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The Logician and the Engineer: How George Boole and Claude Shannon Created the Information Age
by Paul J. Nahin
Princeton University Press, 2012 (($24.95))
Grab a pencil and paper to work through the puzzles peppering this engaging account of Boolean logic and computing through the work of 19th-century mathematician George Boole and 20th-century electrical engineer Claude Shannon. Math writer and emeritus professor Nahin assumes some rudimentary knowledge but expertly explains concepts such as relay circuits, Turing machines and quantum computing. Reasoning through the problems and diagrams will give persistent readers genuine aha moments and an understanding of the two revolutionaries who helped to lay the foundation of our digital world.
COMMENT ATScientificAmerican.com/nov2012