How Things Work: The Computer Science Edition

273 Pages·2021·13.667 MB·English

by  Charles F. Bowman

How Things Work
How Things Work
Series Editor: Charles F. Bowman
How Things Work: The Computer Science Edition
Charles F. Bowman
For more information about this series please visit: https://www.routledge.com/
How-Things-Work/book-series/HTW
How Things Work
The Computer Science Edition
Charles F. Bowman
First edition published 2022
by CRC Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data
Names: Bowman, Charles F., author.
Title: How things work : the computer science edition / Charles F. Bowman.
Description: First edition. | Boca Raton, FL : CRC Press, 2022. | Series:
How things work | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2021012185 | ISBN 9780367568375 (hbk) | ISBN
9780367567316 (pbk) | ISBN 9781003099567 (ebk)
Subjects: LCSH: Computer science--Popular works.
Classification: LCC QA76 .B686 2022 | DDC 004--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021012185
ISBN: 978-0-367-56837-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-0-367-56731-6 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-09956-7 (ebk)
Typeset in Minion
by KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd.
Access the Support Material: https://www.routledge.com/9780367568375
Other Books by Charles F. Bowman
Algorithms & Data Structures: An Approach in C
Objectifying Motif
Broadway: The New X Windows System
The Wisdom of the Gurus

For Florence,
Your Melody Remains
For Maria,
The Sunrise of My Second Dawn
For Nicole, Michael, and Charles,
If Pride is Truly a Sin, I will Surely Burn in Hell
For Amaya, Joseph, Nora, CJ, and Mathew,
I Hope the Footprints I Leave, Lead You on the Right Path

Contents
Acknowledgments, xix
Author, xxi
Chapter 1 ◾ C omputers Are Everywhere 1
INTRODUCTION 1
MODERN TECHNOLOGY 1
OBJECTIVES OF THIS BOOK 2
ORGANIZATION 2
FORMATTING CONVENTIONS 3
Chapter 2 ◾ A Brief History of Computing 5
OVERVIEW 5
MAJOR ADVANCES IN COMPUTING 5
Abacus—2700–2300 BCE 5
Babbage’s Analytical Engine—1834–1871 6
The Advent of Software—1840s 7
Turing Machines—1930s 8
ABC: First Electrical Computer—1930s–1940s 8
ENIAC: First Digital Computer—1940s 9
The Advent of the Transistor—1940s–1950s 9
The First Commercial Computer—1951 10
The First Home Computers—1977 10
SUMMARY 12
Chapter 3 ◾ D igitization 13
OVERVIEW 13
WHAT IS DIGITIZATION? 13
Keyboard Characters 14
Digitized Images 14
ix