History of computing
Encyclopedia
The history of computing is longer than the history of computing hardware
and modern computing technology
and includes the history of methods intended for pen and paper or for chalk and slate, with or without the aid of tables. The timeline of computing
presents a summary list of major developments in computing by date.
is intimately tied to the representation of number
s. But long before abstraction
s like the number arose, there were mathematical concepts to serve the purposes of civilization. These concepts are implicit in concrete practices such as :
s to others. All the known languages have words for at least "one" and "two" (although this is disputed: see Piraha language
), and even some animals like the blackbird can distinguish a surprising number of items.
Advances in the numeral system
and mathematical notation
eventually led to the discovery of mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squaring, square root, and so forth. Eventually the operations were formalized, and concepts about the operations became understood well enough to be stated formally
, and even proven
. See, for example, Euclid's algorithm
for finding the greatest common divisor of two numbers.
By the High Middle Ages, the positional
Hindu-Arabic numeral system
had reached Europe
, which allowed for systematic computation of numbers. During this period, the representation of a calculation on paper
actually allowed calculation of mathematical expressions, and the tabulation of mathematical functions such as the square root
and the common logarithm
(for use in multiplication and division) and the trigonometric function
s. By the time of Isaac Newton
's research, paper or vellum was an important computing resource, and even in our present time, researchers like Enrico Fermi
would cover random scraps of paper with calculation, to satisfy their curiosity about an equation. Even into the period of programmable calculators, Richard Feynman
would unhesitatingly compute any steps which overflowed the memory of the calculators, by hand, just to learn the answer.
, and it was thought to have been invented in Babylon
circa 2400 BC. Its original style of usage was by lines drawn in sand with pebbles. Abaci, of a more modern design, are still used as calculation tools today. This was the first known computer and most advanced system of calculation known to date - preceding Greek methods by 2,000 years.
In 1110 BC, the South Pointing Chariot
was invented in ancient China. It was the first known gear
ed mechanism to use a differential gear, which was later used in analog computer
s. The Chinese
also invented a more sophisticated abacus from around the 2nd century BC known as the Chinese abacus
).
In the 5th century BC in ancient India
, the grammarian Pāṇini formulated the grammar
of Sanskrit
in 3959 rules known as the Ashtadhyayi which was highly systematized and technical. Panini used metarules, transformations
and recursion
s.
The Antikythera mechanism
is believed to be the earliest known mechanical analog computer. It was designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was discovered in 1901 in the Antikythera
wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete
, and has been dated to circa 100 BC.
Mechanical analog computer devices appeared again a thousand years later in the medieval Islamic world
and were developed by Muslim astronomers
, such as the equatorium by Arzachel, the mechanical geared astrolabe
by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, and the torquetum
by Jabir ibn Aflah
. Muslim mathematicians
also made important advances in cryptography
, such as the development of cryptanalysis
and frequency analysis
by Alkindus
. Programmable
machines were also invented by Muslim engineers, such as the automatic flute
player by the Banū Mūsā
brothers, and Al-Jazari
's humanoid robot
s and castle clock
, which is considered to be the first programmable
analog computer.
During the Middle Ages, several European philosophers made attempts to produce analog computer devices. Influenced by the Arabs and Scholasticism
, majorcan philosopher Ramon Llull
(1232–1315) devoted a great part of his life to define and design several logical machines that, by combining simple and undeniable philosophical truths, could produce all the possible knowledge. These machines were never really built, as they were more of a thought experiment
devoted to the production of new knowledge by systematic ways; however they could make simple logical operations, they still needed a human being for interpretation of results. Moreover, they lacked of a versatile architecture, each machine serving only to very concrete purposes. No matter what, Llull's work had a severe impact on Gottfried Leibniz
(early 18th century), who redeveloped his ideas further and could build several calculating tools with them.
