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Happy birthday, George Boole!

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George Boole

George Boole (1815-1864).

Computers, smart phones, digital TV and radio — all of these are based on the work of a man who died before electric light bulbs even came on the market. His name is George Boole, born 200 years ago on November 2nd 1815. To celebrate his bicentenary we bring you an introduction to the man and his work, as well as several other articles exploring the world of 0s and 1s that Boole discovered. Enjoy!

George Boole and the wonderful world of 0s and 1s — George Boole was destined to become a cobbler, but ended up laying the foundations for modern digital technology. Here is a quick introduction to his work.

A bright idea — This article further illuminates the connection between logic, binary arithmetic and computers, using the handy analogy of light bulbs.

Codes, computers and trees — Most of us know that computers store information using only 0s and 1s. Here is a gentle introduction to how this works.

Information, decisions and bits — A bit is a unit of information, just as a centimetre is a unit of length. But how can we possibly chop information up in this way?