Single-page synopses of approximately 250 computer-related topics. There are some great photographs for some of the earlier entries, but many, especially of the later entries, are disappointingly just stock images. Wide variability in quality, many minor and some glaring mistakes. Going down Wikipedia rabbit holes would be a better use of one's time. ( )

Computers have come a long way since they were first conceived back in the 20th century. There are many more than 250 milestones, but that is the focus of this book. It covers both the theoretical and the practical in making a working computer system. Take my story for instance. When I was a child, I had a Commodore 64 computer. I didn’t really know how to work it and I didn’t have many programs or things to do on it. Thus, I didn’t really get into computers until the 1990s with Dial-Up modems their nostalgic sounds. I bought a lot of desktops since they are easy to fiddle with and don’t really overheat unless you overclock the CPU or don’t have adequate cooling. The other reason was that it was cheaper to get a desktop computer when I was in college. Now I have both a desktop and a laptop computer since I still have a number of useful things on my desktop.

Computers are so ubiquitous that I don’t think I need to say this, but a computer is made up of both hardware and software. The hardware is the components that make it up, the CPU, the ALU, the Bus systems, and the Motherboard. There are more components, but I don’t really need to provide a complete list. The software is the program. It is the set of instructions that tell it how to produce a game for you to play or how to respond to input.

The book starts at the Abacus, the basic counting device that some Asian Nations still make use of to this day. Not surprisingly, there aren’t that many advancements made in computing until the advent of Electricity and Boolean Algebra. Both of these things allow for simplified logic gates and electric powered components. This book is similar to the others in this series where one page contains all of the text and the other page has a pertinent image or picture. At the bottom of the page that has the text, there are references to other advancements. Since a lot of Computing History was focused on Cryptography and Codes there is a great amount of the book centered on the developments of those techniques to break them and use them.

The book doesn’t really have them organized by subject or anything, they are all chronological. Some of the advancements came earlier than I thought they did. Electronic Speech Recognition was developed in the 1950s. I did not realize that. Plus there are a lot of firsts depending on what you are looking for. For instance, when it comes to the first computer, there are quite a few depending on what category or type it is. Like the ENIAC is the first completely electronic computer. Or is it? I mean, I think the Colossus was first in that but it wasn’t widely known. Then there were patents that actually stymied growth. The same thing can be said for the secrecy of the British after World War II.

The most obvious advancements for a computer would be the components and what makes up those components. Initially it was a series of gears with the Difference Engine and Analytical Engine of Charles Babbage. Then scientists and engineers developed mechanical relays that operated with electricity. After that came Vacuum Tubes, allowing for more speed. Once Bell Labs came out with the Transistor in 1949 it was realized that they could be used to miniaturize the circuits and devices. Then we finally arrive at the Integrated Circuit. The computer is not merely its components though, it is also the programs and instructions that tell it what to do. So the book includes the Jacquard Loom, the hole punched instructions that allowed powered looms to make Brocade and other complicated fabric types. No book on computers would be complete without a reference to Augusta Ada King-Noel, Countess of Lovelace, the first programmer.

Finally, the book contains advancements in the field of Artificial Intelligence. From pop culture to real life, it includes stuff on Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, the first coining of the term ‘Robot’, an AI proving a Mathematical Theorem, Robby the Robot and other things. The last entry is on the Limits of Computation, which are coming pretty soon unless we get Quantum Computing.

In some ways the book is informative, but in others, I already knew a lot of the subject. However, that did not detract from my enjoyment of this book. ( )