This is the fascinating story of how Joseph-Marie Jacquard invented a handloom that led to the development of the modern information age. Essinger, a master story-teller, describes how the astonishing loom, invented in 1804, enabled the silk-weavers of Lyons to create fabrics 25 times faster than ever before.

The device successfully used revolutionary punched cards to store instructions for weaving the required pattern or design which can now very reasonably be described as the world?s first computer programme. Essinger shows through a series of meticulously researched historical links that lead directly to the development of the modern computer, bringing the story completely up-to-date with the latest developments in the World Wide Web and the fascinating phenomenon of artificial intelligence ?the last stop in computerland.

He introduces a cast of colourful, passionate and often eccentric characters including the father of the modern computer, Charles Babbage and the beautiful Countess of Lovelace, Lord Byron?s daughter, who played a crucial role in developing Babbage?s work.