How do you type in a language without an alphabet? Throughout the age of modern information technology (I.T.), the Chinese language has presented fascinating and irresistible puzzles for engineers, linguists, and entrepreneurs across the globe. With help from the global community, China solved these puzzles and went from being the “dark horse” of the I.T. world, to a global I.T. powerhouse.

Working with Tom Mullaney, Stanford historian, and comprised of items from his personal collection, Radical Machines explores the design, technology, and art of Chinese characters in the information age. Through a presentation of rare typewriters and computers—and a diverse array of historic photographs, telegraph code books, typing manuals, ephemera, propaganda posters, and more — we gain unprecedented insight into the still-transforming history of the world’s oldest living language.