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1. The Computer Book: A Pleasant Stroll through the History of Computing
   “The Computer Book” by Simson Garfinkel and Rachel Grunspan is subtitled, “From the Abacus to Artificial Intelligence, 250 Milestones in the History of Computer Science;” but, don’t be put off by that mouthful; it’s a delightful read and a visual feast. Each of the 250 well-curated, chronological milestones are flanked by gorgeous full-page photography. Among them, Milestone 13, The Jacquard Loom.The punched cards used in the Jacquard loom circa 1801 were later adapted by inventor Herman Hollerith to tabulate the U.S. Census in 1890 and were forerunner to the punched IBM cards that were a common medium to enter and store digital data from the 1930s through 1970s. Another descendent: the punched paper tape I used to store BASIC computer programs in high school circa 1972. Our modern computing feats are often smaller, speedier reimaginings of age-old technologies. The Computer Book ably underscores that evolution.I bought the book because I’ve followed Simson Garfinkel’s extraordinary career since he was a graduate student buying second hand hard drives and scaring the snot out of people by revealing how much sensitive “deleted” data could be resurrected via forensic file carving. That’s common knowledge now, but largely because pioneers like Simson made it so. Simson is Professor Garfinkel today as well as the Senior Computer Scientist for Confidentiality and Disclosure Avoidance at the US Census Bureau. Shades of Herman Hollerith! Simson holds seven patents and has published dozens of articles on computer security and digital forensics.I’m considering making the book required reading for my law classes–something I’ve not done before as I prefer my students not go out-of-pocket. The Computer Book succeeds in being accessible to the lay reader in a way few books about computing match. To really understand technologies, laws or people, it pays to delve into their origins. If I ran the world, The Computer Book would be required reading for anyone in the e-discovery space.

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2. Interesting
   I wish an Audible one was offered! This is a very good book describing the history, terms, authors, etc. Enjoy yourself! It’s a good reference book for computer science classes.

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3. Beautiful and Interesting Book
   I purchased this for a Christmas gift for my boss (I work in IT) and I gave it a look-through when it arrived to check it out. It’s a lovely book – very informative and interesting. If you are interested in the history of computing I highly recommend it.

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4. Great book to read and to collect
   I really enjoy reading this book. Each page has one historical highlight accompanied by a page of related illustration. It is really easy to read and is a great addition to my collection.

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5. Great Overview of Computer History and Concepts
   This book is a great overview of the history of Computers and the Internet. There are 250 bite sized articles exploring key concepts or events.

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6. An enjoyable and informative read
   Garfinkel and Grunspan lead readers on a highlight tour of notable and interesting advances in computing. They offer a one-page summary and great photos for each individual milestones including technologies, people, and decisions. For example, those from 1985 include:* Connection Machine* First Computer-Generated TV Host* Zero-Knowledge Proofs* FCC Approves Unlicensed Spread Spectrum* NSFNET* Desktop Publishing* Field-Programmable Gate Array* GPU Manifesto* AFIS Stops a Serial KillerPerfect for kids showing interest in tech, those who lived through a lifetime of digital evolution, and anyone who uses or admires today’s technology.

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7. Great value, but the content is not what I expected
   First the bad side:I thought the content of the book would be a walk-through of the computer history and how it evolves to become the modern day computer. However, this book is more like a encyclopedia of individual computers in history with one page of description and one page of picture. It lacks the connection of how they are related.Good side:The printing of the book is really high quality. All color pages, beautiful, for just $20.Overall I think this book is not what I am looking for to learn the history of computer, but I think with the color pages, it will be a good book for younger kids.

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8. Lots of fun
   This is a very readable book with interesting commentary on not just computers but their place in society. Since each entry is only 1 page, it is fun to flip through but also to see how computing evolved.

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9. If you like learning about ancient calculators and giant mainframes then you will like this.

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10. Properly ordered content ,so that you can understand the length and breadth of CS.

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11. Good

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