Meilensteine der Rechentechnik: Band 2 Erfindung des Computers, Elektronenrechner, Entwicklungen in Deutschland, England und der Schweiz

The award-winning work Milestones in Analog and Digital Computing is available in the second, completely revised and greatly expanded edition. The two volumes, which comprise 1600 pages in total, are a complete work, but can also be used individually. This publication deals with both analog and digital devices and includes related areas such as automata (e. g. automaton figures and musical automatons) and scientific instruments (e. g. astronomy, surveying, watchmaking). Early typewriters and program-controlled mechanical looms are also touched on.

The focal points of the first volume are: Basics, mechanical calculating machines, slide rules, historical automatons, development of arithmetic, step-by-step instructions for analog and digital calculators. All important technical terms are explained. The world’s most magnificent cylindrical calculating machines and androids are presented in words and pictures. The book also contains fundamental considerations on topics such as digitization and artificial intelligence, the role of technological history and the preservation of technical heritage.

The second volume is mainly devoted to the electronic machines: Invention of the computer, worldwide development of computing technology, especially in Germany, England and Switzerland. It also includes a German-English and an English-German technical dictionary. The glossaries are intended to promote the reading of complicated foreign-language texts and facilitate translations. In addition, there is a comprehensive worldwide bibliography.

Both volumes report on sensational new discoveries of documents and objects (including the world’s largest mass-produced cylindrical slide rule, the world’s smallest mechanical parallel calculator, the first mechanical process calculator) and are also suitable as reference works. They are generally understandable and are aimed at everyone who enjoys history of technology, mathematics, computer science and art.

• Multilingual bibliography on the history of mathematics, computer science, technology and science with more than 5000 entries
• technical dictionary German-English and English-German with 4000 entries each
• 18 step-by-step instructions for the operation of historical analog and digital devices
• >400 illustrations, >100 tabular overviews, numerous time tables
• Detailed index of names, places and subjects.

Quotes on the first edition

Steven Deckelman (Mathematical Association of America, August 2016):

"This impressive new book by Herbert Bruderer is an extensive in-depth scholarly history of mathematics and computer science with a focus on computing technology in German lands. This book is a must-have for anyone interested in the history of mathematics and computer science as well engineering (especially mechanical and electrical), technology and the history of science."

Thomas Sonar (Mathematical Semesterberichte, March 2017):

"With this book, the author Herbert Bruderer has actually written a milestone in the history of technology, which should not be missing in any library. Herbert Bruderer has presented a work that will certainly quickly establish itself as a standard work and classic."

Rainer Gebhardt (Jahrbuch des Adam-Ries-Bund, 2016):

"All in all, the work represents a very well-founded compilation of analogue and digital calculators. It's the most comprehensive reference book in computer history to date."

Herbert Bruderer

is a retired lecturer in computer science at ETH Zürich and an historian of technology. He has written numerous books on computer science and has won several prizes.