The Thinking Machine: A History of Computing, from the First Counting Tables to Artificial Intelligence
English | October 15, 2026 | ASIN: B0HN5NCHD2 | 792 pages | Epub | 1.39 MB
How did humanity move from counting stones and mechanical calculators to computers that can generate text, images, and ideas?The Thinking Machine traces the long history of computing, from ancient instruments and early algorithms to artificial intelligence. Along the way, it explores the people, discoveries, and machines that shaped this story: Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing, the first electronic computers, the rise of programming, personal computers, the internet, and today's generative AI.The book also brings Italy's contribution into focus, from Olivetti and the ELEA to the development of computer science in Pisa. Rather than reducing progress to a series of lone geniuses or inevitable breakthroughs, it connects technical change to the wider ideas and societies that made it possible.Written for curious readers, students, and technology enthusiasts, this is an accessible guide to the history of computing—and to the questions its next chapter raises.