Summary of Computing Devices I
Abacus is a manual calculating or counting device which uses beads to represent numbers. It was used for addition and subtraction and could not carry out complex mathematical operations.
Slide rule is a mechanical analog computer, also known as slip stick. It is primarily used for multiplication, division and scientific functions such as square root, logarithms and trigonometry but it cannot be used for addition and subtraction. It was developed by William Oughtred, an English mathematician in 1630.
Napier’s bone is an ingenious stick for performing arithmetic operation by the manipulation of rods called bones. It was invented by John Napier, a Scottish mathematician and scientist in the year 1617.
The first mechanical digital calculator (adding machine) was invented by Blaise Pascal in Paris in 1642. It is a gear-driven mechanical machine, which performed whole-number addition and subtraction.
The Stepped Reckoner was invented by Gottfried William von Leibniz a German mathematician in 1694. It was the first calculator that could perform all four arithmetic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication and division).
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