O dear Ophelia!
I am ill at these numbers:
I have not art to reckon my groans.

Hamlet, act II, scene 2

Contents

Preface ix

1.  The First Mechanical Calculators 3

2.  The Engines of Charles Babbage 37

3.  The Bridge Between Two Centuries 69

4.  The Invention of ENIAC 99

5.  The Stored-Program Computer 133

6.  The Rise of IBM 167

7.  The Whirlwind Project 195

8.  The Integrated Circuit 225

9.  The Personal Computer 253

Epilogue: The Lesson of History 283

Appendix: The FBI Dossier of John William Mauchly 289

Chronology of the History of Computers 295

Bibliography and Notes 299

Acknowledgments 310

Index 313

Photo Credits 323