C. B. Tompkins; J. H. Wakelin; W. W. Stifler; The Staff of Engineering Research Associates, inc. - High-Speed Computing Devices - 1950

We are delighted to present a very good first impression copy of this key work on early digital computing, the first “how-to” guide for building an electronic digital computer. Very scarce in the original dust jacket, this is the definitive source of the technologies that kick-started the computer industry. It includes some of the most complete bibliographies on American and English computing literature, and contains numerous diagrams and tables. One particularly key table lists all the computers of the era and their specifications - EDVAC, UNIVAC, BINAC, the Mark III, etc. The ERA team grew out of the US Navy’s cryptologic establishment, and was founded by Charles Brown Tompkins, a pioneering academic, who wrote the majority of the text here. It presents a clear, organised picture of computing concepts, techniques, machinery, and components in use as of 1950, with emphasis on electronic high-speed computing. Overall, this book, scarce in such condition, is a fascinating artefact in the history of computing. 23. 5x16cm, pp. xiii+451. Numerous diagrams and tables. Yellow Dust Jacket, price-clipped. Chips to edges, particularly head and tail of spine. Spine sunned. Tear in middle of spine. Missing tail fore-edge of rear cover corner, affecting text. Front cover damaged at hinge. Blue cloth binding with gilt lettering to spine in very good condition. Internally very good, no bookplates or ownership inscriptions. Pages clean. Item as pictured.