Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator

Author:   Keith Houston ,  Elliot Fitzpatrick
Publisher:   Tantor Audio
Edition:   Library Edition
ISBN:  

9798212957700


Publication Date:   31 October 2023
Format:   Audio  Audio Format
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
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Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator


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Overview

The hidden history of the pocket calculator--a device that ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, and went with us to the moon--and the mathematicians, designers, and inventors who brought it to life. Starting with hands, abacus, and slide rule, humans have always reached for tools to simplify math. Pocket-sized calculators ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, took us to the bottom of the ocean, and accompanied us to the moon. The pocket calculator changed our world, until it was supplanted by more modern devices that, in a cruel twist of irony, it helped to create. The calculator is dead; long live the calculator. In this witty mathematic and social history, Keith Houston transports listeners from the nascent economies of the ancient world to World War II, where a Jewish engineer calculated for his life at Buchenwald, and into the technological arms race that led to the first affordable electronic pocket calculators. At every turn, Houston is a scholarly, affable guide to this global history of invention. Empire of the Sum will appeal to math lovers, history buffs, and anyone seeking to understand our trajectory to the computer age.

Full Product Details

Author:   Keith Houston ,  Elliot Fitzpatrick
Publisher:   Tantor Audio
Imprint:   Tantor Audio
Edition:   Library Edition
ISBN:  

9798212957700


Publication Date:   31 October 2023
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Audio
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print   Availability explained
This item will be ordered in for you from one of our suppliers. Upon receipt, we will promptly dispatch it out to you. For in store availability, please contact us.

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Keith Houston is the author of Shady Characters and the founder of shadycharacters.co.uk. He lives in London. Elliot Fitzpatrick studied acting at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire before going on to appear in theater in London's West End, at Shakespeare's Globe, and with the Rose Theatre Kingston, as well as in international tours across Asia. As an audiobook narrator he has read over fifty titles, including books by Bear Grylls and mountain-climber Nims Purja, and in 2021 was nominated for an Audie for his work on the mystery thriller The Midnight Man by Caroline Mitchell. His voice can be heard in the video games Kings Bounty II and War Tales, as well as commercial work for Starling Bank.

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