LEADER 02956nam 2200409 450 001 9910422640003321 005 20220629214906.0 010 $a979-1-03-656687-5 010 $a1-80064-031-5 035 $a(CKB)4100000011528548 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC6379907 035 $a(FrMaCLE)OB-obp-15659 035 $a(PPN)255349343 035 $a(EXLCZ)994100000011528548 100 $a20210319d2020 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcnu|||||||| 181 $ctxt$2rdacontent 182 $cc$2rdamedia 183 $acr$2rdacarrier 200 10$aB C, before computers $eon information technology from writing to the age of digital data /$fStephen Robertson 210 1$aCambridge, England :$cOpen Book Publishers,$d[2020] 210 4$dİ2020 215 $a1 online resource (156 pages) $cillustrations 311 $a1-80064-029-3 330 $aThe idea that the digital age has revolutionized our day-to-day experience of the world is nothing new, and has been amply recognized by cultural historians. In contrast, Stephen Robertson?s BC: Before Computers is a work which questions the idea that the mid-twentieth century saw a single moment of rupture. It is about all the things that we had to learn, invent, and understand ? all the ways we had to evolve our thinking ? before we could enter the information technology revolution of the second half of the twentieth century. Its focus ranges from the beginnings of data processing, right back to such originary forms of human technology as the development of writing systems, gathering a whole history of revolutionary moments in the development of information technologies into a single, although not linear narrative. Treading the line between philosophy and technical history, Robertson draws on his extensive technical knowledge to produce a text which is both thought-provoking and accessible to a wide range of readers. The book is wide in scope, exploring the development of technologies in such diverse areas as cryptography, visual art and music, and the postal system. Through all this, it does not simply aim to tell the story of computer developments but to show that those developments rely on a long history of humans creating technologies for increasingly sophisticated methods of manipulating information. Through a clear structure and engaging style, it brings together a wealth of informative and conceptual explorations into the history of human technologies, and avoids assumptions about any prior knowledge on the part of the reader. As such the expert and the general reader alike will find it of interest. 606 $aInformation technology$xHistory 615 0$aInformation technology$xHistory. 676 $a303.4833 700 $aRobertson$b Stephen$0994149 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910422640003321 996 $aB C, before computers$92276834 997 $aUNINA