Indeed, when John Napier
discovered logarithms for computational purposes in the early 17th century, there followed a period of considerable progress by inventors and scientists in making calculating tools. The apex of this early era of formal computing can be seen in the difference engine
and its successor the Analytical Engine
, which was never completely constructed but was designed in detail, both by Charles Babbage
. The analytical engine combined concepts from his work and that of others to create a device that if constructed as designed would have possessed many properties of a modern electronic computer. These properties include such features as an internal "scratch memory" equivalent to RAM
, multiple forms of output including a bell, a graph-plotter, and simple printer, and a programmable input-output "hard" memory of punch cards which it could modify as well as read. The key advancement which Babbage's devices possessed beyond those created before his was that each component of the device was independent of the rest of the machine, much like the components of a modern electronic computer. This was a fundamental shift in thought; previous computational devices served only a single purpose, but had to be at best disassembled and reconfigured to solve a new problem. Babbage's devices could be reprogramed to solve new problems by the entry of new data, and act upon previous calculations within the same series of instructions. Ada Lovelace
took this concept one step further, by creating a program for the analytical engine to calculate Bernoulli numbers, a complex calculation requiring a recursive algorithm. This is considered to the first example of a true computer program, a series of instructions that act upon data not known in full until the program is run.
Several examples of analog computation survived into recent times. A planimeter
is a device which does integrals, using distance
as the analog quantity. Until the 1980s, HVAC
systems used air both as the analog quantity and the controlling element. Unlike modern digital computers, analog computers are not very flexible, and need to be reconfigured (i.e., reprogrammed) manually to switch them from working on one problem to another. Analog computers had an advantage over early digital computers in that they could be used to solve complex problems using behavioral analogues while the earliest attempts at digital computers were quite limited.
Since computers were rare in this era, the solutions were often hard-coded into paper forms such as nomogram
s, which could then produce analog solutions to these problems, such as the distribution of pressures and temperatures in a heating system.
None of the early computational devices were really computers in the modern sense, and it took considerable advancement in mathematics and theory before the first modern computers could be designed.
, and interpolating
between known cases. For small enough differences, this linear operation was accurate enough for use in navigation
and astronomy
in the Age of Exploration. The uses of interpolation have thrived in the past 500 years: by the twentieth century Leslie Comrie
and W.J. Eckert systematized the use of interpolation in tables of numbers for punch card calculation.
In our time, even a student can simulate the motion of the planets, an N-body differential equation, using the concepts of numerical approximation, a feat which even Isaac Newton could admire, given his struggles with the motion of the Moon.
was an important stimulus to computing,
with Lewis Fry Richardson
's numerical approach to solving differential equations. To this day, some of the most powerful computer systems on Earth are used for weather forecasts.
courses.
Computing timelines category
History of computing hardware
The history of computing hardware is the record of the ongoing effort to make computer hardware faster, cheaper, and capable of storing more data....
and modern computing technology
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
and includes the history of methods intended for pen and paper or for chalk and slate, with or without the aid of tables. The timeline of computing
Timeline of computing
This article presents a detailed timeline of events in the history of computing. For a narrative explaining the overall developments, see the related history of computing hardware and history of computer science....
presents a summary list of major developments in computing by date.
Concrete devices
ComputingComputing
Computing is usually defined as the activity of using and improving computer hardware and software. It is the computer-specific part of information technology...
is intimately tied to the representation of number
Number
A number is a mathematical object used to count and measure. In mathematics, the definition of number has been extended over the years to include such numbers as zero, negative numbers, rational numbers, irrational numbers, and complex numbers....
s. But long before abstraction
Abstraction
Abstraction is a process by which higher concepts are derived from the usage and classification of literal concepts, first principles, or other methods....
s like the number arose, there were mathematical concepts to serve the purposes of civilization. These concepts are implicit in concrete practices such as :
- one-to-one correspondence, a rule to countCountingCounting is the action of finding the number of elements of a finite set of objects. The traditional way of counting consists of continually increasing a counter by a unit for every element of the set, in some order, while marking those elements to avoid visiting the same element more than once,...
how many items, say on a tally stickTally stickA tally was an ancient memory aid device to record and document numbers, quantities, or even messages. Tally sticks first appear as notches carved on animal bones, in the Upper Paleolithic. A notable example is the Ishango Bone...
, eventually abstracted into numbers; - comparison to a standard, a method for assuming reproducibilityReproducibilityReproducibility is the ability of an experiment or study to be accurately reproduced, or replicated, by someone else working independently...
in a measurementMeasurementMeasurement is the process or the result of determining the ratio of a physical quantity, such as a length, time, temperature etc., to a unit of measurement, such as the metre, second or degree Celsius...
