History of computing 386519 221686998 2008-06-25T17:00:51Z Jagged 85 468111 /* =References */ {{Unreferenced|date=December 2007}} {{History of computing}} The '''history of [[computing]]''' is longer than the [[history of computing hardware]] and [[computer|modern computing technology]] and includes the history of methods intended for pen and paper or for chalk and slate, with or without the aid of tables. The '''[[timeline of computing]]''' presents a summary list of major developments in computing by date. ==Concrete devices== Computing is intimately tied to the representation of ''numbers''. But long before [[abstraction]]s like ''number'' arose, there were mathematical concepts to serve the purposes of civilization. These concepts are implicit in concrete practices such as : *''[[one-to-one correspondence]]'', a rule to [[counting|count]] ''how many'' items, say on a [[tally stick]], which was eventually abstracted into ''number''; *''comparison to a standard'', a method for assuming ''[[reproducibility]]'' in a [[measurement]], for example, the number of [[coin]]s; *the ''3-4-5'' right triangle was a device for assuring a ''right angle'', using [[rope]]s with 12 evenly spaced [[knot]]s, for example. ==Numbers== Eventually, the concept of numbers became concrete and familiar enough for [[counting]] to arise, at times with sing-song mnemonics to teach [[sequence]]s to others. All the known languages have words for at least [[numbers in various languages|"one" and "two"]], and even some animals like the [[blackbird]] can distinguish a surprising number of items. {{Fact|date=August 2007}} Advances in the [[numeral system]] and [[mathematical notation]] eventually led to the discovery of mathematical operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squaring, square root, and so forth. Eventually the operations were formalized, and concepts about the operations became understood well enough to be [[theorem|stated formally]], and even [[mathematical proof|proven]]. See, for example, [[Euclidean algorithm|Euclid's algorithm]] for finding the greatest common divisor of two numbers. By the High Middle Ages, the [[positional notation|positional]] [[Hindu-Arabic numeral system]] had reached [[Europe]], which allowed for systematic computation of numbers. During this period, the representation of a calculation on [[paper]] actually allowed calculation of [[mathematical expression]]s, and the tabulation of [[mathematical function]]s such as the [[square root]] and the [[common logarithm]] (for use in multiplication and division) and the [[trigonometric function]]s. By the time of [[Isaac Newton]]'s research, paper or vellum was an important computing resource, and even in our present time, researchers like [[Enrico Fermi]] would cover random scraps of paper with calculation, to satisfy their curiosity about an equation. Even into the period of programmable calculators, [[Richard Feynman]] would unhesitatingly compute any steps which overflowed the memory of the calculators, by hand, just to learn the answer. ==Early computation== {{main|Timeline of computing 2400 BC–1949}} The earliest known tool for use in computation was the [[abacus]], and it was thought to have been invented in [[Babylon]] circa [[2400 BCE]]. Its original style of usage was by lines drawn in sand with pebbles. Abaci, of a more modern design, are still used as calculation tools today. This was the first known computer and most advanced system of calculation known to date - preceding Greek methods by 2,000 years. In [[1115 BCE]], the [[South Pointing Chariot]] was invented in [[ancient China]]. It was the first known [[gear]]ed mechanism to use a [[differential gear]], which was later used in [[analog computer]]s. The [[China|Chinese]] also invented a more sophisticated abacus from around the [[2nd century BCE]] known as the [[Chinese abacus]]). In the [[5th century BCE]] in [[History of India|ancient India]], the [[grammarian]] [[Pāṇini]] formulated the [[grammar]] of [[Sanskrit]] in 3959 rules known as the [[Ashtadhyayi]] which was highly systematized and technical. Panini used metarules, [[transformation]]s and [[recursion]]s with such sophistication that his grammar had the [[computing]] power equivalent to a [[Turing machine]]. Between [[200 BCE]] and [[400|400 CE]], [[Indian mathematics#Jaina Mathematics .28400 BCE - 200 CE.29|Jaina mathematicians]] in India invented the [[logarithm]]. From the [[13th century]], logarithmic tables were produced by [[Islamic mathematics|Muslim mathematicians]]. The [[Antikythera mechanism]] is believed to be the earliest known mechanical analog computer.<ref>[http://www.antikythera-mechanism.gr/project/general/the-project.html ''The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project''], The Antikythera Mechanism Research Project. Retrieved 2007-07-01</ref> It was designed to calculate astronomical positions. It was discovered in 1901 in the [[Antikythera]] wreck off the Greek island of Antikythera, between Kythera and Crete, and has been dated to ''circa'' 100 BC. Mechanical analog computer devices appeared again a thousand years later in the [[Islamic Golden Age|medieval Islamic world]] and were developed by [[Islamic astronomy|Muslim astronomers]], such as the [[equatorium]] by [[Abū Ishāq Ibrāhīm al-Zarqālī|Arzachel]],<ref>{{Harvard reference |last=Hassan |first=Ahmad Y. |authorlink=Ahmad Y Hassan |url=http://www.history-science-technology.com/Articles/articles%2071.htm |title=Transfer Of Islamic Technology To The West, Part II: Transmission Of Islamic Engineering |accessdate=2008-01-22}}</ref> the mechanical geared [[astrolabe]] by [[Abū Rayhān al-Bīrūnī]],<ref name=usc>{{cite web|url=http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/introduction/woi_knowledge.html|title=Islam, Knowledge, and Science|publisher=[[University of Southern California]]|accessdate=2008-01-22}}</ref> and the [[torquetum]] by [[Jabir ibn Aflah]].