The History of Computing: A Very Short Introduction

Title	Author	Publication date	Resource type
The History of Computing: A Very Short Introduction	Doron Swade	2022	Book

Timeline

A typical timeline approach rooted in major innovations.

Ancient aids to counting: knotted cords and notched sticks
Ancient aids to calculation: counting boards and abacii
Early mechanical calculator devices in the 17th century (number wheels, Pascal, Leibniz)
Modern aids to calculation: slide rules following the discovery of logarithms
Mechanized calculating engines of Babbage in the 19th century
Punched-card machines leading to IBM in the early 20th century
Analogue and electro-mechanical computers of the early 20th century inclusive of wartime computers
Early valve-based (vacuum-tubed) digital computers (again wartime and early Cold War)
The invention of the transistor and first fully-digital computers
The invention of integrated_circuits
Supercomputers
Minicomputers
Consumer personal computers
Internet and later, Web
Smart phones