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Electronic computers are arguably the greatest invention of the 20th century.  They are the enablers for many of the technologies that the developed world now relies upon and their impact on society cannot be overestimated.  The story of their creation is a fascinating one.  It begins with the earliest efforts to mechanise calculation in the 17th century and is interwoven with many of the great advances in engineering, mathematics and the physical sciences which have taken place over the 400 years since.

In 2003 I began researching and writing a book on the history of the computer purely as a hobby.  None of the available books on the subject gave me the information I wanted so I decided to try to find it myself.  The book was finally published in eBook format in 2015, after 11 years and more than 230,000 words of effort.  A print version was published in 2017.  I created this web site and blog to generate feedback during the writing of the book.  As well as regular posts relating to the history of the computer, the site also includes the first chapter of the book as a freely downloadable file in PDF format.