, for example, the number of coinCoinA coin is a piece of hard material that is standardized in weight, is produced in large quantities in order to facilitate trade, and primarily can be used as a legal tender token for commerce in the designated country, region, or territory....
s; - the 3-4-5 right triangle was a device for assuring a right angle, using ropeRopeA rope is a length of fibres, twisted or braided together to improve strength for pulling and connecting. It has tensile strength but is too flexible to provide compressive strength...
s with 12 evenly spaced knotKnotA knot is a method of fastening or securing linear material such as rope by tying or interweaving. It may consist of a length of one or several segments of rope, string, webbing, twine, strap, or even chain interwoven such that the line can bind to itself or to some other object—the "load"...
s, for example.
Numbers
Eventually, the concept of numbers became concrete and familiar enough for counting to arise, at times with sing-song mnemonics to teach sequenceSequence
In mathematics, a sequence is an ordered list of objects . Like a set, it contains members , and the number of terms is called the length of the sequence. Unlike a set, order matters, and exactly the same elements can appear multiple times at different positions in the sequence...
s to others. All the known languages have words for at least "one" and "two" (although this is disputed: see Piraha language
Pirahã language
Pirahã is a language spoken by the Pirahã. The Pirahã are an indigenous people of Amazonas, Brazil, living along the Maici River, a tributary of the Amazon....
), and even some animals like the blackbird can distinguish a surprising number of items.
Advances in the numeral system
Numeral system
A numeral system is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner....
and mathematical notation
Mathematical notation
Mathematical notation is a system of symbolic representations of mathematical objects and ideas. Mathematical notations are used in mathematics, the physical sciences, engineering, and economics...
eventually led to the discovery of mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squaring, square root, and so forth. Eventually the operations were formalized, and concepts about the operations became understood well enough to be stated formally
Theorem
In mathematics, a theorem is a statement that has been proven on the basis of previously established statements, such as other theorems, and previously accepted statements, such as axioms...
, and even proven
Mathematical proof
In mathematics, a proof is a convincing demonstration that some mathematical statement is necessarily true. Proofs are obtained from deductive reasoning, rather than from inductive or empirical arguments. That is, a proof must demonstrate that a statement is true in all cases, without a single...
. See, for example, Euclid's algorithm
Euclidean algorithm
In mathematics, the Euclidean algorithm is an efficient method for computing the greatest common divisor of two integers, also known as the greatest common factor or highest common factor...
for finding the greatest common divisor of two numbers.
By the High Middle Ages, the positional
Positional notation
Positional notation or place-value notation is a method of representing or encoding numbers. Positional notation is distinguished from other notations for its use of the same symbol for the different orders of magnitude...
Hindu-Arabic numeral system
Hindu-Arabic numeral system
The Hindu–Arabic numeral system or Hindu numeral system is a positional decimal numeral system developed between the 1st and 5th centuries by Indian mathematicians, adopted by Persian and Arab mathematicians , and spread to the western world...
had reached Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, which allowed for systematic computation of numbers. During this period, the representation of a calculation on paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
actually allowed calculation of mathematical expressions, and the tabulation of mathematical functions such as the square root
Square root
In mathematics, a square root of a number x is a number r such that r2 = x, or, in other words, a number r whose square is x...
and the common logarithm
Common logarithm
The common logarithm is the logarithm with base 10. It is also known as the decadic logarithm, named after its base. It is indicated by log10, or sometimes Log with a capital L...
(for use in multiplication and division) and the trigonometric function
Trigonometric function
In mathematics, the trigonometric functions are functions of an angle. They are used to relate the angles of a triangle to the lengths of the sides of a triangle...
s. By the time of Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
's research, paper or vellum was an important computing resource, and even in our present time, researchers like Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi was an Italian-born, naturalized American physicist particularly known for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, and for his contributions to the development of quantum theory, nuclear and particle physics, and statistical mechanics...
would cover random scraps of paper with calculation, to satisfy their curiosity about an equation. Even into the period of programmable calculators, Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman
Richard Phillips Feynman was an American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics...
would unhesitatingly compute any steps which overflowed the memory of the calculators, by hand, just to learn the answer.
Early computation
The earliest known tool for use in computation was the abacusAbacus
The abacus, also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool used primarily in parts of Asia for performing arithmetic processes. Today, abaci are often constructed as a bamboo frame with beads sliding on wires, but originally they were beans or stones moved in grooves in sand or on tablets of...
, and it was thought to have been invented in Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
circa 2400 BC. Its original style of usage was by lines drawn in sand with pebbles. Abaci, of a more modern design, are still used as calculation tools today. This was the first known computer and most advanced system of calculation known to date - preceding Greek methods by 2,000 years.
