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Book Description

What do flashlights, the British invasion, black cats, and seesaws have to do with computers? In CODE, they show us the ingenious ways we manipulate language and invent new means of communicating with each other. And through CODE, we see how this ingenuity and our very human compulsion to communicate have driven the technological innovations of the past two centuries.
Using everyday objects and familiar language systems such as Braille and Morse code, author Charles Petzold weaves an illuminating narrative for anyone who’s ever wondered about the secret inner life of computers and other smart machines.
It’s a cleverly illustrated and eminently comprehensible story—and along the way, you’ll discover you’ve gained a real context for understanding today’s world of PCs, digital media, and the Internet. No matter what your level of technical savvy, CODE will charm you—and perhaps even awaken the technophile within.

Table of Contents

  1. Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software
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    2. Preface to the Paperback Edition
    3. 1. Best Friends
    4. 2. Codes and Combinations
    5. 3. Braille and Binary Codes
    6. 4. Anatomy of a Flashlight
    7. 5. Seeing Around Corners
    8. 6. Telegraphs and Relays
    9. 7. Our Ten Digits
    10. 8. Alternatives to Ten
    11. 9. Bit by Bit by Bit
    12. 10. Logic and Switches
    13. 11. Gates (Not Bill)
    14. 12. A Binary Adding Machine
    15. 13. But What About Subtraction?
    16. 14. Feedback and Flip-Flops
    17. 15. Bytes and Hex
    18. 16. An Assemblage of Memory
    19. 17. Automation
    20. 18. From Abaci to Chips
    21. 19. Two Classic Microprocessors
    22. 20. ASCII and a Cast of Characters
    23. 21. Get on the Bus
    24. 22. The Operating System
    25. 23. Fixed Point, Floating Point
    26. 24. Languages High and Low
    27. 25. The Graphical Revolution
    28. A. Acknowledgments
    29. B. Bibliography
    30. About the Author
    31. Colophon
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