HISTORY OF COMPUTER

MECHANICAL CALCULATION ERA

The mechanical age can be defined as the time between 1450 and 1840. A lot of new technologies are
developed in this era as there is a large explosion in interest with this area. Technologies like the slide
rule (an analog computer used for multiplying and dividing) were invented.

THE ABACUS

The abacus, called Suan-Pan in Chinese, as it appears today, was first chronicled circa 1200 C.E. in China.
The device was made of wood with metal re-inforcements. On each rod, the classic Chinese abacus has
2 beads on the upper deck and 5 on the lower deck; such an abacus is also referred to as a 2/5 abacus

SLIDE RULE

The slide rule was invented by William Oughtred in the 1600’s, but only began to be widely used in the
mid 1800’s after a French artillery officer named Amedee Mannheim developed a version that became
popular among engineers. By the early 1900’s engineering students in the US were commonly taught to
use slide rules.

PASCALINE

Pascaline, also called Arithmetic Machine, the first calculator or adding machine to be produced in any
quantity and actually used. The Pascaline was designed and built by the French mathematician-
philosopher Blaise Pascal between 1642 and 1644.