Evolution of Computers Flashcards
Definition: An ancient memory aid device used to record numbers, quantities, or messages by carving notches into a stick.
Key Features:
Used across various cultures, including Mesopotamia, Egypt, and China.
Continued in use until the 20th century in parts of Europe.
Tally Stick
Definition: An ancient calculating tool with a frame of rods and beads used to perform arithmetic operations.
Key Features:
Essential for merchants and traders.
Independently developed in Egypt, Greece, Rome, India, and China.
Abacus
Definition: A manually-operated calculating device invented in 1617 by John Napier to simplify multiplication and division.
Key Features:
Based on lattice multiplication.
Made complex arithmetic easier and more accessible.
Napier’s Bone
A ___________ is a mechanical analog computer used developed by William Oughtred primarily for multiplication, division, roots, logarithms, trigonometry, and other functions. It consists of a set of logarithmic scales that can be slid against each other to perform calculations.
Slide rule
Definition: The first mechanical calculator, invented by Blaise Pascal in 1642.
Key Features:
Performed multiple calculations in a row without being reset.
High cost limited its widespread adoption.
Pascaline
The _________________ was a mechanical calculator invented by the German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1672. It was the first calculator capable of performing all four basic arithmetic operations and the decimal number system, making it more intuitive and easier to use than earlier calculating devices.
Stepped Reckoner
The ____________ is a mechanical loom, invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804, that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with complex patterns such as brocade, damask, and matelassé. It uses a series of punched cards to control the weaving pattern, allowing for intricate designs to be produced automatically.
Jacquard loom
The _____________ was the first commercially successful mechanical calculator. It was designed and developed by Thomas de Colmar in 1820 and first manufactured in 1851. It is the first reliable and practical calculating machine that could be used in various professional settings. It can also perform four basic arithmetic operation and first mass produce calculator.
Arithmometer
_______________ was an English mathematician, philosopher, inventor, and mechanical engineer. He is considered a pioneer of computer science and is often referred to as the “father of the computer.”
Charles Babbage
The ___________________, conceived by Charles Babbage in the 1820s, was a groundbreaking automatic mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions. It was a remarkable feat of engineering for its time, aiming to eliminate errors in mathematical computation that were often calculated and copied by hand. Partially built, never fully completed
Difference Engine
The __________________, designed in the 1830s, was a revolutionary concept for a mechanical general-purpose computer. It was programmable using punched cards, an idea borrowed from the Jacquard loom used for weaving complex patterns in textiles. Partially built, never fully completed
Analytical Engine
___________ Countess of Lovelace (née Byron; 1815-1852), is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of computer science due to her work on Charles Babbage’s proposed Analytical Engine. She is the first programmer. She suggest to Babbage to use binary system to program Analytical Engine.
Augusta Ada Byron
The ______________________, developed by Swedish father-son duo Per Georg and Edvard Scheutz in the 1843. It was the first printing calculator
Scheutzian Calculation Engine
The ____________________ was an electromechanical machine designed to assist in summarizing information stored on punched cards. It was invented by Herman Hollerith, an American inventor, in year 1890. It was developed to speed up the processing of data for the 1890 U.S. Census. It proved highly successful, reducing the time required to tabulate census data from several years to just a few months.
tabulating machine
The _______________, also known as the IBM Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC), was an electromechanical computer built during World War II. It was conceived by Harvard physicist Howard Aiken in 1937. The Mark I was designed to solve complex mathematical problems that were beyond the capabilities of human computers (people who performed calculations by hand).
Harvard Mark I