In 1110 BC, the South Pointing Chariot
South Pointing Chariot
The south-pointing chariot was an ancient Chinese two-wheeled vehicle that carried a movable pointer to indicate the south, no matter how the chariot turned. Usually, the pointer took the form of a doll or figure with an outstretched arm...
was invented in ancient China. It was the first known gear
Gear
A gear is a rotating machine part having cut teeth, or cogs, which mesh with another toothed part in order to transmit torque. Two or more gears working in tandem are called a transmission and can produce a mechanical advantage through a gear ratio and thus may be considered a simple machine....
ed mechanism to use a differential gear, which was later used in analog computer
Analog computer
An analog computer is a form of computer that uses the continuously-changeable aspects of physical phenomena such as electrical, mechanical, or hydraulic quantities to model the problem being solved...
s. The Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
also invented a more sophisticated abacus from around the 2nd century BC known as the Chinese abacus
Chinese abacus
thumb|Suanpan The suanpan is an abacus of Chinese origin first described in a 190 CE book of the Eastern Han Dynasty, namely Supplementary Notes on the Art of Figures written by Xu Yue...
).
In the 5th century BC in ancient India
History of India
The history of India begins with evidence of human activity of Homo sapiens as long as 75,000 years ago, or with earlier hominids including Homo erectus from about 500,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilization, which spread and flourished in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent from...
, the grammarian Pāṇini formulated the grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
of Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
in 3959 rules known as the Ashtadhyayi which was highly systematized and technical. Panini used metarules, transformations
Transformational grammar
In linguistics, a transformational grammar or transformational-generative grammar is a generative grammar, especially of a natural language, that has been developed in the Chomskyan tradition of phrase structure grammars...
and recursion
Recursion
Recursion is the process of repeating items in a self-similar way. For instance, when the surfaces of two mirrors are exactly parallel with each other the nested images that occur are a form of infinite recursion. The term has a variety of meanings specific to a variety of disciplines ranging from...
s.
The Antikythera mechanism
Antikythera mechanism
The Antikythera mechanism is an ancient mechanical computer designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was recovered in 1900–1901 from the Antikythera wreck. Its significance and complexity were not understood until decades later. Its time of construction is now estimated between 150 and 100...
is believed to be the earliest known mechanical analog computer. It was designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was discovered in 1901 in the Antikythera
Antikythera
Antikythera or Anticythera is a Greek island lying on the edge of the Aegean Sea, between Crete and Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality of Kythira island....
wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
, and has been dated to circa 100 BC.
Mechanical analog computer devices appeared again a thousand years later in the medieval Islamic world
Islamic Golden Age
During the Islamic Golden Age philosophers, scientists and engineers of the Islamic world contributed enormously to technology and culture, both by preserving earlier traditions and by adding their own inventions and innovations...
and were developed by Muslim astronomers
Islamic astronomy
Islamic astronomy or Arabic astronomy comprises the astronomical developments made in the Islamic world, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age , and mostly written in the Arabic language. These developments mostly took place in the Middle East, Central Asia, Al-Andalus, and North Africa, and...
, such as the equatorium by Arzachel, the mechanical geared astrolabe
Astrolabe
An astrolabe is an elaborate inclinometer, historically used by astronomers, navigators, and astrologers. Its many uses include locating and predicting the positions of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars, determining local time given local latitude and longitude, surveying, triangulation, and to...
by Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī, and the torquetum
Torquetum
The torquetum or turquet is a medieval astronomical instrument designed to take and convert measurements made in three sets of coordinates: Horizon, equatorial, and ecliptic...
by Jabir ibn Aflah
Jabir ibn Aflah
Abū Muḥammad Jābir ibn Aflaḥ was a Muslim astronomer and mathematician from Seville, who was active in 12th century Andalusia. His work Iṣlāḥ al-Majisṭi influenced Islamic, Jewish and Christian astronomers....
. Muslim mathematicians
Islamic mathematics
In the history of mathematics, mathematics in medieval Islam, often termed Islamic mathematics or Arabic mathematics, covers the body of mathematics preserved and developed under the Islamic civilization between circa 622 and 1600...
also made important advances in cryptography
Cryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
, such as the development of cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis
Cryptanalysis is the study of methods for obtaining the meaning of encrypted information, without access to the secret information that is normally required to do so. Typically, this involves knowing how the system works and finding a secret key...
and frequency analysis
Frequency analysis
In cryptanalysis, frequency analysis is the study of the frequency of letters or groups of letters in a ciphertext. The method is used as an aid to breaking classical ciphers....
by Alkindus
Al-Kindi
' , known as "the Philosopher of the Arabs", was a Muslim Arab philosopher, mathematician, physician, and musician. Al-Kindi was the first of the Muslim peripatetic philosophers, and is unanimously hailed as the "father of Islamic or Arabic philosophy" for his synthesis, adaptation and promotion...
