History of Computers: The predecessors
The term "computer" has evolved significantly throughout history. In the 17th century, it referred to people who performed calculations manually. From prehistoric times, humans have sought methods to streamline calculation work, even before the terms "computer" or "calculator" were defined.
Mechanical Calculators
Ancient civilizations needed to perform basic mathematical operations for trading goods. The abacus, in its various prehistoric forms, can be considered the first computer in human history. It was so efficient for mathematical calculations that it's still used today, especially in Japan, where it's a competitive activity and a tool for improving brain capacity.
Over time, more advanced devices were designed, such as Napier's bones, aimed at more complex calculations. However, it wasn't until the 17th century that Pascal invented the Pascaline, the first mechanical calculator in history. This calculator could perform operations with up to two decimal places but couldn't multiply or divide. A few years later, Leibniz was inspired by the Pascaline to evolve the calculator, designing the Leibniz wheel to perform multiplications, divisions, and even square roots.
The Jacquard Loom
Before the 19th century, the textile industry was entirely manual and artisanal. In 1800, Jacquard invented the first mechanical loom in history. It allowed for the creation of complex patterns through instructions executed using punched cards. Many consider it the machine that introduced the foundations of what we know today as a computer.
The Difference Engine and Analytical Engine
Years later, Babbage designed the difference engine, which printed polynomial tables useful for maritime navigation, military weaponry, and astronomy. But his truly revolutionary design was the analytical engine, which was never built in his time. It included a processing unit, memory for storing numbers, punched cards for indicating operations, and a printing output.
Ada Lovelace studied Babbage's analytical engine and wrote the first programming algorithm in history (Note G). She is considered the world's first programmer and a visionary in programming.
The Tabulating Machine
In 1890, Hollerith designed a machine to process citizen information in the United States, known as the tabulating machine. It used punched cards to record information about each citizen and significantly sped up the census process. Hollerith founded the Computing-Tabulating-Recording company, which later became IBM, to offer his services for various needs such as accounting management, inventories, and sales records.
This journey through the history of computing devices shows how human ingenuity has continuously pushed the boundaries of calculation and data processing, laying the groundwork for the computers we use today.
