This book takes the reader through the design and implementation of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum's custom chip, revealing for the first time the decisions behind its design and its hidden secrets. By using it as case study, the techniques required to design an 8-bit microcomputer are explained, along with comprehensive details of the Ferranti ULA manufacturing process. If you have ever wanted to design your own computer or wondered what was behind the most successful microcomputer of the 1980s, then this is the book for you. For the first time, the inner working of the Sinclair ZX Spectrum's custom chip and heart of the computer, the Ferranti ULA, is exposed in minute detail. Packed with over 140 illustrations and circuit diagrams, this book takes the reader through the cutting edge technology that was the Ferranti ULA and the design of the ZX Spectrum home computer, illustrating the principles and techniques involved in creating a cost effective computer that required nothing more than a television set and a cassette recorder. The ZX Spectrum ULA is an essential read for the electronics hobbyist, student or electronic engineer wishing to design their own retro-style microcomputer or anyone with an interest in historical micro-electronic and digital design. All topics are explained in simple yet precise terms, building on their careful introduction towards the full functionality presented by the Sinclair computer. Some of the topics covered are: The architecture of the standard microcomputer, Ferranti and their ULA, manufacturing process and structure, The functional layout of the ZX Spectrum ULA, Video display generation, Memory contention and timing, ZX Spectrum design bugs such as "The Snow Effect," Hidden features, ULA version differences.

First published in 1982, William Tang’s Spectrum Machine Language for the Absolute Beginner is generally considered to be the best introduction to 8-bit machine code programming ever written. With many great game writers crediting this as the book that got them started, there still is no better way to learn the language at the heart of the ZX Spectrum. * * * As the original publisher Melbourne House wrote: If you are frustrated by the limitations of BASIC and want to write faster, more powerful, space-saving programs or subroutines, Spectrum Machine Language for the Absolute Beginner is the book for you. Even with no previous experience of computer languages, you will be able to discover the ease and power of the Spectrum's own language. Each chapter includes specific examples of machine language applications which can be demonstrated and used on your Spectrum as well as a self-test questionnaire. At the end of the book, all this is brought together in an entire machine language program - from design right through to the complete listing of an exciting, original arcade game. * * * Acorn Books is proud to present its Retro Reproduction Series, a collection of classic computing works from the 1980s and 90s, lovingly reproduced in the 21st century. From standards of programming reference no self-respecting microcomputer programmer would be without, to obscure works not found in print anywhere else, these modern reprints are perfect for any connoisseur of retro computing.

A lively account of our age-old quest for brighter colors, which changed the way we see the world, from the best-selling author of Proof: The Science of Booze From kelly green to millennial pink, our world is graced with a richness of colors. But our human-made colors haven't always matched nature's kaleidoscopic array. To reach those brightest heights required millennia of remarkable innovation and a fascinating exchange of ideas between science and craft that's allowed for the most luminous manifestations of our built and adorned world. In Full Spectrum, Rogers takes us on that globe-trotting journey, tracing an arc from the earliest humans to our digitized, synthesized present and future. We meet our ancestors mashing charcoal in caves, Silk Road merchants competing for the best ceramics, and textile artists cracking the centuries-old mystery of how colors mix, before shooting to the modern era for high-stakes corporate espionage and the digital revolution that's rewriting the rules of color forever. In prose as vibrant as its subject, Rogers opens the door to Oz, sharing the liveliest events of an expansive human quest--to make a brighter, more beautiful world--and along the way, proving why he's "one of the best science writers around."* *National Geographic

This comprehensive new edition of How to Design Cars Like a Pro provides an in-depth look at modern automotive design. Interviews with leading automobile designers from Ford, BMW, GM Jaguar, Nissan and others, analyses of past and present trends, studies of individual models and concepts, and much more combine to reveal the fascinating mix of art and science that goes into creating automobiles. This book is a must-have for professional designers, as well as for automotive enthusiasts.

This textbook is aimed at newcomers to nonlinear dynamics and chaos, especially students taking a first course in the subject. The presentation stresses analytical methods, concrete examples, and geometric intuition. The theory is developed systematically, starting with first-order differential equations and their bifurcations, followed by phase plane analysis, limit cycles and their bifurcations, and culminating with the Lorenz equations, chaos, iterated maps, period doubling, renormalization, fractals, and strange attractors.

Poplars and willows form an important component of forestry and agricultural systems, providing a wide range of wood and non-wood products. This book synthesizes research on poplars and willows, providing a practical worldwide overview and guide to their basic characteristics, cultivation and use, issues, problems and trends. Prominence is given to environmental benefits and the importance of poplar and willow cultivation in meeting the needs of people and communities, sustainable livelihoods, land use and development.