. Programmable
Program (machine)
A program is a list of instructions written in a programming language that is used to control the behavior of a machine, often a computer ....
machines were also invented by Muslim engineers, such as the automatic flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
player by the Banū Mūsā
Banu Musa
The Banū Mūsā brothers , namely Abū Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir , Abū al‐Qāsim Aḥmad ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir and Al-Ḥasan ibn Mūsā ibn Shākir , were three 9th-century Persian scholars of Baghdad who are known for their Book of Ingenious Devices on automata and mechanical devices...
brothers, and Al-Jazari
Al-Jazari
Abū al-'Iz Ibn Ismā'īl ibn al-Razāz al-Jazarī was a Muslim polymath: a scholar, inventor, mechanical engineer, craftsman, artist, mathematician and astronomer from Al-Jazira, Mesopotamia, who lived during the Islamic Golden Age...
's humanoid robot
Humanoid robot
A humanoid robot or an anthropomorphic robot is a robot with its overall appearance, based on that of the human body, allowing interaction with made-for-human tools or environments. In general humanoid robots have a torso with a head, two arms and two legs, although some forms of humanoid robots...
s and castle clock
Castle clock
A castle clock is a clock whose face is mounted outside a castle or perhaps a church tower. They may be elaborate or simple.Al-Jazari constructed an elaborate clock and described it in his Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices in 1206. It was about 3,3 metres high , and had multiple...
, which is considered to be the first programmable
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
analog computer.
During the Middle Ages, several European philosophers made attempts to produce analog computer devices. Influenced by the Arabs and Scholasticism
Scholasticism
Scholasticism is a method of critical thought which dominated teaching by the academics of medieval universities in Europe from about 1100–1500, and a program of employing that method in articulating and defending orthodoxy in an increasingly pluralistic context...
, majorcan philosopher Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull
Ramon Llull was a Majorcan writer and philosopher, logician and tertiary Franciscan. He wrote the first major work of Catalan literature. Recently-surfaced manuscripts show him to have anticipated by several centuries prominent work on elections theory...
(1232–1315) devoted a great part of his life to define and design several logical machines that, by combining simple and undeniable philosophical truths, could produce all the possible knowledge. These machines were never really built, as they were more of a thought experiment
Thought experiment
A thought experiment or Gedankenexperiment considers some hypothesis, theory, or principle for the purpose of thinking through its consequences...
devoted to the production of new knowledge by systematic ways; however they could make simple logical operations, they still needed a human being for interpretation of results. Moreover, they lacked of a versatile architecture, each machine serving only to very concrete purposes. No matter what, Llull's work had a severe impact on Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
(early 18th century), who redeveloped his ideas further and could build several calculating tools with them.
Indeed, when John Napier
John Napier
John Napier of Merchiston – also signed as Neper, Nepair – named Marvellous Merchiston, was a Scottish mathematician, physicist, astronomer & astrologer, and also the 8th Laird of Merchistoun. He was the son of Sir Archibald Napier of Merchiston. John Napier is most renowned as the discoverer...
discovered logarithms for computational purposes in the early 17th century, there followed a period of considerable progress by inventors and scientists in making calculating tools. The apex of this early era of formal computing can be seen in the difference engine
Difference engine
A difference engine is an automatic, mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions. Both logarithmic and trigonometric functions can be approximated by polynomials, so a difference engine can compute many useful sets of numbers.-History:...
and its successor the Analytical Engine
Analytical engine
The Analytical Engine was a proposed mechanical general-purpose computer designed by English mathematician Charles Babbage. It was first described in 1837 as the successor to Babbage's difference engine, a design for a mechanical calculator...
, which was never completely constructed but was designed in detail, both by Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage
Charles Babbage, FRS was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and mechanical engineer who originated the concept of a programmable computer...
