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ICT-SS1 Note

The document discusses the history and evolution of computing devices, highlighting early counting methods and man-made devices such as the abacus, slide rule, and Charles Babbage's difference engine. It explains the significance of number systems and the contributions of key figures like Ada Lovelace and Herman Hollerith in the development of computing technology. The document emphasizes that many concepts in modern computing have roots in ancient practices and inventions.

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5 views

ICT-SS1 Note

The document discusses the history and evolution of computing devices, highlighting early counting methods and man-made devices such as the abacus, slide rule, and Charles Babbage's difference engine. It explains the significance of number systems and the contributions of key figures like Ada Lovelace and Herman Hollerith in the development of computing technology. The document emphasizes that many concepts in modern computing have roots in ancient practices and inventions.

Uploaded by

olayinkaayomidipupo
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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The computer

The computer is widely acclaimed to be an invention of


modern science and technology. This notion is partly due to
the highly advance use of electronics technology in the
computer industry. However many of the concepts used in
the modern computer are not of modern origin but dated
back to the very beginning of civilization

The early computing devices used by man can be classified


into two. These are:
a) Early counting devices and
b) Early man-made computing devices
Early Counting devices
These include fingers, stones and pebbles, small sticks, pegs
and coals (for writing on walls)
Number Systems
Number System is the technique used to represent and
work with numbers. Most number systems use the
positional system (or place value system) and a number
base. The number base is the number of digits used for
representing numbers, while the position system is a
mechanism that assigns value to a digit based on both its
identity and position. For instance, working in base 10
means you have ten different digits 0, ..., 9. Also the
position of a digit determine how large it is:
343 = 3×100 + 4×10 + 3×1
The leftmost 3 have a value of 300 while the rightmost a
value of 3, in the above number
The decimal number system is the most common number
system. Other popular number systems include binary
number system, octal number system, hexadecimal number
system, etc.
Early Computing device
The early man-made computing devices include
 Abacus
 Slide rule
 Napier's bones
 Leibniz Multiplier
 Jacquard's weaving Loom
 Charles Babbage difference engine
 Hollerith census machine
 Burroughs machine

Abacus
The abacus is believed to be first counting/calculating
instrument created by man. It is believed to be invented by
the Chinese about 2000BC. It is made of a frame divided
into two parts horizontal bar and vertical threads, each
holding a number of beads

Napier's Bones
This is a computing instrument designed in 1617 by a
Scottish Mathematician called John Napier
Features
The instrument consists of a board and eleven rods (called
bones). Each rod has four surfaces. A rod's surface
comprises 9 squares, and each square (except for the top
one) comprises 2 halves divided by a diagonal line. The
squares contain multiples of the value in the square
(double, triple, quadruple....)
Slide rule
This is a mechanical device formerly used by engineers and
scientists for fast multiplication, division, and finding roots
of numbers. It was invented by Reverend William Oughtred,
(London 1930). It consists of two rulers. The rulers were
designed with a special scale called the logarithmic scales.
There was an outer and an inner sliding ruler at the center.
Schickard’s Calculating Clock
The first gear-driven calculating machine to be built is
probably the calculating clock, so named by its inventor, a
German professor, Wilhem Schickard in 1623. This device
got little publicity because Schickard died soon afterward, in
the bubonic plague

Pascal's Calculator
A French scientist named Blaise Pascal invented the first
mechanical machine that could do both addition and
subtraction, in 1642. The 18 year old son of a tax collector
developed the machine to help his father with his duties.
The machine was named PASCALINE

Features
A Pascaline is a rectangular box of approximately 30cm
long, 7 cm high and 15cm deep. There are eight discs on the
top of the Pascaline, with a diameter of approximately 5cm
Numbers were entered by dialing a series of numbered
wheels in this machine. A sequence of wheels transferred
the movement to a dial which shows the result
Jacquard's Loom
The imaginative efforts of Joseph Jacquard, a French textile
manufacturer in 1802-1804, led to the development of a
mechanical machine which has the ability to control
weaving looms automatically, in order to facilitate the
production of cloth with sophisticated patterns.
Jacquard's Loom was one of the first machines that were
run by a program. Jacquard used lines of holes on a card to
represent the weaving pattern. If there were ten threads,
then there were also ten spaces on the card, where holes
could be put per line. If for instance there were holes in
position 3, 5, 9, then the third, fifth, and ninth thread will
be raised correspondingly, while the others will be lowered,
and then the loom will start to weave. The machine will
then look for the next line of holes on the card, raise and
lower the threads accordingly and then start weaving again.
Jacquard's loom could weave more accurately and faster
than any human, and the information could be spread by
creating more looms and more cards.
Charles Babbage's Difference engine
Charles Babbage (26 December 1792 - October 1871) was
an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor and
mechanical engineer who originated the concept of
programmable computer. He is widely recognized as the
father of the modern computer. Charles Babbage designed
the difference engine in 1822 and produced the first
reliable life tables (statistics of expectation of life) that were
in use for the next 50 years. Charles Babbage realized as
early as 1812 that many long computations consisted of
operations that were regularly repeated. He theorized that
it must be possible to design a calculating machine which
could do these operations automatically. He produced a
prototype of this "difference engine" in 1822. It was
intended to be steam powered, fully automatic, even to the
printing of the resulting tables, and commanded by a fixed
instruction program. The machine was never finished.

Babbages Analytical Engine


In 1843 Babbage had an idea of a completely different
machine that will operate faster and be more powerful than
the difference engine. This machine was meant to be more
general purpose in nature, thanks to the idea of punched
cards. Because of the connection to Jacquard loom,
Babbage called the two main parts of his Analytic Engine
the "store and the mill", as both terms are used in the
weaving industry. The store was where numbers were held
and the mill was where they were "woven" into new
results. In modern computers, these same parts are called
the memory unit and the central processing unit
respectively.

Augusta Ada Lovelace (December 10 1815) the daughter of


the illustrious poet lord Byron heard in November 1834,
Babbage’s ideas for a new calculating engine (the analytical
engine). Ada suggested to Babbage a written plan for how
the engine might calculate Bernoulli numbers. This plan is
now regarded as the first computer program. A
programming language developed by the U.S Department
of Defense (DoD) was named Ada in her honour in 1979

Herman Hollerith's Tabulating Machine


In 1886 Herman Hollerith a Census statistician at the US
Bureau, developed the Idea of using holes in punched card
to represent arithmetic sums. This was sensed by a machine
that performed the arithmetic. Herman Hollerith's punched
cards and tabulating equipment helped the US Census
Bureau to complete the counting of 1880 census exercise.
Burrough's Machine
William S. Burroughs, an American inventor, developed the
first electro-mechanical recording and listing machine,
referred to as the Burroughs machine in 1888. The machine
was invented to solve arithmetic problems. It can add as
well as list the result obtained (print out) hence the name
Burroughs listing machine. The machine had widespread
applications in business in the nineteenth century

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