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

Humans have used tools like hands, abacus, and slide rule to simplify math. Pocket-sized calculators ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, took us to the ocean's bottom and to the moon. Keith Houston's "Empire of the Sum" explores the global history of invention, from ancient economies to the First World War and the technological arms race that led to the first affordable electronic pocket calculators.

Format: Hardback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 06 October 2023
Publisher: WW Norton & Co

Humans have always sought tools to simplify mathematics, beginning with the abacus and slide rule. 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 revolutionized our world until it was supplanted by more modern devices, ironically helping to create them. The calculator has passed away, but the calculator lives on.

In this captivating mathematical and social history, Keith Houston takes readers on a journey from the early economies of ancient civilizations to the First World War, where a Jewish engineer calculated his fate at Buchenwald, and into the technological arms race that led to the first affordable electronic pocket calculators. Throughout, Houston serves as a knowledgeable and engaging guide to this global history of invention. Empire of the Sum will captivate math enthusiasts, history aficionados, and anyone seeking to understand our journey toward the computer age.

Weight: 556g
Dimension: 146 x 217 x 32 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780393882148