. The analytical engine combined concepts from his work and that of others to create a device that if constructed as designed would have possessed many properties of a modern electronic computer. These properties include such features as an internal "scratch memory" equivalent to RAM
Ram
-Animals:*Ram, an uncastrated male sheep*Ram cichlid, a species of freshwater fish endemic to Colombia and Venezuela-Military:*Battering ram*Ramming, a military tactic in which one vehicle runs into another...
, multiple forms of output including a bell, a graph-plotter, and simple printer, and a programmable input-output "hard" memory of punch cards which it could modify as well as read. The key advancement which Babbage's devices possessed beyond those created before his was that each component of the device was independent of the rest of the machine, much like the components of a modern electronic computer. This was a fundamental shift in thought; previous computational devices served only a single purpose, but had to be at best disassembled and reconfigured to solve a new problem. Babbage's devices could be reprogramed to solve new problems by the entry of new data, and act upon previous calculations within the same series of instructions. Ada Lovelace
Ada Lovelace
Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace , born Augusta Ada Byron, was an English writer chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the analytical engine...
took this concept one step further, by creating a program for the analytical engine to calculate Bernoulli numbers, a complex calculation requiring a recursive algorithm. This is considered to the first example of a true computer program, a series of instructions that act upon data not known in full until the program is run.
Several examples of analog computation survived into recent times. A planimeter
Planimeter
A planimeter is a measuring instrument used to determine the area of an arbitrary two-dimensional shape.-Construction:There are several kinds of planimeters, but all operate in a similar way. The precise way in which they are constructed varies, with the main types of mechanical planimeter being...
is a device which does integrals, using distance
Distance
Distance is a numerical description of how far apart objects are. In physics or everyday discussion, distance may refer to a physical length, or an estimation based on other criteria . In mathematics, a distance function or metric is a generalization of the concept of physical distance...
as the analog quantity. Until the 1980s, HVAC
HVAC
HVAC refers to technology of indoor or automotive environmental comfort. HVAC system design is a major subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer...
systems used air both as the analog quantity and the controlling element. Unlike modern digital computers, analog computers are not very flexible, and need to be reconfigured (i.e., reprogrammed) manually to switch them from working on one problem to another. Analog computers had an advantage over early digital computers in that they could be used to solve complex problems using behavioral analogues while the earliest attempts at digital computers were quite limited.
Nomogram
A nomogram, nomograph, or abac is a graphical calculating device developed by P.E. Elyasberg, a two-dimensional diagram designed to allow the approximate graphical computation of a function: it uses a coordinate system other than Cartesian coordinates...
s, which could then produce analog solutions to these problems, such as the distribution of pressures and temperatures in a heating system.
None of the early computational devices were really computers in the modern sense, and it took considerable advancement in mathematics and theory before the first modern computers could be designed.
Navigation and astronomy
Starting with known special cases, the calculation of logarithms and trigonometric functions can be performed by looking up numbers in a mathematical tableMathematical table
Before calculators were cheap and plentiful, people would use mathematical tables —lists of numbers showing the results of calculation with varying arguments— to simplify and drastically speed up computation...
, and interpolating
Interpolation
In the mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a method of constructing new data points within the range of a discrete set of known data points....
between known cases. For small enough differences, this linear operation was accurate enough for use in navigation
Navigation
Navigation is the process of monitoring and controlling the movement of a craft or vehicle from one place to another. It is also the term of art used for the specialized knowledge used by navigators to perform navigation tasks...
and astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
in the Age of Exploration. The uses of interpolation have thrived in the past 500 years: by the twentieth century Leslie Comrie
Leslie Comrie
Leslie John Comrie was an astronomer and a pioneer in mechanical computation.-Life:Leslie John Comrie was born in Pukekohe , New Zealand, on 15 August 1893....
and W.J. Eckert systematized the use of interpolation in tables of numbers for punch card calculation.
In our time, even a student can simulate the motion of the planets, an N-body differential equation, using the concepts of numerical approximation, a feat which even Isaac Newton could admire, given his struggles with the motion of the Moon.
Weather prediction
The numerical solution of differential equations, notably the Navier-Stokes equationsNavier-Stokes equations
In physics, the Navier–Stokes equations, named after Claude-Louis Navier and George Gabriel Stokes, describe the motion of fluid substances. These equations arise from applying Newton's second law to fluid motion, together with the assumption that the fluid stress is the sum of a diffusing viscous...
was an important stimulus to computing,
with Lewis Fry Richardson
Lewis Fry Richardson
Lewis Fry Richardson, FRS was an English mathematician, physicist, meteorologist, psychologist and pacifist who pioneered modern mathematical techniques of weather forecasting, and the application of similar techniques to studying the causes of wars and how to prevent them...
