recognized as creating the first computer… . It's a rare treat to read a book about digital science in the language of an acclaimed prose stylist."-Bloomberg Businessweek "[Jane Smiley] follows the John McPhee-perfected recipe for historical journalism nicely and with Élan: take an abstruse subject, research it deeply, then humanize it tenderly, adding off-kilter insights and sharp portraits of the curious folks involved.... Smiley blends all these convergent and parallel narratives into a superb whole, as fetching and gripping as any novel. She displays an unwavering, cogent grasp of all the technical details, a keen eye for historical forces, and much psychological insight; her prose is a model of smooth transparency. Anyone who wants to understand the roots of our twenty-first century digital culture needs to read this book."-Paul Di Filippo, Barnes & Noble Review, PRAISE FOR THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE COMPUTER: "Engrossing. Smiley takes science history and injects it with a touch of noir and an exciting clash of vanities."-- Kirkus Reviews " Novelist Jane Smiley shines her talent on the underappreciated career of John Atansanoff, the man recognized as creating the first computer... . It's a rare treat to read a book about digital science in the language of an acclaimed prose stylist."-- Bloomberg Businessweek " [Jane Smiley] follows the John McPhee-perfected recipe for historical journalism nicely and with élan: take an abstruse subject, research it deeply, then humanize it tenderly, adding off-kilter insights and sharp portraits of the curious folks involved.... Smiley blends all these convergent and parallel narratives into a superb whole, as fetching and gripping as any novel. She displays an unwavering, cogent grasp of all the technical details, a keen eye for historical forces, and much psychological insight; her prose is a model of smooth transparency. Anyone who wants to understand the roots of our twenty-first century digital culture needs to read this book."-- Paul Di Filippo, Barnes & Noble Review , PRAISE FOR THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE COMPUTER : "Engrossing. Smiley takes science history and injects it with a touch of noir and an exciting clash of vanities."--Kirkus Reviews
Copyright Date
2010
Target Audience
Trade
Dewey Decimal
004.092 B
Dewey Edition
22
Illustrated
Yes
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eBay item number:386672408929
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| Postage and packaging | To | Service | Delivery*See Delivery notes |
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Most relevant reviews
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Verified purchase: YesCondition: Pre-ownedSold by: ponderosapinebooks
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