
The Computers that Made the World
Tim Danton(Author)
Raspberry Pi Press
Published on 15. July 2025
Book
Hardback
272 pages
978-1-916868-07-6 (ISBN)
Description
This book tells the story of the birth of the technological world we now live in. It chronicles how computers reshaped World War II. And it does it all through the origins of 12 influential computers built between 1939 and 1950.
In 1940, a computer was someone who ploughed through gruelling calculations each day. A decade later, a computer was a buzzing machine that filled a room. This book tells the story of how our world was reshaped by a dozen such computers - and the geniuses that brought them into being, from Alan Turing to John von Neumann.
You'll discover how these pioneers shortened World War II, and hidden truths that governments didn't want you to know. But this isn't just a story about how these computers came to be, or the fascinating people behind them: it's a story about how a new world order, built on technology, sprang into being.
This book is a world tour through the modern history of computing, and it begins in 1939 with the first electronic digital computer, the Atanasoff-Berry computer (ABC). From there, the book moves on to the Berlin-born Zuse Z3 and the Bell Labs' Complex Number Calculator, before we enter the World War II era with Colossus, Harvard Mark I, and then ENIAC, the first general-purpose digital computer.
The story of computing in World War II takes us through Germany, UK, and the US, before covering the explosive post-war years when anything seemed possible. You'll discover the fascinating stories behind the Manchester Baby, EDSAC, EDVAC, UNIVAC, Princeton IAS, and Alan Turing's Pilot ACE and the birth of artificial intelligence.
In The Computers that Made the World, you'll not only learn about the computers that shaped the world we live in, but what happened behind the scenes.
In 1940, a computer was someone who ploughed through gruelling calculations each day. A decade later, a computer was a buzzing machine that filled a room. This book tells the story of how our world was reshaped by a dozen such computers - and the geniuses that brought them into being, from Alan Turing to John von Neumann.
You'll discover how these pioneers shortened World War II, and hidden truths that governments didn't want you to know. But this isn't just a story about how these computers came to be, or the fascinating people behind them: it's a story about how a new world order, built on technology, sprang into being.
This book is a world tour through the modern history of computing, and it begins in 1939 with the first electronic digital computer, the Atanasoff-Berry computer (ABC). From there, the book moves on to the Berlin-born Zuse Z3 and the Bell Labs' Complex Number Calculator, before we enter the World War II era with Colossus, Harvard Mark I, and then ENIAC, the first general-purpose digital computer.
The story of computing in World War II takes us through Germany, UK, and the US, before covering the explosive post-war years when anything seemed possible. You'll discover the fascinating stories behind the Manchester Baby, EDSAC, EDVAC, UNIVAC, Princeton IAS, and Alan Turing's Pilot ACE and the birth of artificial intelligence.
In The Computers that Made the World, you'll not only learn about the computers that shaped the world we live in, but what happened behind the scenes.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Product notice
Paper over boards
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 174 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
594 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-916868-07-6 (9781916868076)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Tim Danton
The Computers that Made the World
E-Book
07/2025
Raspberry Pi Press
€9.49
Available for download
Person
Tim Danton is author of The Computers That Made Britain, a Raspberry Pi book, and editor-in-chief of the British technology magazine PC Pro. He has also helped to launch several technology websites, most recently TechFinitive.com, where he is a senior editor.
Content
Preface
Introduction: Charles Babbage - inventor of the first mechanical computer
Chapter 1: ABC - the Atanasoff-Berry computer
Chapter 2: Z3 - an early electromechanical computer
Chapter 3: Complex Number Calculator - building the foundations of digital computers
Chapter 4: Colossus - code-breaking computer that helped win a World War
Chapter 5: Harvard Mark 1 - another pioneering electromechanical computer
Chapter 6: ENIAC - the first programmable digital computer
Chapter 7: Manchester Baby - the first electronic stored-program computer
Chapter 8: EDSAC - pioneering British computer
Chapter 9: EDVAC, UNIVAC, & Princeton IAS - three computers with shared origins
Chapter 10: Pilot ACE - vacuum-tube powered early computing
Chapter 11: What happened next - the growth of commercial computing
Introduction: Charles Babbage - inventor of the first mechanical computer
Chapter 1: ABC - the Atanasoff-Berry computer
Chapter 2: Z3 - an early electromechanical computer
Chapter 3: Complex Number Calculator - building the foundations of digital computers
Chapter 4: Colossus - code-breaking computer that helped win a World War
Chapter 5: Harvard Mark 1 - another pioneering electromechanical computer
Chapter 6: ENIAC - the first programmable digital computer
Chapter 7: Manchester Baby - the first electronic stored-program computer
Chapter 8: EDSAC - pioneering British computer
Chapter 9: EDVAC, UNIVAC, & Princeton IAS - three computers with shared origins
Chapter 10: Pilot ACE - vacuum-tube powered early computing
Chapter 11: What happened next - the growth of commercial computing