Before
15,000,000,000,000 BC
The Universal computer boots up with a Big Bang,
everything that was has now become or will be.
However, every time scientists discover new
phenomena or get new instruments and new mathematical knowledge the age of the
universe will again be in dispute.
In the beginning, mankind may not have had any idea
of numerical units.
Possessions had to be portable, since they had to
be carried around. Everything that could not be carried, was left behind.
People had to be quick in movement and reaction; being slow meant instant
death.
Animals were not the stuffy types we keep in zoos
nowadays. They were bigger, fast as lightning and regarded a human just as
another piece of juicy meat. And there were no gates or anything to keep them
back. Reasons for humans tended not to carry too much around for their own
safety. One could safely say that the need to count or calculate was not
present since possessions were scarce and little.
on this stamp an Egyptian is shown counting with his fingers
But when mankind started to settle they began
gathering possessions. They surely could tell you that there were less or more
objects of, let's say, apples when apples were added or taken away. Could one
presume that they were visualizing the form (pile of apples) and estimated the
size, to have an idea of quantities? Was their way to tell something was
missing or added through observing that the form of the pile had changed? When
the pile of apples had become bigger, some apples were added. The bigger the
image they had in memory the more they had. Or at least this seems to be a logical
explanation of humans interfacing with their environment. As time progressed,
people migrated from a nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyle into a domestic
lifestyle. Occupied pieces of land and started farming. Hunting still took
place but out from a permanent camp site. The number of humans grew and they
specialized in professions: shoemakers, farmers, blacksmiths. In time wealth
and other things started to accumulate and volumes became larger. Methods of
visualizing quantities are of course very subjective, the need for better means
of telling quantities and at the same time keeping track of them, increased.
And as always the means were invented or improved upon when needed.
The first tools used for calculation aids were
almost certainly man's own fingers, and it is no coincidence that the Latin
word "digit" is used to refer to a finger (or toe) as well as
a numerical quantity.
As the needed to represent larger numbers grows,
early man employed readily available materials for the purpose. Small stones or
pebbles were used to represent larger numbers than fingers and toes, that had
the added advantage of easily storing intermediate results for later use. Thus,
it is no coincidence that the word "calculate" was derived
from the Latin word for pebble: calculus.
Carving Notches Into Bones app. 30.000 BC
bones carved app 25.000 (pictures taken by THOCF
2003 at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, Germany) the carving areas are
digitally enhanced
The oldest known objects used to represent numbers
were bones with notches carved into them, see picture above.
These bones, which were discovered in western
Europe, date from the Aurignacian period 20,000 to 30,000 years ago and
correspond to the first appearance of Cro-Magnon man. (Named
"Cro-Magnon" after the caves of the same name in Southern France, in
which the first skeletons of this race was found in 1868.). Of special interest
is a wolf's jawbone more than 20,000 years old with fifty-five notches in
groups of five, which was discovered in Czechoslovakia in 1937. This is the
first evidence of the tally system, which is still used
occasionally to the present day and could therefore qualify as one of the most
enduring of human inventions.
Also of interest was a piece of bone dating from
around 8,500 BC, discovered in Africa, that appeared to have notches
representing the prime numbers 11, 13, 17, and 19.
Prime numbers are those numbers that are only
wholly divisible by the number one and themselves, so it is not surprising that
early man would have attributed them with a special significance. Surprising
was that someone of that era had the mathematical sophistication to recognize
this quite advanced concept and took the trouble to write it down -- not the
least because prime numbers had little relevance to everyday problems of
gathering food and staying alive.
Many artifacts are found that support the idea that
mankind used very different means to keep track of numerical data, amounts,
numbers and possessions. These artifacts are sometimes tens of thousands of
years old.
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abacus |
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quipa |
cuneiform app 4000-1200bc
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abax |
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Napier bones |
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More details can be found in the various sections; just click the
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So far for the artifacts. Yes, they were
helpful. But as the quality of life improved, in different parts of the world
people started to question themselves and wondered if there was more behind the
clouds. And the need for knowledge grew. Scientists of all breeds and colors
stepped forward and came with many new findings, inventions and facts of life.
In the Indian Vedah compiled at least before 6000
BC a verse (Richa) mentions the numerals of 12 (dwawash), 2 (treemi), and 300
(trishat).
That was one of the earliest recordings of a
decimal numeral system. The use of the zero also proved that a 10 based
positional numeric system was in use at that time.
It is open to speculation how long before this date
the decimal system, inclusive the zero, was invented.
And, it still leaves us with the question: "who or what people invented the zero?”
Also note: around 600 AD the first
recorded instance of calculations with a zero appeared.
Ishango bone type of tally stick in use.
5500 BC
picture courtesy mathworld.wolfram.com
Mathematics in Egypt is based on the fractional
system.
A fine illustration of this is found in the eye of
Horus. An egyptian deity of this time. The fractional units were used to
represent the fractions of hekat (appr. 4.8 liters), the unit measure of
capacity for grains.
