Republic of the Philippines

Palompon Institute of Technology

Palompon, Leyte

College of Graduate Studies

Name: Kimberly C. Orias

C/Y/S: MAEd- Science
Subject: C- SCi 01-B
Instructor: Dr. Janet A. Orioque

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The history of computing is an exciting voyage that begins at early discovery in human endeavors to
successfully compute answers for complicated mathematical problems. From basic tally sticks to elaborate
mechanical computers, the transformation of calculating devices from early forms show a progression in efforts
towards increased accuracy and speedier computations. This step was advanced in great measure by Charles
Babbage, the father of computers. In early calculating devices, humans replaced these relatively simple tools
integer by the digital age to do basic arithmetic. One of the earliest counting devices was a tally stick, which is
actually thousands of years old. Simplified in the video we have a bunch of sticks that represent numbers and
people kept track by just marking these with notches to record counts. The abacus, which originated in
different ancient civilizations and was more advanced than the hand fingertip method of calculation. It
permitted users to carry out arithmetic procedures by relocating beads along rods or wires, giving a hands-on
method of computing that remained typical with what Dante had said in the 20th century. Multiplication was the
first arithmetic operation that was automated in the early 17th century with the help of Napier’s bones. John
Napier’s invention was a set of rods on which certain numbers were written and which helped in solving
multiplication and division problems. This invention together with the slide rule which was developed from
Napier’s logarithmic concepts provided better means of solving mathematical problems especially among
scientists and engineers. The mechanical Pascal calculators continued their year evolution 1642. With This
Pascaline, the device was an invention able to Blaise perform addition and subtraction through the use of
gears that rotated, an improvement in the mechanical computation system. Multiplier and divider were added
by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in the Stepped Reckoner thus improving this technology to another level. The
Evolution of Calculating Machines to Programmable Machines, can be traced back to the nineteenth century
with Charles Babbage’s ideas. He is considered to be one of the greatest pioneers of the field and his work can
be seen as the basis of the modern computing systems. One of the more ambitious designs proposed for a
similar purpose was Babbage's Analytical Engine. The machines were programmed via a set of punched cards
and introduced concepts such as memory, a control unit, conditional branching—features that would continue
to be used in future computers. Babbage never was able to finish it, but his designs embodied an early
understanding of what would eventually be key components in a digital computer. Ada Lovelace is the first girl
programmer, Lovelace was a contemporary of Babbage and stands as one of the most important names in
computing history. But Lovelace saw grinder possibilities for what the Analytical Engine could do than mere
numerical calculations. She was a true visionary of her time, and she went down in history as the first
programmer in the world for coming up with an algorithm intended to be processed by a machine. Her work in
computer science served as the basis for generations of future hardware and software developers. After
Babbage and Lovelace came the Scheutzian Calculation Engine named for Pehr and Edvard Scheutz who
developed a functional difference engine during the 1850s. This included one that automated the production of
logarithmic tables, effectively proving that Babbage's ideas were not just possible in principle but also could
work in practice. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Herman Hollerith introduced the Tabulating Machine
which processed census data using punched cards similar to that of Jacquard. This evolution in computing was
vital to processing important data and eventually made way for IBM, one of the biggest technology companies
this world has ever seen. One of them was the IBM/Mark I, created by Howard Aiken at Harvard in 1944.
Turing's special computer had the most dramatic brain assembly, really a horn of plenty, because it could also
perform long arithmetic sequences on its own as well as inaugurate such automatic calculating. At the same
time Konrad Zuse built the first ( programmable ) computer, the Z1. The Z1 could perform floating-point
arithmetic and features binary logic, all essential parts of an universal electronic computer but there were
important differences from a computer. The Atanasoff-Berry Computer (ABC) was the first fully digital
computer, built by John Atanasoff and Clifford Berry between 1937-42. Unlike its predecessors the ABC was
digital and used electronic switches, or relays which made it a milestone in computing technology. With the
advent of computing, there naturally emerged an aspiration for portability. In 1981 the Osborne 1 was
introduced as the first portable computer. Even though it was a clunky 24 pounds, it represented a vast
improvement in making computing available beyond the walls of major offices and labs. Its success showed
that computing could be revolutionized from the individual standpoint, expanding tech accessibility to even
more millions of people.

To sum up then, the history of computers is a tale of compounded innovation. As far back as time itself,
simple tools such a tally sticks and the abacus have been used to make tedious calculations easier. Reduced
over millennia across age of invention after another by possibly well known inventors like Charles Babbage to
unknown figures (for example Ada Lovelace) fundamental concepts that would change computing in future.
Thanks to machines such as the Tabulating Machine, Harvard Mark I, Z1 and ABC -along with other
pioneering contraptions-, digital computation was born leading later on to hand-held computers like the
Osborne 1. And this historical trajectory reflects a very human impulse for enhancement, automation and the
scaling of information-processing capacity that underpins much of our modern digital world.