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The Signal: The History of Signal Processing and How We Communicate
Computers are the foundation of the information age, but communication technology is the foundation of the foundation. Without the theories and practical applications of theory brought to us by the pioneers of communication, the computer age would perhaps have remained in the back office, hidden away as infrastructure like electricity or running water � critical to modern life, but not as transforming as the combination of communications and computing. The information age exploded once machines were endowed with the ability to talk among themselves. The Signal connects everything to everything else, in both communication, and in the metaphorical sense as the link between and among people. Features
188 pages, Hardcover
Published May 29, 2019
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August 28, 2024
I really wanted to love this book. It is a good overview of the history of signal processing but it’s really aimed at engineers and written assuming you already have technical knowledge. I was hoping for a more accessible, perhaps less rigorous history and introduction to the characters who shaped the industry and their impact on the world.
While the author did make an effort to avoid showing complex mathematics, at several points in the book it’s almost necessary to break out a pen and paper to really digest what’s going on. I would have appreciated maybe a higher-level view, with examples or analogies more than the literal math behind the concepts. For this reason I think the book is geared at engineers/mathematicians more than the general population. Each chapter felt like it could have been an introduction to a signal processing concept in a classroom, rather than an engaging, accessible history of the field.
On a scale from Veritasium to Oppenheim & Schafer (with Bush), this felt closer to the textbook. Maybe it was the medium (text doesn’t lend itself as well as video to being easily accessible), maybe it was the focus on technical soundness (not itself a bad thing), but the book wasn’t what I was hoping for.
While the author did make an effort to avoid showing complex mathematics, at several points in the book it’s almost necessary to break out a pen and paper to really digest what’s going on. I would have appreciated maybe a higher-level view, with examples or analogies more than the literal math behind the concepts. For this reason I think the book is geared at engineers/mathematicians more than the general population. Each chapter felt like it could have been an introduction to a signal processing concept in a classroom, rather than an engaging, accessible history of the field.
On a scale from Veritasium to Oppenheim & Schafer (with Bush), this felt closer to the textbook. Maybe it was the medium (text doesn’t lend itself as well as video to being easily accessible), maybe it was the focus on technical soundness (not itself a bad thing), but the book wasn’t what I was hoping for.
Displaying 1 of 1 review
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