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History Of Computers - College Essay

History Of Computers


The electronic computer has now been used commercially for less than 25 years. It grew out of a search lasting centuries for a more accurate, faster way to perform calculations.
Primitive and ancient man used his fingers, shells, beads, sticks, and other objects to keep track of numbers and sums. The development of paper and writing instrumentsmade it easier to record data, but gave little aid in manipulating it.
Manual Devices:
A computer is sometimes defined as a system that mechanizes the processing of information. Even a manual device may fall under this definition if they are constructed in such a way that moving them by hand can produce the desired answer. Example:
Abacus:
The ...

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wire.

Calculating Machines and their Inventors:
Through the centuries, several mathematical geniuses invented machinesto aid them in their calculations. The machines were never widely used and generally had no direct path to the later development of electronic computers. Example:

Pascal:
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) a French matematician, invented the first mechanical adding machine at age 19 in 1642. He became tired of adding long columns of figures while helping his father, who had been appointed administrator of Rouen by Cardenal Richelieu. His device had teen toothed wheels and many gears. Rotating wheels developed sums. A carry lever advanced the next wheel to the left one position when a sum exceeded 10.

Punched Card Development:
Many of us are surprised to learn that the punched card industry is almost 200 years old. Furthermore, the first use of punched cards wasn’t for data processing, but rather for process control. Example:

Jacquard:
Joseph ...

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PAPER DETAILS
Added: 4/26/2007 05:26:31 AM
Category: Science & Nature
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1146
Pages: 5

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