{"product_id":"empire-of-the-sum-the-rise-and-reign-of-the-pocket-calculator-9780393882148","title":"Empire of the Sum: The Rise and Reign of the Pocket Calculator","description":"\u003cp\u003eStarting with hands, abacus, and slide rule, humans have always reached for tools to simplify math. Pocket-sized calculators ushered in modern mathematics, helped build the atomic bomb, took us to the bottom of the ocean, and accompanied us to the moon. The pocket calculator changed our world, until it was supplanted by more modern devices that, in a cruel twist of irony, it helped to create. The calculator is dead; long live the calculator.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this witty mathematic and social history, Keith Houston transports readers from the nascent economies of the ancient world to World War II, where a Jewish engineer calculated for his life at Buchenwald, and into the technological arms race that led to the first affordable electronic pocket calculators. At every turn, Houston is a scholarly, affable guide to this global history of invention. \u003cem\u003eEmpire of the Sum\u003c\/em\u003e will appeal to math lovers, history buffs, and anyone seeking to understand our trajectory to the computer age.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHouston, Keith:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eKeith Houston\u003c\/strong\u003e is the author of \u003cem\u003eFace with Tears of Joy\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eEmpire of the Sum\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eShady Characters\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eThe Book\u003c\/em\u003e. His writing has appeared in \u003cem\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/em\u003e, and on \u003cem\u003eMental Floss\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eBBC Culture\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eLiterary Hub\u003c\/em\u003e. He lives in Linlithgow, Scotland.","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50612551385362,"sku":"9780393882148","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_9cb1669c-9972-4649-93e7-875c200e3077.jpg?v=1751363533","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/empire-of-the-sum-the-rise-and-reign-of-the-pocket-calculator-9780393882148","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}