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A new version of Libreoffice has been released - Libreoffice 6.2Intellectual ferment in the 17th century led to new heights and discoveries in mathematics, which greatly facilitated the work of those who tirelessly developed calculators.
In 1614, the Scottish theologian and mathematician John Napier discovered logarithms and transformed the multiplication complex into simpler addition operations. By inscribing multiplication tables in a series of plates in 1617, he made it easier to multiply large numbers. A few years later, Napier's logarithms began to be used on a sliding basis, and the need for his plates disappeared.
In 1642, in France, the nineteen-year-old son of a tax collector, Blaise Pascal, experimented with a mechanical calculation machine to help his father in his work. He designed a machine with interlocking gears that could handle large numbers. Pascal's invention, named after the creator of pascaline, gained wide popularity as the first calculating machine. However, the first calculator was built in 1623 by the German professor Wilhelm Schickard. In 1673, the easier-to-use calculator of Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, a German diplomat and mathematician, replaced it.
The machine pictured above adds and subtracts as the gears engage as it rotates. The wheel carries over nine to the next column. The result appears in the display window, with numbers for subtraction on the left and numbers for addition on the right.
Interior view of a six-digit pascaline.
Records of Napier
John Napier constructed addition tables on thin plates, or blocks. Each side carries numbers. Among mathematicians, Napier is not considered his greatest contribution to science. Although his records were in use throughout Europe, Napier is better known as the discoverer of logarithms.
The Leibniz calculator consisted of a crank that turned gears that accelerated the multiplication and division process.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) wrote the following announcement: "I present to the public a machine whereby you will be able to perform all arithmetic operations without any effort and will be freed from the work that has so often tired your spirit."
Today, the widespread use of calculators greatly facilitates the work of a person in various fields. However, it is almost impossible to imagine life without such assistants - after all, counting devices accompanied a person everywhere in various historical periods, although the mechanism of their work was arranged differently.
Already three thousand years ago, the first abacus appeared in Ancient Babylon - an ancient analogue of the account, in which round pebbles moved along special guides in the form of recesses, and each of the guides was a display of a number of units, tens, hundreds. The abacus was also known in ancient India, and in the 10th century AD, it also appeared in Western Europe. However, here, instead of stones, it was customary to use special tokens, on which numbers were applied.
In Russia, the first analogue of the abacus was the abacus - they were first built at the end of the 15th century and since then their design has remained virtually unchanged, and to this day they are still used in various areas of trade.
The abacus and abacus are relatively simple tools for performing mathematical operations. And yet, since ancient times, people have sought to simplify and speed up calculations as much as possible, and therefore mathematicians invented more and more new algorithms, as well as original devices.
For example, a mechanism found on an ancient sunken ship near the Greek island of Antikythera dates back to approximately 100-150 years. BC, but this device is already striking in its technical capabilities. Bronze gears on a wooden case framed by a beautiful dial with arrows represent the oldest achievement of scientists who, using the Antikyrean mechanism and similar devices, calculated the movement of celestial bodies - after all, this device performed various mathematical operations, in particular, addition, subtraction, division.
The next technical achievement in the field of mechanization of calculations dates back to 1643 and is associated with the name of the scientist Blaise Pascal. The innovation is a summing arithmetic machine, which seemed like a perfect achievement, but thirty years later, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz introduced an even more complex invention - the first mechanized calculator. It is noteworthy that it was during these years (the beginning of a new time) that the struggle between the "abacists" and "algorithms" somewhat subsides, and the calculator represents the expected compromise between the two conflicting parties.
The most active surge in the development of calculators occurs in the 19th-20th centuries. In the 1890s in Russia, an arithmometer of its own production is actively used; Pocket calculators have been available to our fellow citizens since 1974, and the first such model is the B3-04 Electronics. At the same time, the first programmable calculators appeared in the USSR, the peak of development of which was the Elektronika MK-85 model, which worked in the Basic programming language.
Abroad, the development of calculating machines is no less intensive. The first mass production calculator - ANITA MK VIII - was produced in England in 1961 and is a device that runs on gas discharge lamps. This device was quite bulky by today's standards, it was equipped with a keyboard for entering numbers, as well as an additional 10-key console for setting the multiplier. In 1965, Wang calculators first learned how to count logarithms, and four years later, the first desktop programmable calculator appeared in the United States. And in the 1970s, the world of calculators becomes more sophisticated and diverse - new desktop and pocket machines appear, as well as professional engineering calculators that allow you to make the most complex calculations.
