21 Nov
2007
21 Nov
'07
6:07 a.m.
On Wednesday 21 November 2007 13:58:38 Jules Richardson wrote:
So the boy (9yr. old) was asking last night about how
computers work... any
recommendations for good books for learning the basics from? I think I
started out with a Sinclair Spectrum and its BASIC manual, but I really
don't recall now where I found out about the fundamental building blocks of
[typical] computers and how a CPU worked. There must be a good 'classic'
"how computers work" type of book which avoids going on about PCs and
Xboxen...
Depends how into it you want to go. I think I first realised how CPUs worked
internally one night when I sat reading a PDP8 programming manual, probably
when I was in my early teens.
I figure I should find him one of those kids
electronics projects kits too
(I think that was where I got my first exposure to logic gates from at
about the same age) and also some old 8-bit machine to play with.
Dare I say it, maybe one of the embedded microcontroller boards? When I was
about 9 or 10 I was terribly impressed by seeing a project at a college open
day where a small SBC was controlling a lightbulb and a fan to keep a box at
a steady temperature. Gets too cold, turn the bulb on, gets too hot, turn
the fan on. Amazing.
Gordon