History of computing 5000 B.C. * 1900 A.D.
HISTORY OF COMPUTING
5000 B.C. – 1900 A.D.
Geoffrey Butterworth & Jessy Turnidge
Earliest History
5000 B.C.
Concept of Abax or
Algorithmic Unit (ALU)
Precursor to notion of computing unit
Lines & pebbles
3200 B.C. Sumer
Origin of accounting and number storage
Clay tablets
Arithmetic
Early History
3000 B.C. China & Babylon
First use of beads on wires - Abacus
Counting before numbers
Commercial uses
2400 B.C. – used to compute the first recorded mention of π
3 1 /
8
2500 B.C. Egypt
First ideas of a “thinking machine”
Primitive conception of AI
Early History
2000 B.C.
Sanskrit & Chinese writing
1850 B.C. Egypt
“the Rhind”: First record of collections of math problems
Puzzles & story problems; math riddles
1800 B.C. Egypt
Developed use of addition systems
1438 B.C. Egypt
Water clock
Control flow
Early History
1300 B.C. China
Development of decimal system
Basis of floating-point numbers
600 B.C.
Pythagorean theorem “rediscovered”
Spread of Abacus
Advancements in arithmetic in China
550 B.C. - Rediscovery of irrational numbers
Early History
300 B.C.
Widespread use of 1-9 sequence of numerals
Babylonian Salamis tablet
200 B.C. India
The invention of Binary
Decimal binary
1’s and 2’s instead of 0’s and 1’s
As the Roman Empire fell…
150 - 100 B.C.
Antikythera mechanism
First analog computer
Astronomy
Advanced technology
724
First mechanical clock
Precedent for computers and robotics
The spread of education
1200 Logic
Formal thought
1502 Da Vinci
Plans for first mechanical calculator
Gears
1642 Blaise Pascal
Constructed the first mechanical calculator
Early technologies
1724 China
First fully mechanical clock
1804 the Jacquard loom
Punched card as “key” to a mechanized loom
1850 Difference Engine
Charles Babbage designed, failed to create
Hand cranked, mechanical, digital computer
Same basic functions as modern computers
“Modern” Uses
19 th century - Ada Lovelace
First computer programmer
computer algorithm
Pioneer of multimedia
Even has a programming language named after her
“Modern” Uses
Herman Hollerith
Father of automatic computation
1880 census
Loom & punch card design
Tabulator and sorter
Founded CTR company IBM
Citations
http://www.thocp.net/timeline/0000.htm
Abax, Abacus, Water clock http://www.atariarchives.org/deli/artificial_intelligence.php
Thinking Machine http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?historyid
=ab34 Sanskrit http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_4.htm
Antikythera Mechanism http://www.thocp.net/timeline/0469.htm
Antikythera Mechanism 2,
Mechanical Clock, Abelard's http://www.readcube.com/articles/10.1038/444534a Antikythera
3
Citations
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/abelard/#Log Peter Abelard's Logic http://www.educalc.net/197481.page
Da Vinci's Calculator http://lecture.eingang.org/pascaline.html
Pascal's Calculator http://www.thocp.net/timeline/1620.htm
Pascal 2 http://groups.engin.umd.umich.edu/CIS/course.des/cis400/ada/ada.html
Ada Lovelace http://www.computerhistory.org/babbage/adalovelace/ Ada 2 http://www.computerhistory.org/babbage/engines/ Babbage Engine http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/hollerith.html
- Herman
Hollerith
Citations
http://www.assa10.dsl.pipex.com/pre1945/count%20board.jpg
-
Abax http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb309/NWA747/keys2.jpg
- Loom http://financialsensei.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/cogs2.jpg
-
Antikythera http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/Difference
_engine_plate_1853.jpg
- Babbage Engine http://www.neac2.eu/water/images/miscellaneous/clock-water.gif
water clock http://www.columbia.edu/cu/computinghistory/census-tabulator.html
- tabulator