<ref>{{citation|first=R. P.|last=Lorch|title=The Astronomical Instruments of Jabir ibn Aflah and the Torquetum|journal=[[Centaurus (journal)|Centaurus]]|volume=20|issue=1|year=1976|pages=11-34}}</ref> The first [[Computer programming|programmable]] machines were also invented by [[Inventions in the Islamic world|Muslim engineers]], such as the [[Automaton|automatic]] [[flute]] player by the [[Banū Mūsā]] brothers<ref name=Koetsier>Teun Koetsier (2001). "On the prehistory of programmable machines: musical automata, looms, calculators", ''Mechanism and Machine theory'' '''36''', p. 590-591.</ref> and the [[humanoid robot]]s by [[Al-Jazari]].<ref>[http://www.shef.ac.uk/marcoms/eview/articles58/robot.html A 13th Century Programmable Robot], [[University of Sheffield]]</ref> [[Islamic mathematics|Muslim mathematicians]] also made important advances in [[cryptography]], such as the development of [[cryptanalysis]] and [[frequency analysis]] by [[Al-Kindi|Alkindus]].<ref>Simon Singh, ''The Code Book'', pp. 14-20</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.muslimheritage.com/topics/default.cfm?ArticleID=372 |title= Al-Kindi, Cryptgraphy, Codebreaking and Ciphers |accessdate=2007-01-12 |format= HTML |work= }}</ref> When [[John Napier]] discovered logarithms for computational purposes in the early [[17th century]], there followed a period of considerable progress by inventors and scientists in making calculating tools. None of the early computational devices were really [[computer]]s in the modern sense, and it took considerable advancement in mathematics and theory before the first modern computers could be designed. ==Navigation and astronomy== Starting with known special cases, the calculation of logarithms and trigonometric functions can be performed by looking up numbers in a [[mathematical table]], and [[interpolation|interpolating]] between known cases. For small enough differences, this linear operation was accurate enough for use in [[navigation]] and [[astronomy]] in the [[Age of Exploration]]. The uses of interpolation have thrived in the past 500 years: by the twentieth century [[Leslie Comrie]] and [[W.J. Eckert]] systematized the use of interpolation in tables of numbers for [[history of computing hardware|punch card calculation]]. In our time, even a student can simulate the motion of the planets, an N-body differential equation, using the concepts of [[numerical methods|numerical approximation]], a feat which even Isaac Newton could admire, given his struggles with the motion of the Moon. ==Weather prediction== The numerical solution of differential equations, notably the [[Navier-Stokes equations]] was an important stimulus to computing, with [[Lewis Fry Richardson]]'s numerical approach to solving differential equations. To this day, some of the most powerful computer systems of the Earth are used for [[weather forecast]]s. ==Symbolic computations== By the late 1960s, computer systems could perform symbolic algebraic manipulations well enough to pass college-level [[calculus]] courses. Using programs like ''[[Mathematica]]'' and [[Comparison_of_computer_algebra_systems|others]] it is now possible to visualize concepts such as [[modular form]]s which were only accessible to the [[mathematics|mathematical]] imagination before this. ==References== {{reflist}} ==See also== * [[Timeline of quantum computing]] * [[Algorithm]] * [[List of mathematicians]] * [[:Category:Computing timelines|Computing timelines]] category * [[History of free software]] * [[List of books on the history of computing]] * [[Charles Babbage Institute]] - research center for history of computing at University of Minnesota ==External links== *[http://www.computer.org/portal/site/annals IEEE Annals of the History of Computing] *[http://www.algana.co.uk/HistoryofComputingGroup/HistoryofComputingGroup.htm Richmond (UK) History of Computing Group] *[http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/ The History of Computing] by J.A.N. Lee *[http://www.thocp.net/ The History of Computing Project] *[http://techwatch.reviewk.com/2008/06/baby-celebrates-birth-of-computing-60-years/ Baby celebrates 60 years of Computing] *[http://www.sigcis.org SIG on Computers, Information and Society of the Society for the History of Technology] *[http://www.maxmon.com/history.htm A History of Computers] *[http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/computing-history/ Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry] *[http://www.myoddpc.com/other/history_of_computer.php The history of computer] *[http://www.cbi.umn.edu/ Charles Babbage Institute: Center for the History of Information Technology] *[http://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom/Resources/ResourceFile.htm Key Resources in the History of Computing] *[http://www.pbs.org/nerds/ Cringely's "Triumph of the Nerds"] *[http://www.davros.org/misc/chronology.html A Chronology of Digital Computing Machines (to 1952)] by Mark Brader * [http://www.bitsavers.org/ Bitsavers], an effort to capture, salvage, and archive historical computer software and manuals from minicomputers and mainframes of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s *[http://www.rk86.com/frolov/ Soviet calculators and computers collection] by Sergei Frolov *[http://www.emula3.com emula3.com] Emulation plus historic documents and images (see Library and Gallery sections) *[http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2006.0082/ Cyberhistory (2002)] by Keith Falloon. UWA digital thesis repository. === Computer History Museums === :''See [[:Category:Computer museums]]'' [[Category:History of mathematics]] <!-- Note that this article is not a history of computer hardware or software: it's just computing as in calculation --> [[de:Computergeschichte]] [[es:Historia de la Informática]] [[nl:Geschiedenis van de computer]] [[oc:Istòric de l'informatica]] [[pl:Historia informatyki]] [[sl:Zgodovina računalništva]] [[sv:Datorhistoria]]