The Discrete Charm of the Machine

“Computer scientist Steiglitz examines the global transformation from analog to digital and the ways it changed how we calculate, communicate and entertain ourselves. He describes the nuts and bolts of taking something analog, such as waves traveling through the air that make sound, and converting them into 0s and 1s, all in witty and cogent language.”—Clara Moskowitz, Scientific American“This is an engaging and enjoyable book. Readers interested in the differences between analogue and digital approaches to computation and signal processing will not find a better popular treatment.”—Thomas Haigh, Nature Electronics“Reading this book was a great pleasure and there is lots to be effusive about… .this book deserves to be read by everyone interested in, or influenced by, modern digital technologies. When you think about it, this is pretty much everyone. So, in this reviewer’s opinion, this book is destined to become a modern classic.”—Rob Ashmore, Mathematics Today

Ken Steiglitz is professor emeritus of computer science and senior scholar at Princeton University. His books include Combinatorial Optimization, A Digital Signal Processing Primer, and Snipers, Shills, and Sharks (Princeton). He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.