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Rather than being yet another history of calculating machines, this book rises much higher by its scholarly examination, explanation, and interpretation of that history from the perspectives of computational mathematics, philosophy, logic, mechanical engineering capabilities, artisan skills, intellectual property, and the creative process itself. Starting from the primary difficulty of carrying tens on a mechanical device, the author provides an invigorating journey through the inventive process of calculating machines from 1600 to 1830, while introducing readers to the creations--ideas, justification, machines, and failures--of Pascal, Morland, Leibniz, Hooke, Babbage, Clement, and Stanhope. In each case, the author carefully details why the proposed models or dreams could not be realized as physical models, especially as marketable tools. The last chapter weighs the significance of 18th-century calculating machines on mathematics, as well as the processes of thinking and creation. The excellent chapter notes, reference list, and index complement the book. In summary, this book is exceptional and succeeds at its proposed task; more so, it offers both an approach and standard that more historians of technology should emulate--critically interweaving theory, practice, and results.Summing Up: Essential. All readers.