History of Mechanical Computing?

Why does it matter?

Computers were designed to “compute”

Solve mathematical computations

Not a new idea
The Abacus....right?
The Abacus
Use throughout History

Ancient 





Mesopotamia
Egypt
Greek
Roman
Chinese
Modern 


Korean
Japanese
Russian
The Abacus
Importance in History

Enduring



Encompassing



Small changes (mostly)
Grooves vs. wires
Empires and countries
Same basic idea
A good idea?

2700 BC – 1900 AD
The Abacus
Importance in History

Teaching tool



Numeric System
Arithmetic
Calculator


Hand held
Tool to aide humans
The Abacus
Importance in Electronic Computing

Calculator



Compute



Hand held
Tool to aide humans
Early computers
Example of how tools for computing can aid humans
ENIAC

Electronic Numerical Abacus is more like it
The Abacus
Huh! What is it good for?

Maths




Teaching tool
Teach concept; idea
Not just counting anymore
Precursor


Earliest and longest lasting “computer”
Tools for computing