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But How Do It Know? - The Basic Principles of Computers for Everyone Paperback – July 4, 2009


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Product Details

  • Paperback: 221 pages
  • Publisher: John C. Scott; First edition (July 4, 2009)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0615303765
  • ISBN-13: 978-0615303765
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #57,015 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

J. Clark Scott has had a long and diverse career in the computer industry, starting at large companies such as IBM and Intel, and eventually becoming the author of four successful consumer software packages. Early in his career, he noticed how confused some of his friends were about computers and gave them lectures to teach them how simple the basics really were. It was at that time that the idea for this book was born. This is his first book, but one that has been in the works for decades.

Customer Reviews

It is very well written and easy to follow.
brannie
I knew "there wasn't a little man in there" making it work and was quite mystified when looking inside one.
Mark Greisen
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in really understanding computers!
Thom Barclay

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful By VB on March 14, 2010
Format: Paperback
I have been a software developer and software architect for over 40 years, starting at a time when you worked "so close to the computer" that you naturally knew how they worked. Over the years, I have seen that knowledge more and more absent from each new generation of developers that came along that I have led and mentored. It seems that the fundamentals simply aren't taught any more.

My standard approach has been to give informal seminars to my developers to get them this vital information. But I have been looking far and wide for a book that describes exactly how a computer operates that could be understood by anyone. After all this time, I finally found it. (As Archimedes would have said, "Eureka!")

This book builds up gradually from first principles until without realizing it, the reader suddenly finds he or she knows all about how computers work.

Mr. Scott defines every technical word the first time he uses it so you are never left wondering what it all means. Nothing I have seen even comes close to this book. It must have taken a lot of painstaking effort to work out and refine how to present every detail in a way that would not lose anybody along the way, no matter what their level of knowledge at the beginning.

Once the first copy arrived and I went through it in detail, I realized that this was what I had been looking for to provide the fundamentals that junior developers needed but had never been taught. So I bought 20 more copies and made the book the first step in the required curriculum to train my whole company -- but not just the "computer guys", everyone who uses a computer for any purpose.
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful By Beverlee Gose on October 25, 2009
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I thought that only an engineer could understand computers, but this book lays out their principles so simply that even I was able to get it.

I have been struggling with my computer for years, I thought I must be some kind of dummy, but now I can see who the real idiot is - it's the computer!

This book is so well written, and the chapters are just the right-sized baby steps, that before I knew it, I had understood every part inside of a computer. There is only one extremely simple part that everything is made out of - who knew! Now words like RAM, ALU and CPU make total sense to me.

I would recommend this book to anyone who thinks that it would take years to learn about computers. I especially recommend this book to my grand-children, who are going to be working with computers one way or another for the rest of their lives. Knowing these basics could be one of the foundations of their future success.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful By Sandra Calkins on January 12, 2010
Format: Paperback
I was never big into computers, but that was mostly because I didn't understand them. I never knew basic facts or even how they worked. Reading this book gave me an understanding of how computers work and why. The gradient approach and the pictures really helped too. Words are defined throughout the book which makes it easy to understand for someone who knows nothing about computers. But this book is not just for beginners, I read it with a couple of friends who are very computer literate (a programmer and graphic designer) and they were just as interested as me. Not to mention there were a few things that they learned as well!

I highly recommend this book and definitely could see it being part of a school program for children and adults alike!

Thanks, Sandra
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful By Mark Greisen on September 30, 2009
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I have been using a computer for only 5 years, but have gotten very good at it. However, I have always wondered how in the world it worked. I knew "there wasn't a little man in there" making it work and was quite mystified when looking inside one. So I got this book and even before I finished the book things began making sense. It explains exactly what the author says it covers which is more than I needed to know but all of it was helpful. I now have a good foundation in understanding computers and if I should get more interested in learning more it will go easily. Thanks to the author for simplifying a subject that I am sure has baffled many people. Mark Greisen
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful By Glenn D. Roe on November 1, 2009
Format: Paperback
I started using computers when I was hired by a major oil company in 1965. I worked as a research engineer in their Dallas lab. Since then I have used many mainframes and PCs. I had a basic understanding of the way the computers worked but until I read this book I did not really know, or worry about, how simple binary devices could be combined to do such complex operations.

I strongly recommend this book by J. Clark Scott for anyone who would like to understand how computers can do so many things. Scott's approach is ideal for everyone.

Glenn D. Roe, PhD
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful By Barrett Cunningham on July 13, 2012
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
I have always been intimidated by computers. They seem ridiculously complex and overwhelming to understand. I wasn't happy having this feeling about something I used every day so I decided to try to learn a little more about them. I didn't realize it at the time, but computers are evidently very difficult to explain. Part of the reason for this I think is that there are so many areas of specialization in computers that no one seems able or willing to sit down and try to give a beginner a good overview of the subject that is simple yet detailed enough to allow them to walk away feeling like they learned what they wanted to know.

I think that may be why Mr Scott wrote this book. He genuinely wants you to understand how a computer works. He evidently spent a LOT of time designing the computer in this book. It is a fully functional computer and, from other research I have done, it actually works a lot like the computers we use every day. That is rare to find. There are many books out there that talk about the grand theories of computing but never get down into the hardware and what the wires and transistors are actually doing to make things work. Other books will try to build a very very basic computer with you but since it is just a teaching tool, you learn a lot of concepts about computing that don't really work well in reality. This book is the happy medium between the two, not too technical to be overwhelming and not so basic that its unhelpful.

If you are looking for a book that will help you understand how your computer works, this is it. There is no other book that I have found that can explain this subject in such a way that you walk away feeling like you finally have clarity on a subject that has been so fuzzy for so long. Its a good feeling, and I highly recommend this book to you if you are looking for that kind of clarity about computers as well.
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