Lesson 1.2 Flashcards
What is Computer Science?
Studies what computers can do.
What is the earliest known tool for computation?
Abacus
When and by whom was the Abacus created?
2700 - 2300 BCE by the Sumerians
What does the Abacus do? What did it look like?
Compute. It was a stone tablet which had five columns (1s, 10s, 60s, 600s, 3600s). It is considered to be the first calculator ever in human history.
When was the south-pointing chariot invented and where?
It was invented in 1050-771 BCE in China.
Why is the south point chariot important?
It created a geared mechanism which were used in analog computers.
What is Ashtadhyayi?
A set of 3959 grammar rules founded by Panini in 5th Century India.
Why is Ashtadhyayi/Panini important?
He created metarules, transformations, and recursions.
How did Archimedes contribute to computing?
In the 3rd Century BCE, he used properties of balance to calculate math problems. This required recursive notation for numbers.
What mechanism is known as the earliest mechanical analog computer?
Antikythera mechanism
What does the Antikythera mechanism do?
It calculates astronomical positions.
Name a couple computers devices that were made by the Islamic world during the Medieval period?
Astrolabe, torquetm, and castle clock. Castle clock as well is considered to be the first programmable analog computer.
Who came up with the concept of a digital programmable computer?
Charles Babbage who was an english polymath. Babbage is considered the father of the computer.
What did Ada Lovelace do?
She added onto the concept of a digital programmable computer and created a program to calculate Bernoulli Numbers. This is considered the first true computer program.
What are Bernoulli Numbers?
Complex calculations that require a recursive algorithm.
