Jacquard's Web

Zusatztext Jacquard's web is a special book that explains more than the connections between loom and computer: it presents a fascinating history of talented and creative people developing and inventing the tools of progress. Informationen zum Autor James Essinger is a writer with a particluar interest in the history of ideas that have had a practical impact on the modern world. He is currently working on a novel about Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace and on a popular history of the written word. Klappentext Essinger tells the story of some of the most brilliant inventors the world has ever known! in this fascinating account of how a hand-loom invented in Napoleonic France led to the development of the modern information age. Zusammenfassung Jacquard's Web tells one of the greatest untold stories of science: how a hand loom invented in Napoleonic France led to the birth of the modern computer age. James Essinger, a master storyteller, traces the 200-year evolution of Jacquard's idea from the studios of 18th century weavers, through the Industrial Revolution to the development of hi-tech computers and the information age today. Inhaltsverzeichnis Acknowledgements 1: The engraving that wasn't 2: A better mouse-trap 3: The son of a master weaver 4: The emperor's new clothes 5: From weaving to computing 6: The difference engine 7: The analytical engine 8: A question of faith and funding 9: The lady who loved the Jacquard loom 10: A crisis with the American census 11: The first Jacquard looms that wove information 12: The birth of IBM 13: The Thomas Watson phenomenon 14: Howard Aiken dreams of a computer 15: IBM and the Harvard Mark 1 16: Weaving at the speed of light 17: The future Index

Auteur
James Essinger is a writer with a particluar interest in the history of ideas that have had a practical impact on the modern world. He is currently working on a novel about Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace and on a popular history of the written word.

Texte du rabat

Essinger tells the story of some of the most brilliant inventors the world has ever known, in this fascinating account of how a hand-loom invented in Napoleonic France led to the development of the modern information age.

Résumé
Jacquard's Web tells one of the greatest untold stories of science: how a hand loom invented in Napoleonic France led to the birth of the modern computer age. James Essinger, a master storyteller, traces the 200-year evolution of Jacquard's idea from the studios of 18th century weavers, through the Industrial Revolution to the development of hi-tech computers and the information age today.

Contenu

• Acknowledgements

• 1: The engraving that wasn't

• 2: A better mouse-trap

• 3: The son of a master weaver

• 4: The emperor's new clothes

• 5: From weaving to computing

• 6: The difference engine

• 7: The analytical engine

• 8: A question of faith and funding

• 9: The lady who loved the Jacquard loom

• 10: A crisis with the American census

• 11: The first Jacquard looms that wove information

• 12: The birth of IBM

• 13: The Thomas Watson phenomenon

• 14: Howard Aiken dreams of a computer

• 15: IBM and the Harvard Mark 1

• 16: Weaving at the speed of light

• 17: The future

• Index