Information Technology and Its Evolution (Part 4)

 

(Continued)

Mechanical Era (1400s to 1800s AD) (Remaining)

Pascaline (1642)

Pascaline, also known as the "Arithmetic Machine" is a mechanical calculator invented around 1642 by French mathematician Blaise Pascal which could perform addition and subtraction of two numbers directly as well as multiplication and division by using repeated addition and subtraction. 

Leibniz’s Calculating Machine (1673)

German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz invented this machine, also called step reckoner in 1673. It was the first machine that could directly perform all four arithmetic operations i.e. addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Separately he is also credited with the invention of Calculus and Binary system which then became the basis of modern computers. 

Difference Engine (1822)

English polymath Charles Babbage completed his Difference Engine No. 0 (a spinoff) in 1822, an automatic mechanical calculator designed to tabulate polynomial functions. It was the first computer that contained storage to hold data temporarily for subsequent processing. It could also stamp output on soft metal to be printed later on.

Analytical Engine (1837)

Analytical Engine was the first mechanical general-purpose computer designed and partly built by Charles Babbage around 1837 that was programmable, Turing-complete and incorporated almost all of the primary logical components of modern computers i.e. processor (mill), storage (store), input (reader) and output (printer).

Distant Communication

An important invention of this era for distant communication was Semaphore. One such system invented by French Claude Chappe in 1794, comprised of a string of towers 20 miles apart, topped by apparatus comprising of two movable wooden arms and attached crossbar which were moved in different combinations making different symbols to be seen by the operator of next tower with the help of telescope and were then reproduced for the next tower and so on. It is also sometimes referred to as optical telegraph.

Stay tuned with us as the next part is scheduled to be published soon where we will start discussing the Electromechanical Era.