Includes bibliographical references and index

Cover Page -- Halftitle Page -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- A Letter from Paris -- Introduction -- Part I: Photography -- 1. Petrified Photography -- 2. Dimensions Without Depth -- 3. The Parallel Image -- 4. Photographic Modeling -- 5. Our Best Machines Are Made of Sunshine -- Part II: Weaving -- 6. Spider Work -- 7. The Crumb Machine -- 8. Regular Irregularity -- 9. Algebraic Weaving -- 10. Webs Rewoven -- Part III: The Digital -- 11. From One to Two -- 12. The Cybernetic Hypothesis -- 13. Latticework -- 14. A Regular Discrete Framework

Narrating some lesser known episodes from the deep history of digital machines, Alexander R. Galloway explains the technology that drives the world today, and the fascinating people who brought these machines to life. With an eye to both the computable and the uncomputable, Galloway shows how computation emerges or fails to emerge, how the digital thrives but also atrophies, how networks interconnect while also fray and fall apart. By re-building obsolete technology using today's software, the past comes to light in new ways, from intricate algebraic patterns woven on a hand loom, to striking artificial-life simulations, to war games and back boxes. A description of the past, this book is also an assessment of all that remains uncomputable as we continue to live in the aftermath of the long digital age

"The writing and editing of the book were facilitated by fellowships at the American Academy in Berlin, Germany [...]." -- Page 259