The first chapter of Computers and Translation : a translators’ guide serves as a manual to the book. It outlines the book’s purpose, i.e. to show how the computer can help the translator; its authors, viz. academics in language and linguistics and even translators; its intended readership, people interested in and knowledgeable of language and translation. It provides a historical sketch of mechanical translation tools, from the early research of the 1950s via the second generation of MT systems and practical MT systems to the latest research in 1990 with MT and CAT products being marketed and used. The chapter is rounded off by an overview of the rest of the book.