See also below at 1850 BC for a riddle in
this type of calculus
The Abax (latin), or Abaq (Sumeric),
giving the general idea of an Algorithmic Unit (ALU) of a computer,
is coming in use in the far east. Abaq or Abax stands for dust. Thus using the
Abax or Abaq meant writing in dust.
The Abax serves as a means to calculate, it is a
flat stone or wooden tabletop in which are carved straight lines. Calculations
are done using little pebbles, and it is assumed that the various pebbles
represent different values. In much later times (approximately 800 AD), the
Abax showed up in Europe.
4000 B.C.
Inhabitants of the first known civilization in
Sumer keep records of commercial transactions on clay tablets.
The first human to actually record numbers in a storage
medium may have been a Sumerian accountant.
He lived somewhere in the lower Mesopotamian river
valley about 3200 BC using the sexagesimal numbering system based on the
numbers 6 and 10. The discovery of arithmetic brought the Sumerian tangible benefits
including the ability to numerically model the products of their economy, and
their commerce grew making Mesopotamia the creator of Western civilization.
Positional number system used in Mesopotamia.
Early form of beads on wires, used in China
The Abacus is described for the first
time in Babylon.
An improved version is coming into use around 1300
BC and is still in use now on the Balkan and Asia.
Just to show how well the abacus is keeping up: in
app. 1950 AD, a contest between man and machine took place and a well trained
human still beat the fastest electronic computer of that day by doing
arithmetic on his Abacus.
In 3000BC the Hindus culture flourished and large
numbers were used (inscriptions).
2500 BC
The Egyptians came up with the idea of a thinking
machine. Citizens went to the "Oracles": statues in which priests
were hidden who communicated via orifices with the people putting questions to
the oracles. This idea was copied in the 18th century when a smart designer hid
a chess player in a so-called "automatic chess playing
machine".
2400 BC
Babylonians use the abacus and approximate pi as 3 1/8.
2000 BC
Chinese writing system is developed. It was
codified around 1500 BC
From the middle of 2000 BC Indo-European tribes
were making their way from the N. W. towards India.
They introduced Sanskrit - earliest knowledge of
maths dates from this time.
+/-1900 BC
Stonehenge is still a mystery today. Was it a
calendar or "just" a place for spiritual events? Do you want to know
more?
1850 BC
In the Rhind Papyrus written
by, or copied as he states himself, the Egyptian scribe Ahmes stated that p = 256/81 app. 3.160… The scroll was purchased in Egypt by the
Egyptologist Rhind in 1858 and is now in the British museum of Art.
This scroll contained more than a definition of PI.
The Ahmes papyrus contained a set of 84 mathematical problems and their
solutions. Although no hint is given how these solutions were arrived at, it
gave us an insight into the mathematical knowledge of the early Egyptians.
The Rhind papyrus showed that early Egyptian
mathematics was largely based on puzzle type problems. For example the papyrus
contained the following puzzle.
Seven houses contain seven cats. Each cat kills
seven mice. Each mouse had eaten seven ears of grain. Each ear of grain would
have produced seven hekats of wheat. What is the total of all of these
1800 BC
A well developed additive number system is now in
use in Egypt
1438 BC
One of the oldest was found in the tomb of
Amenhotep I, buried around 1500 B.C. Others were built in China (1086 by Su
Sung, a working model can be seen in action in Manor
Museum UK), Korea (architect: Chang Yeong Shil, 1438, can still be seen at
Kyeong Bok Gung.), and in Syria (700 BC). Greece (ca. 5th century BC ) Some
examples are shown below.
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Replica of water clock by Su Sung ca. 1086 (courtesy Manor House) |
Chinese water clock by Su Sung
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~1350
The Chinese use of a precision of one decimal is
registered.
In that the Chinese were calculating beyond the
precision of whole numbers and started to divide the numbers in parts e.g.
fractions.
1300 BC
800 BC
I-Chin exhibits binary properties.
600 BC
In this century Pythagoras rediscovered the theorem:
the sum of the squares of the sides of a right triangle equals the square of
the hypotenuse.
The so-called Pythagorean triples were already
known in Babylonian times
Abacus used in Greece
Major developments start to take place in Chinese
arithmetic.
Pythagoras is credited for a theorem known to the
Chinese a thousand years earlier.
When his student Hippasus rediscovered irrational
numbers, Pythagoras, believing the universe to be strictly rational, acts
contrarily and has the student drowned for heresy.
The first known description of a binary numeral
system was made by Pingala
He is the author of the chandah-shastra, the
sanskrit book on meters, or long syllables. While Pingala's system uses the
symbols 1 and 2, Leibnitz (17th c.) uses 0 and 1, like the modern binary
numeral system.
300 BC
Buddhist inscriptions from around 300 B.C. use
symbols that will become the 1, 4 and 6 as in use since the 16th century.
