From Gutenberg to the Internet. NEW COPY

From Gutenberg to the Internet presents 63 original readings from the history of computing, networking, and telecommunications arranged thematically by chapters. Most of the readings record basic discoveries from the 1830s through the 1960s that laid the foundation of the world of digital information in which we live. These readings, some of which are illustrated, trace historic steps from the early nineteenth century development of telegraph systems-the first data networks- through the development of the earliest general-purpose progammable computers and the earliest software, to the foundation in 1969 of ARPANET, the first national computer network that eventually became the Internet. The readings will allow you to review early developments and ideas in the history of information technology that eventually led to the convergence of computing, data networking, and telecommunications in the Internet.

The editor has written a lengthy illustrated historical introduction concerning the impact of the Internet on book culture. It compares and contrasts the transition from manuscript to print initiated by Gutenberg's invention of printing by moveable type in the 15th century with the transition that began in the mid-19th century from a print-centric world to the present world in which printing co-exists with various electronic media that converged to form the Internet. He also provided a comprehensive and wide-ranging annotated timeline covering selected developments in the history of information technology from the year 100 up to 2004, and supplied introductory notes to each reading. Some introductory notes contain supplementary illustrations.

Contents:

1. From Gutenberg's Press to the Foundations of the Internet

2. From Gutenberg to the Internet Timeline. Developments in the History of Information Technology from the Years 100 to 2004

3. Human Computers

4. Mechanizing the Production of Mathematical Tables

5. The Earliest Data Networks

Optical Telegraphy

Electric Telegraphy

Telephones

Wireless Telegraphy

Television

6. Origins of the General Purpose Programmable Computer-Babbage's Analytical Engine

7. The Theory of the Universal Machine

8. Logical Design and Production of the First Electronic Digital Computers

9. The Origins of Computer Programming

10. Early Applications of Electronic Computers

11. Computing and Intelligence

12. Communication Theory

13. Origins of the Internet

Index of Names