High-Speed Computing Devices.

£250 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books · No longer available

the first computer building handbook First edition of 'the first treatise on how to build an electronic digital computer' (Hook Norman, Origins of Cyberspace 584). An attractive copy. High-Speed Computing Devices was prepared under the supervision of Charles Brown Tompkins, vice president for research at Engineering Research Associates. Founded in 1946 by ex-Navy personnel, ERA manufactured both commercial computers and secret military equipment, and this book had its origins in a report to the Office of Naval Research. The text 'provided a "cookbook" describing the available ingredients and how they worked for both digital and analog computers. Because it explained the principles involved and gave examples, it was extremely useful'. First edition; 8vo; diagrams throughout, contents fresh; original blue cloth, titles to spine in gilt, cloth a little rubbed with some tiny marks, an excellent copy; 451pp. Hook Norman, Origins of Cyberspace 584.

• Binding: Hardcover

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