One century later, their use of the symbols which
will be 2, 4, 6, 7 and 9 will be recorded. The numerals migrate through Persia,
now known as Iraq, to Egypt and Italy. Only to be generally accepted late in
the 8th beginning of 9th century in de Middle East region. In Europe it takes a
little longer. Only when Fibonacci uses the Arab numerals in his treatise
acceptance begins. Not before the 16th century the new numerals will be
generally accepted in the West.
pictures
and main text for this entry courtesy
This Babylonian Salamis tablet, the oldest
surviving counting board, wil be discovered in 1846 on the island of Salamis
near Greece.
Salamis calculating board appr 300 BC
The gaming boards used by cultures like the
Babylonians and Romans are seen as the "prototypes" of the Abacus. As
most counting boards during this period of time, this Salamis board may most
likely have been used for other activities than accounting, e.g. gaming. The
board is ~150 x ~75 x ~4.5 cm (1 inch = 2.54 cm) and
made of marble. Parallel grooves and Greek symbols are carved into it;
with just four grooves it is possible to add and subtract to 10,000. The
counting method used here is bi-quinary.
250 BC
Ctesibius (285 - 222 BC) invents an automata
to represent a whistling clock, a variant on the clepsydra with pneumatics as
the power source.
Due to a fire burning down the library of
Alexandria all his designs and record will be lost. There is little left of
Ctesibius' work, apart from a mysterious tower in Greece. It will take
mechanical engineers (e.g. Cristiaan Huygens) over 1800 years to surpass
Ctesibius' precision with this water clock.
History of Computers
The
Computer history from 1936 is like below table. Here is the growing chart of
computing machines according to the inventions chronology.
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Computer History
Year/Enter |
Computer History
Inventors/Inventions |
Computer History
Description of Event |
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1936
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Konrad Zuse - Z1 Computer
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First freely programmable computer.
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1942
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John Atanasoff & Clifford Berry
ABC Computer |
Who was first in the computing biz is not always as easy as
ABC.
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1944
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Howard Aiken & Grace Hopper
Harvard Mark I Computer |
The Harvard Mark 1 computer.
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1946
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John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly
ENIAC 1 Computer |
20,000 vacuum tubes later...
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1948
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Frederic Williams & Tom Kilburn
Manchester Baby Computer & The Williams Tube |
Baby and the Williams Tube turn on the memories.
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1947/48
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John Bardeen, Walter Brattain & Wiliam Shockley
The Transistor |
No, a transistor is not a computer, but this invention greatly
affected the history of computers.
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1951
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John Presper Eckert & John W. Mauchly
UNIVAC Computer |
First commercial computer & able to pick presidential
winners.
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1953
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International Business Machines
IBM 701 EDPM Computer |
IBM enters into 'The History of Computers'.
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1954
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John Backus & IBM
FORTRAN Computer Programming Language |
The first successful high level programming language.
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1955
(In Use 1959) |
Stanford Research Institute, Bank of America, and General
Electric
ERMA and MICR |
The first bank industry computer - also MICR (magnetic ink
character recognition) for reading checks.
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1958
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Jack Kilby & Robert Noyce
The Integrated Circuit |
Otherwise known as 'The Chip'
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1962
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Steve Russell & MIT
Spacewar Computer Game |
The first computer game invented.
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1964
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Douglas Engelbart
Computer Mouse & Windows |
Nicknamed the mouse because the tail came out the end.
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1969
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ARPAnet
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The original Internet.
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1970
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Intel 1103 Computer Memory
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The world's first available dynamic RAM chip.
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1971
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Faggin, Hoff & Mazor
Intel 4004 Computer Microprocessor |
The first microprocessor.
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1971
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Alan Shugart &IBM
The "Floppy" Disk |
Nicknamed the "Floppy" for its flexibility.
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1973
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Robert Metcalfe & Xerox
The Ethernet Computer Networking |
Networking.
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1974/75
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Scelbi & Mark-8 Altair & IBM 5100 Computers
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The first consumer computers.
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1976/77
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Apple I, II & TRS-80 & Commodore Pet Computers
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More first consumer computers.
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1978
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Dan Bricklin & Bob Frankston
VisiCalc Spreadsheet Software |
Any product that pays for itself in two weeks is a surefire
winner.
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1979
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Seymour Rubenstein & Rob Barnaby
WordStar Software |
Word Processors.
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1981
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IBM
The IBM PC - Home Computer |
From an "Acorn" grows a personal computer revolution
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1981
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Microsoft
MS-DOS Computer Operating System |
From "Quick And Dirty" comes the operating system of
the century.
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1983
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Apple Lisa Computer
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The first home computer with a GUI, graphical user interface.
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1984
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Apple Macintosh Computer
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The more affordable home computer with a GUI.
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1985
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Microsoft Windows
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Microsoft begins the friendly war with Apple.
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