's numerical approach to solving differential equations. To this day, some of the most powerful computer systems on Earth are used for weather forecasts.
Symbolic computations
By the late 1960s, computer systems could perform symbolic algebraic manipulations well enough to pass college-level calculusCalculus
Calculus is a branch of mathematics focused on limits, functions, derivatives, integrals, and infinite series. This subject constitutes a major part of modern mathematics education. It has two major branches, differential calculus and integral calculus, which are related by the fundamental theorem...
courses.
See also
- AlgorithmAlgorithmIn mathematics and computer science, an algorithm is an effective method expressed as a finite list of well-defined instructions for calculating a function. Algorithms are used for calculation, data processing, and automated reasoning...
- Charles Babbage InstituteCharles Babbage InstituteThe Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking....
- research center for history of computing at University of Minnesota
Computing timelines category
- History of free softwareHistory of free softwareThis is a timeline-style look at how free and open-source software has evolved and existed from its inception.The phrase "free software" refers to software that is liberally licensed, allowing the end user more freedoms than conventional-software licences. This is not to be confused with software...
- Index of history of computing articles
- IT History SocietyIT History SocietyThe IT History Society is an organization that supports the history and scholarship of information technology by encouraging, fostering, and facilitating archival and historical research...
- List of mathematicians
- Timeline of quantum computingTimeline of quantum computing-1970s:* 1970 – Stephen Wiesner invents conjugate coding.* 1973 – Alexander Holevo publishes a paper showing that n qubits cannot carry more than n classical bits of information . Charles H. Bennett shows that computation can be done reversibly.* 1975 – R. P...
External links
- The History of Computing by J.A.N. Lee
- The History of Computing Project
- SIG on Computers, Information and Society of the Society for the History of Technology
- The Modern History of Computing
- Cringely's "Triumph of the Nerds"
- A Chronology of Digital Computing Machines (to 1952) by Mark Brader
- Bitsavers, an effort to capture, salvage, and archive historical computer software and manuals from minicomputers and mainframes of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s
- Cyberhistory (2002) by Keith Falloon. UWA digital thesis repository.
- Arithmometre.org, The reference about Thomas de Colmar's arithmometers
- Yahoo Computers and History
- "All-Magnetic Logic" computer developed at SRI International, in 1961
- Famous Names in the History of Computing. Free source for history of computing biographies.
- Stephen White's excellent computer history site (the above article is a modified version of his work, used with Permission)
- Soviet Calculators Collection - a big collection of Soviet calculators, computers, computer mices and other devices
- Logarithmic timeline of greatest breakthroughs since start of computing era in 1623 by Jürgen SchmidhuberJürgen SchmidhuberJürgen Schmidhuber is a computer scientist and artist known for his work on machine learning, universal Artificial Intelligence , artificial neural networks, digital physics, and low-complexity art. His contributions also include generalizations of Kolmogorov complexity and the Speed Prior...
, from "The New AI: General & Sound & Relevant for Physics, In B. Goertzel and C. Pennachin, eds.: Artificial General Intelligence, p. 175-198, 2006." - IEEE computer history timeline
- Konrad Zuse, inventor of first working programmable digital computer by Jürgen Schmidhuber
- The Moore School Lectures and the British Lead in Stored Program Computer Development (1946–1953), article from Virtual Travelog
- Technology— and-Society/STS-035Spring2004/CourseHome/index.htm MIT STS.035 — History of Computing from MIT OpenCourseWare for undergraduate level
- Key Resources in the History of Computing
- Italian computer database of brands
- Computer History - a collection of articles by Bob BemerBob BemerRobert William Bemer was a computer scientist best known for his work at IBM during the late 1950s and early 1960s.-Biography:...
British history links
- Resurrection Bulletin of the Computer Conservation Society (UK) 1990–2006
- The story of the Manchester Mark I, 50th Anniversary website at the University of ManchesterUniversity of ManchesterThe University of Manchester is a public research university located in Manchester, United Kingdom. It is a "red brick" university and a member of the Russell Group of research-intensive British universities and the N8 Group...
- Richmond Arabian History of Computing Group Linking the Gulf and Europe
Computer History Museums
- See :Category:Computer museums