The Computer: A Very Short Introduction

• Looks at how the computer has affected the world that we live in, describing the technologies involved and the applications that have emerged
• Explains the basic architecture of the computer and how it works
• Considers a range of uses; from the effect of computers in the workplace and the growing power and roles of global computer networks to the future miniaturization of computers and new forms such as quantum and DNA computers
• Explores the limits of computing and what the future holds
• Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductions series - over three million copies sold worldwide

Readership: General readers interested in learning about how the computer has developed and how it may develop over the next twenty years; ideal for anyone who uses a browser and accesses the Internet, but has no idea about how a computer works. Also of interest to students of computer science.

Darrel Ince, Head of Computing at the Open University and Professor of Computing

Darrel Ince is Professor of Computing at the Open University and the author of 25 books, four of them with OUP, including Software Engineering and Dictionary of the Internet.

1: The naked computer
2: The small computer
3: The ubiquitous computer
4: The global computer
5: The insecure computer
6: The disruptive computer
7: The cloud computer
8: The next computer