The Discrete Charm of the Machine: Why the World Became Digital

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Discrete Charm of the Machine: Why the World Became Digital
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Ken Steiglitz
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:256
Dimensions(mm): Height 235,Width 156
Category/GenreHistory of mathematics
Technology - general issues
Electronics engineering
Computer science
Mathematical theory of computation
Human-computer interaction
ISBN/Barcode 9780691229027
ClassificationsDewey:621.382
Audience
General
Illustrations 40 b/w illus.

Publishing Details

Publisher Princeton University Press
Imprint Princeton University Press
Publication Date 23 November 2021
Publication Country United States

Description

The genesis of the digital idea and why it transformed civilization A few short decades ago, we were informed by the smooth signals of analog television and radio; we communicated using our analog telephones; and we even computed with analog computers. Today our world is digital, built with zeros and ones. Why did this revolution occur? The Disc

Author Biography

Ken Steiglitz is professor emeritus of computer science and senior scholar at Princeton University. His books include Combinatorial Optimization, A Digital Signal Processing Primer, and Snipers, Shills, and Sharks (Princeton). He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

Reviews

"Computer scientist Steiglitz examines the global transformation from analog to digital and the ways it changed how we calculate, communicate and entertain ourselves. He describes the nuts and bolts of taking something analog, such as waves traveling through the air that make sound, and converting them into 0s and 1s, all in witty and cogent language."---Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American "This is an engaging and enjoyable book. Readers interested in the differences between analogue and digital approaches to computation and signal processing will not find a better popular treatment."---Thomas Haigh, Nature Electronics "Reading this book was a great pleasure and there is lots to be effusive about. . . .this book deserves to be read by everyone interested in, or influenced by, modern digital technologies. When you think about it, this is pretty much everyone. So, in this reviewer's opinion, this book is destined to become a modern classic."---Rob Ashmore, Mathematics Today