Empire of the Sum
by Keith Houston · first published 2023
6mentions
5recommended by
6HN commenters
2023–2026first – last mentioned
83% recommend17% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Readable history of the pocket calculator and earlier mechanical calculating machines, with detail on devices like the Programma 101 and HP-35; for anyone curious how calculation was done before electronics.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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People with interest in calculators might be interested to read Empire of the Sum by Keith Houston, which provides some historical notes on calculating before the electronic and digital revolution. -- A proud owner of a Faber Castell slide rule, inherited from my father, and an Odhner…
on “Was There Life Before Computer? – the calculation before we went digital [pdf]” ↗I just recently came across CORDIC in a fun read I just finished, 'Empire of the Sum', by Keith Houston. It's a history of calculators, and there's a chapter on the HP-35 which used CORDIC. The author goes into some details how it was used by that constrained device. There are a lot…
on “How do computers calculate sine?” ↗In a similar vein I recommend Empire of the Sum by Keith Houston, an excellent history of calculators that also spends a lot of time on how we humans calculated before we had them
on “Big Data for the Leviathan” ↗I just finished reading Empire of the Sum which is a book telling the history of calculators, and has an entire chapter on Olivetti and the Programma 101. Highly recommend if you're interested in calculators. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/62585968
on “Promo for the Olivetti Programma 101- Memory of Future [video]” ↗I just finished reading Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator, which describes the Programma and many of its contemporaries. Highly recommended reading if you're interested in the history of calculating machines and how…
on “Olivetti Programma 101: At the Origins of the Personal Computer” ↗I just finished Keith Houston's previous book _Empire of the Sum_, a history of calculators, I'll be reading this next.
on “An interview with an Apple emoji designer” ↗