Transcript 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
 Clay
of accounting and number storage
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
 31/8

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
 First
mechanism
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

19th 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