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Empire of the Sum
The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator
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Brief Description
Starting with hands, abacus, and slide rule, humans have always reached for tools to simplify maths. 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 changed our...
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Empire of the Sum
$4399
Unit price
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Unavailable
Empire of the Sum
The hidden history of the pocket calculator—a device that ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb and went with us to the moon—and the mathematicians, designers and inventors who brought it to life
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Description
Starting with hands, abacus, and slide rule, humans have always reached for tools to simplify maths. 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 changed our world, until it was supplanted by more modern devices that, in a cruel twist of irony, it helped to create. The calculator is dead; long live the calculator.
In this witty mathematical and social history, Keith Houston transports readers from the nascent economies of the ancient world to World War II, where a Jewish engineer calculated for his life at Buchenwald, and into the technological arms race that led to the first affordable electronic pocket calculators. At every turn, Houston is a scholarly, affable guide to this global history of invention.
Empire of the Sum will appeal to maths lovers, history buffs, and anyone seeking to understand our trajectory to the computer age.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781324086390
Publisher: WW Norton & Co
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 29 August 2025
Country: United States
Imprint: WW Norton & Co
Illustration: Full-color illustrations throughout
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 25.0mm
Width: 142.0mm
Height: 211.0mm
Weight: 450g
Pages: 384
About the Author
Keith Houston is the author of Face with Tears of Joy, Empire of the Sum, Shady Characters, and The Book. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and on Mental Floss, BBC Culture, and Literary Hub. He lives in Linlithgow, Scotland.
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