Ladybird Tuesday - How it Works - The Computer

The Ladybird book The Computer comes from Ladybird Series 654 - How it Works. Published in 1971 it's a fascinating look at computers, both mechanical and electronic.

I thought that it might be a nice, easy to understand, introduction to early electronic computers. Unfortunately I must admit that I had very little idea what most of this book was about. It certainly goes into a lot of detail about the different ways in which computers store information and perform calculations, along with the different types of computer and the functions performed by each. It's fascinating to think about just how much computing has moved on in a relatively short period of time.

At the time the book was written, computers were being given commands on punched card or tape, and a 'small digital computer designed for the business man' is the same size as an office. (Of course, it's a business 'man' in the same way that on another page a room of computer operators entering in the data are all women).

I would imagine that most of the technology in this book is no longer in use in the world of modern computing. In fact, a lot of it was probably out of date by the time I started using computers in the late 80s. It looks as though there was an updated version of the book published in 1978 or 1979 (and you can see a funny parody of it here).

The final page of the book is called 'This Year, Next Year, Sometime...?' with a few hints to the future of computing, in particular the way that components will shrink in size and the more intricate jobs that computers will be able to perform. It was an exciting time in the world of technology, and I'm guessing that the authors could only just begin to imagine the possibilities!

If you love Ladybird books, do pop over and visit Ladybird Tuesday, where Being Mrs C is assembling a really comprehensive catalogue of Ladybird books and reviews.

Below you can find links to all my Ladybird Tuesday book posts.

Snow White and Rose Red
Hansel and Gretel
Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves
The Three Little Pigs
The Old Woman and her Pig
Little Red Riding Hood
The Ugly Duckling
The Railway Children
A Little Princess
A First book of Aesop's Fables

A Ladybird Book about Knitting
More Things to Make - For Special Occasions
Easy to Make Puppets
Learning to Sew
Stamp Collecting
Tricks and Magic

Prehistoric Animals and Fossils
Dinosaurs
Stone Age Man in Britain
Great Civilisations - Crete
Charles Dickens
Nelson
Lives of the Great Composers Book 1
Lives of the Great Composers Book 2
The Story of Music

Plants and How They Grow
The Ladybird Book of the Night Sky
Sea and Air Mammals
The Farm

The Story of Nuclear Power
The Motor Car
How it Works - The Computer
How it Works - The Rocket
The Story of Ships
The Postman and the Postal Service
People at Work - The Nurse

Understanding Numbers
Talkabout Clothes
Going to School
Teaching Reading

Stories of Special Days and Customs
Christmas Customs

Girls and Boys - A Ladybird Book of Childhood