Bootstrapping Computing
Alexander D. Obenauer
You probably know that computers use binary to do all of their processing. But how? How does everything we do — write code, click buttons, browse the web — boil down to binary? What are the layers in between? And how did we create the upper layers out of the lower layers when they didn’t exist yet?
Bootstrapping Computing is a short, technical book for curious, non-technical people, exploring how we built modern computing out of simpler parts. We will cover each step, and how it was built out of the last one. We will take a few detours here and there to answer some questions you might have about computers, such as: Why can’t computers produce truly random numbers? How does a new programming language come to be — when it didn’t exist before? How did Tim Berners-Lee “invent” the World Wide Web? How does internet traffic get all the way across the ocean without any errors in the data transmitted?
We’ll also touch on some of the insights required to make the more difficult jumps as we travel up the stack, as well as the people who brought them to the fore.
Cover: Full color on 12 pt cover with matte layflat lamination, featuring an original illustration by Owen D. Pomery
Pages: Full color on 80 lb warm white paper, 112 pages
Dimensions: 17.5 cm × 21.0 cm × 0.9 cm
Pre-order. Releases December 1.
Handmade clothbound
$94Archival quality cloth-bound hardcover made by hand in-house. If well-cared-for, they will last generations.
Hard cover: 2.5 mm boards wrapped in smoke grey book cloth
Pages: Pigment-based archival ink in full color on 80 lb warm white paper sewn with accented linen thread, 112 pages
Dimensions: 18.3 cm × 21.5 cm × 1.6 cm
All prices displayed in USD. Customers responsible for any customs duties or import fees.
Reader praise for Bootstrapping Computing and its author:
“It’s a sublime piece of workmanship. It’s a masterpiece, really. Concise, precise, and beautiful. Few books achieve all of these at once: it’s as entertaining as it is relevant as it is aesthetically gorgeous. I'm in awe.”
Adrian Kosmaczewski
“Alex is one of those magical writers whose voice shines far beyond explaining ideas — it exudes craft and creativity, a reverence for the past, a yearning for the future, a respect for beauty and for complexity.”
Linus Lee
“A phenomenally well-written introduction to how computers work, building up from 1s and 0s.”
Kasey Klimes
