THE HISTORY OF COMPUTERS

The electronic digital computer has had, and continues to have, a profound impact not only on business and science but on society and general. History studies are extremely useful in evaluating that impact and understanding the process of change that leads to even more advanced technologies.

Thus, the study of history can help to explain what can and cannot be reasonably expected from technological developments.

THE EARLIEST COMPUTING DEVICES

The earliest data processing equipment will manual-mechanical devises due to the absence of electricity and adequate industrial technology.

1. Abacus = The first manual data processing device was the abacus which was developed in china. The device has a frame with beads strung on wires or rods and arithmetic calculations are performed by manipulating the beads.

2. Napier's Bones= John Napier was a Scottish mathematician who became famous for his invention of logarithms. The used of "logs" enabled him to reduce any multiplication problem. His "bones" are set of eleven rods side by side products and quotients of large numbers can be obtained. The sticks were called " Bones"because they were made of bone of ivory.

3. Oughtred's Slide Rule = Although the slide rule appeared in various forms of Europe during the seventeenth century. It consists of tow movable rulers placed side by side. Each ruler is marked off in such a way that the actual distances from the beginning of the ruler are proportional to the logarithms of the numbers printed on the ruler. By sliding the rulers one can quickly multiply and divide.

4. Pascal's Calculator= Blaise Pasacal was a French mathematician and experimental physicist who was one of the first modern scientists to developed and build calculator. He devised a calculating machine that was capable of adding and subtracting numbers. The machine was operated by dialing a series of wheels.

5. Leibniz's Calculator = Like Pascal, Gottfried Leibniz was a seventeenth -century scientist who recognized the value of building machines that could do mathematical calculations and save labor too.

6. Babbage's Analytical Engine = This machine was based on the principle that, for certain formulas, the difference between certain values is constant. This typed of procedure was used frequently for producing astronomical tables, which are particularly useful

7. Hollerith's Punched-Card Machine = Herman Hollerith, a statistician with the US Bureau of the Census, completed a set of machines to help process the results of the 1890 census. Using 3 by 5 inch punched cards to record the data, he constructed an electromagnetic counting machine to sort the data manually and tabulate the data.