The Logician and the Engineer

By: Paul J. Nahin

Narrated by: Allan Robertson

Boolean algebra, also called Boolean logic, is at the heart of the electronic circuitry in everything we use - from our computers and cars, to our kitchen gadgets and home appliances. How did a system of mathematics established in the Victorian era become the basis for such incredible technological achievements a century later? In The Logician and the Engineer, best-selling popular math writer Paul Nahin combines engaging problems and a colorful historical narrative to tell the remarkable story of how two men in different eras - mathematician and philosopher George Boole (1815-1864) and electrical engineer and pioneering information theorist Claude Shannon (1916-2001) - advanced Boolean logic and became founding fathers of the electronic communications age.

Presenting the dual biographies of Boole and Shannon, Nahin examines the history of Boole's innovative ideas, and considers how they led to Shannon's groundbreaking work on electrical relay circuits and information theory. Along the way, Nahin presents logic problems for listeners to solve and talks about the contributions of such key players as Georg Cantor, Tibor Rado, and Marvin Minsky - as well as the crucial role of Alan Turing's "Turing machine" - in the development of mathematical logic and data transmission. Nahin takes listeners from fundamental concepts to a deeper and more sophisticated understanding of how a modern digital machine such as the computer is constructed. Nahin also delves into the newest ideas in quantum mechanics and thermodynamics in order to explore computing's possible limitations in the 21st century and beyond.

The Logician and the Engineer shows how a form of mathematical logic and the innovations of two men paved the way for the digital technology of the modern world.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2012 Princeton University Press (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Decent book, but not suitable for audio

Reading of equations is tiresome and makes the audio interminably long. Other than that, the performance was good.
The technology is somewhat dated, with the exception of the basic timeless principles and the introduction of quantum logic. in particular, a few statements, such as the popularity of J-K flip-flops, really didn't age well.

Translate equations into sentences or don't read them

Please don't read long & involved equations - it's impossible to follow when the speaker clearly has no idea what it's about. Things like Dot dot dot! It's like spelling out the letters in a word instead of saying that same word.

I was not prepared

This is not a history book. This is not even a book for computer or electrical engineering enthusiasts. This is a textbook and should have never been released in audio format.

But-by god!-did the narrator try his best! He did an excellent job making this dry material sound as good as he did.

Boolean Algebra

This is a book that would have been better if I read it instead of listen or it would be a good book for the e-book with whisper-sync. It was a bit hard to follow unless I took notes. Paul Nahin covered the innovative ideas and history of mathematician George Boole (1815-1864) and electrical engineer Claude Shannon (1918-2001). The book explained classic logic vs Boolean logic in depth. He also covered how Boolean algebra is the bases of electronic circuitry that everything today works on. He covered a great deal on data transmission and its importance in day to day live. The world would not function without this innovated body of work. Allan Robertson did a good job narrating the book.

imperfect, but well worth a try.

there are precious few books about this very fascinating subject. if you have the time to fight through the obtuse writing style and lack of editing, reading this book I think can be very very worthwhile and rewarding.

but be forewarned, this is a very idiosyncratic book, it is full of what the author thinks are jokes and very unclear style. the entire first section is so unclear about what the subject of the book is that for a long time I had simply put the book down thinking that the title of the book was completely incorrect about what the book was about. but eventually the book actually is about George Boole Claude Shannon information theory, and a lot of very good content.

with no alternative books about this topic available, maybe we should be glad it's not worse.

yes there are equations, but if you deal with code and equations every day then you can deal with hearing somebody read them and just shrug it off. it's not the end of the world. some other reviews actually suggest that the book should not be available to anyone because it contains equations.

how about if you don't want to buy it then don't buy it, but please please please have more technical books available for people who do want them.