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Now in its fourth edition, this highly regarded book is ideal for those who wish to solve a variety of practical and recreational problems in astronomy using a scientific calculator or spreadsheet. Updated and extended, this new edition shows you how to use spreadsheets to predict, with greater accuracy, solar and lunar eclipses, the positions of the planets, and the times of sunrise and sunset. Suitable for worldwide use, this handbook covers orbits, transformations and general celestial phenomena, and is essential for anyone wanting to make astronomical calculations for themselves. With clear, easy-to-follow instructions for use with a pocket calculator, shown alongside worked examples, it can be enjoyed by anyone interested in astronomy, and will be a useful tool for software writers and students studying introductory astronomy. High-precision spreadsheet methods for greater accuracy are available at www.cambridge.org/practicalastronomy.

Astronomy --- Calculators --- Electronic spreadsheets in education. --- Education

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Before Palm Pilots and iPods, PCs and laptops, the term "computer" referred to the people who did scientific calculations by hand. These workers were neither calculating geniuses nor idiot savants but knowledgeable people who, in other circumstances, might have become scientists in their own right. When Computers Were Human represents the first in-depth account of this little-known, 200-year epoch in the history of science and technology. Beginning with the story of his own grandmother, who was trained as a human computer, David Alan Grier provides a poignant introduction to the wider world of women and men who did the hard computational labor of science. His grandmother's casual remark, "I wish I'd used my calculus," hinted at a career deferred and an education forgotten, a secret life unappreciated; like many highly educated women of her generation, she studied to become a human computer because nothing else would offer her a place in the scientific world. The book begins with the return of Halley's comet in 1758 and the effort of three French astronomers to compute its orbit. It ends four cycles later, with a UNIVAC electronic computer projecting the 1986 orbit. In between, Grier tells us about the surveyors of the French Revolution, describes the calculating machines of Charles Babbage, and guides the reader through the Great Depression to marvel at the giant computing room of the Works Progress Administration. When Computers Were Human is the sad but lyrical story of workers who gladly did the hard labor of research calculation in the hope that they might be part of the scientific community. In the end, they were rewarded by a new electronic machine that took the place and the name of those who were, once, the computers.

Mental calculators --- Science --- Calculus --- Calculating prodigies --- Calculators, Mental --- Computers, Human --- Human computers --- Gifted persons --- Mental arithmetic --- Natural science --- Natural sciences --- Science of science --- Sciences --- History. --- Mathematics

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Math is a subject many people find intimidating. But many don't understand the history of math and how it came to be what it is today. Here, G. Arnell Williams illuminates, in plain and simple terms, how we got the math we use today, the math our children learn, and the math we struggle at times to explain.

Mathematics --- Arithmetic --- Set theory --- Calculators --- Numbers, Real --- Math --- Science --- Study and teaching (Early childhood) --- Parent participation.

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Chemistry --- Chemistry. --- Computers. --- Chimie --- Chemie. --- Data processing --- Informatique --- Data processing. --- Calculators, Programmable --- Computer Hardware --- Computers, Digital --- Hardware, Computer --- Calculator, Programmable --- Computer --- Computer, Digital --- Digital Computer --- Digital Computers --- Programmable Calculator --- Programmable Calculators --- Physical sciences --- Computers --- Chimio-informatique --- Chimie. --- Ordinateurs. --- chemistry. --- computers.

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This encyclopedic reference provides a concise and engaging overview of the groundbreaking inventions and conceptual innovations that have shaped the field of computing, and the technology that runs the modern world. Each alphabetically-ordered entry presents a brief account of a pivotal innovation and the great minds behind it, selected from a wide range of diverse topics. Topics and features: Describes the development of Babbage’s computing machines, Leibniz’s binary arithmetic, Boole’s symbolic logic, and Von Neumann architecture Reviews a range of historical analog and digital computers, significant mainframes and minicomputers, and pioneering home and personal computers Discusses a selection of programming languages and operating systems, along with key concepts in software engineering and commercial computing Examines the invention of the transistor, the integrated circuit, and the microprocessor Relates the history of such developments in personal computing as the mouse, the GUI, Atari video games, and Microsoft Office Surveys innovations in communications, covering mobile phones, WiFi, the Internet and World Wide Web, e-commerce, smartphones, social media, and GPS Presents coverage of topics on artificial intelligence, the ATM, digital photography and digital music, robotics, and Wikipedia Contains self-test quizzes and a helpful glossary This enjoyable compendium will appeal to the general reader curious about the intellectual milestones that led to the digital age, as well as to the student of computer science seeking a primer on the history of their field. Dr. Gerard O'Regan is a CMMI software process improvement consultant with research interests including software quality and software process improvement, mathematical approaches to software quality, and the history of computing. He is the author of such Springer titles as World of Computing, Concise Guide to Formal Methods, Concise Guide to Software Engineering, and Guide to Discrete Mathematics.

Calculators. --- Computers. --- Mathematical instruments. --- Instruments, Mathematical --- Scientific apparatus and instruments --- Automatic computers --- Automatic data processors --- Computer hardware --- Computing machines (Computers) --- Electronic brains --- Electronic calculating-machines --- Electronic computers --- Hardware, Computer --- Computer systems --- Cybernetics --- Machine theory --- Calculators --- Cyberspace --- Adding-machines --- Calculating-machines --- Computers, Mechanical --- Desk calculators --- Mathematical machines (Calculators) --- Mechanical computers --- Mathematical instruments --- Office equipment and supplies --- Arithmetic --- Computers --- Tabulating machines --- Computer science. --- Technology-History. --- Computer hardware. --- History of Computing. --- History of Technology. --- Computer Hardware. --- Personal Computing. --- Informatics --- Science --- Technology—History. --- Personal computers. --- Home computers --- Micro computers --- Micros (Microcomputers) --- PCs (Microcomputers) --- Personal computers --- Small computers --- Minicomputers