home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- 14,6
- People have always needed to keep track of information. The progress toward
- the concept of a computer has extended over several centuries. One of the
- earliest computational devices was the abacus, used by the Chinese since
- 1000 B.C. The computer concept originated when Blaise Pascal invented a
- mechanical adding machine in 1642. Gottfried Leibnitz expanded the concept
- in 1694 with a machine that could add, subtract, multiply, divide, and
- calculate square roots. In 1822, Charles Babbage developed the difference
- engine, which could compute mathematical tables. A later, more sophisticated
- version, the analytical engine, designed with an arithmetic unit, punched-card
- input, and external storage, could not be built for lack of parts. In the
- 1880's, Dr. Herman Hollerith developed a punched-card device to code data for
- the United States Bureau of Census. His Tabulating Machine Company, founded in
- 1896 to manufacture and market punched-card equipment, later merged with
- 12 other companies to form International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
- X999