Beginners book to computers?

[Thandran]

Hey,

I've grown an interest in computers and decided that it would be wise to ask fellow Escapees for a beginners book about them. Searched the web but there are so many that some weeding will be needed and I think there is no better way than to ask those who have already read some and are working in this field.

Though I'm not a total stranger to computers I would like to start from the very beginning because the knowledge I have feels so... shaky and with no firm foundation.

Due to studying medicine my goal isn't to become a computer guru... but I would like to attain a level of knowledge sufficient enough to build myself a computer and to understand when others talk about clocking speed, dedicated RAM and such.

For all suggestions I'd like to thank everybody in advance.

Cheers!

 

[Lectori Salutem]

As a CS student I...

...would have no idea where to start.
seems like you mainly want to know about the hardware side of thing, am I correct?

EDIT: Come to think about it, despite the fact that it might seem overwhelming, the internet might actually be a fairly useful source. With some well defined, specific searches you can get fairly far.

 

[Zoe Castillo]

Well I cant really recommend you anything about the very basics. (except maybe Wikipedia). But I still maintain that ?counter hack reloaded? has the best Introduction to how networks , layers and the internet work . WARNING : this not a ?commuters for dummies? book , it?s a introduction to hacking and software security . only the first 3 chapters deal with such basic stuff .

but I?d still recommend it if you can find a copy of it for free somewhere.


Otherwise just read articles and look stuff up on Wikipedia whenever you find something you don?t understand .

(Also feel free to message me with questions ?it makes my balls feel big )


EDIT

Spoiler: just remembered this little gem

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[Owyn_Merrilin]

I think the internet may actually be your /only/ source for information at that level these days. There used to be some good books explaining how things worked at a very low level, but they're all really outdated, and as far as I know haven't been updated in decades. I mean, I've gotten to where I'll occasionally grab one just for the historical perspective, and I have one from the early 80's on my shelf for no other reason than it's cool. There's still books aimed at teaching senior citizens the basics, but they're things like "Microsoft Office for dummies," and not the kind of information you're looking for at all.

 

[DoPo]

As a CS student I...

...would have no idea where to start.

Same here.

I think the internet may actually be your /only/ source for information at that level these days.

Yeah, I would agree with that. I've seen a couple of very old books (like from the 80s maybe the 90s) on the matter and...OK, they are useful (as in, there is information that has value) but still dated. I haven't read any newer books on the matter since, they tend to cover things I know.

I just looked through the slides for the Intro to Computer Hardware from the first year (module number was 101, lol) and here is the reading list (although...I didn't really read the books):
The Architecture of Computer Hardware and Systems Software 3nd[sic - should probably be 3rd] ed., Irv Englander, Wiley
Computer Systems Architecture, Newman et al, Crucial. ISBN 1-903337-07-0
Inside the PC, 7th ed., P. Norton, ISBN 0-672-31041-4
Computers, 7th ed., L.Long and N.Long, Prentice hall. ISBN 0-13-083190-5

Dunno if these would help.