JACQUARD'S WEB:HOW HAND-LOOM LED BIRTH INFO AGE PAPER: How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age - Softcover
Synopsis
Circuits from silk? Today's technophiles probably have no idea how much today's computer technology owes to the invention of one ingenuous textile manufacturer in nineteenth-century France. Here, master storyteller James Essinger shows through a series of remarkable and meticulously researched historical connections how the Jacquard loom kick-started a process of scientific evolution which would lead directly to the development of the modern computer.Jacquard's 1804 invention, a loom which used punch cards with stored instructions for weaving different patterns and designs, enabled the master silk-weavers of Lyons to weave fabrics 25 times faster than the competition. Here, Essinger reveals the plethora of extraordinary links between that innovation in weaving and today's computer age, introducing us to the intriguing and colorful people who paved the way. The book concludes by bringing the story completely up-to-date with the latest developments in the World Wide Web and the fascinating phenomenon of artificial intelligence.Attractively illustrated and compellingly narrated, Jacquard's Web presents an eye-opening and scarcely known history that will prove fascinating to readers of popular science, especially those interested in the history of science, technology, and computing, as well as professional scientists, historians, and students.
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About the Author
James Essinger is a writer with a particluar interest in the history of ideas that have had a practical impact on the modern world. He is currently working on a novel about Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace and on a popular history of the written word.
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Jacquard's Web: How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age
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Oxford University Press (edition Reprint), 2007
ISBN 10: 0192805789
ISBN 13: 9780192805782
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Jacquard's Web : How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age
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Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2007
ISBN 10: 0192805789
ISBN 13: 9780192805782
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Jacquard's Web : How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age
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Oxford University Press, Incorporated, 2007
ISBN 10: 0192805789
ISBN 13: 9780192805782
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Jacquard's Web: How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age
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ISBN 10: 0192805789
ISBN 13: 9780192805782
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Jacquard's Web: How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age
Published by
Oxford University Press, 2007
ISBN 10: 0192805789
ISBN 13: 9780192805782
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Jacquard's Web: How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age
Published by
Oxford University Press, 2007
ISBN 10: 0192805789
ISBN 13: 9780192805782
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Jacquard's Web: How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age
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ISBN 10: 0192805789
ISBN 13: 9780192805782
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JACQUARD'S WEB:HOW HAND-LOOM LED BIRTH INFO AGE PAPER: How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age
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Oxford University Press, United Kingdom, Oxford, 2007
ISBN 10: 0192805789
ISBN 13: 9780192805782
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Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
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Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Jacquard's Web is the story of some of the most ingenious inventors the world has ever known, a fascinating account of how a hand-loom invented in Napoleonic France led to the development of the modern information age. James Essinger, a master story-teller, shows through a series of remarkable and meticulously researched historical connections (spanning two centuries and never investigated before) that the Jacquard loom kick-started a process of scientific evolution which would lead directly to the development of the modern computer. The invention of Jacquard's loom in 1804 enabled the master silk-weavers of Lyons to weave fabrics 25 times faster than had previously been possible. The device used punched cards, which stored instructions for weaving whatever pattern or design was required; it proved an outstanding success. These cards can very reasonably be described as the world's first computer programmes. In this engaging and delightful book, James Essinger reveals a plethora of extraordinary links between the nineteenth-century world of weaving and today's computer age: to give just one example, modern computer graphics displays are based on exactly the same principles as those employed in Jacquard's special woven tableaux. Jacquard's Web also introduces some of the most colourful and interesting characters in the history of science and technology: the modest but exceptionally dedicated Jacquard himself, the brilliant but temperamental Victorian polymath Charles Babbage, who dreamt of a cogwheel computer operated using Jacquard cards, and the imaginative and perceptive Ada Lovelace, Lord Byron's only legitimate daughter. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003456129
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JACQUARD'S WEB:HOW HAND-LOOM LED BIRTH INFO AGE PAPER: How a Hand-Loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age
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ISBN 10: 0192805789
ISBN 13: 9780192805782
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Jacquard's Web : How a Hand-loom Led to the Birth of the Information Age
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Oxford University Press, 2007
ISBN 10: 0192805789
ISBN 13: 9780192805782
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