Today, improved models of calculators are high-tech developments, the creation of which used the colossal experience of engineering enterprises around the world. And, despite the absolute priority of computers, calculators and other calculating devices still accompany a person in various fields of activity!
The exact time of the invention of computers is very difficult to determine. Their predecessors - mechanical computers, such as abacus, were invented by man long before our era. However, the term "computer" itself is much younger and appeared only in the 20th century.
Along with machines with punched cards IBM 601 (1935), the first inventions of the German scientist Konrad Zuse played an important role in the history of the development of computer technology. Today, many believe that there are several first computers invented around the same time.
1936: Konrad Zuse and Z1
In 1936, Konrad Zuse began to develop the first programmable calculator, which was completed in 1938. Z1 was the first computer with binary code and worked with punched tape. But unfortunately, the mechanical parts of the calculator were very unreliable. A replica Z1 is in the Museum of Technology in Berlin.
1941: Konrad Zuse and Z3
The Z3 is the successor to the Z1 and was the first freely programmable computer that could be used for anything other than computing. Many historians believe that the Z3 is the world's first functioning mainframe computer.
1946: First generation data processing systems
ENIAC In 1946, researchers Eckert and Mauchly invented the first fully electronic computer ENIAC - Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer (electronic digital integrator and computer). It was used by the US Army to calculate ballistic tables. ENIAC knew basic mathematical operations and could calculate square roots.
1956-1980: 2nd to 5th generation data processing systems
During these years, higher-level programming languages were developed, as well as the principles of virtual memory operation, the first compatible computers, databases and multiprocessor systems appeared. The world's first freely programmable desktop computer was created by Olivetti. In 1965, the Programma 101 electronic machine became available for purchase for $3,200.
1970-1974: Computer revolution
Microprocessors became cheaper, and during this period of time quite a lot of computer equipment was released to the market. The leading role here was played, first of all, by Intel and Fairchild. During these years, Intel created the first microcomputer: on November 15, 1971, the 4-bit Intel 4004 processor was introduced. In 1973, the Xerox Alto came out - the first computer with a graphical user interface (monitor), mouse and built-in Ethernet card.
1976-1979: microcomputers
Microcomputers became popular, new operating systems appeared, as well as floppy drives. Microsoft has established itself in the market. The first computer games and standard program names appeared. In 1978, the first 32-bit computer from DEC entered the market.
IBM developed the IBM 5100, the first "portable" weighing 25 kilograms. It had 16 kilobytes of RAM, a 16x64 display, and cost over $9,000. It was such a high price that did not allow the computer to establish itself in the market.
1980-1984: The first "real" PC
The 1980s saw the rise of "home computers" such as the Commodore VC20, Atari XL, or Amiga computers. IBM had a major impact on future PC generations with the introduction of the IBM PC in 1981. The IBM designated class of hardware is still valid today: the x86 processors are based on subsequent developments of the original IBM design.
There were many technical devices and manufacturers in the late 1970s, but IBM became the dominant supplier of computer hardware. In 1980, the company released the first "real" computer - he set the direction for the development of computer technology to the present. In 1982, IBM also brought Word, NetWare, and other applications we know to this day to market.
In 1983, the first Apple Macintosh appeared, focusing on user convenience. In 1984, the serial production of PCs in the USSR began. The first domestic computer that went into production was called "AGAT".
1985/1986: further development of computer technology
In 1985, the 520ST came out. It was an extremely powerful Atari computer for the time. In the same years, the first minicomputer MicroVAX II was released. In 1986, IBM introduced a new operating system (OS/2) to the market.
1990: Emergence of Windows
On May 22, 1990, Windows 3.0 appeared, which was a big breakthrough for Microsoft in those years. In the first six months alone, about three million copies of the operating system were sold. began to be seen as a global way of communication.
1991-1995: Windows and Linux
As a result of progress, initially very expensive computers have become more affordable. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint applications have finally been merged into the Office package. In 1991, Finnish developer Linus Torvalds started working on Linux.
In many companies, Ethernet has become the data transmission standard. Thanks to the ability to connect computers to each other, the client-server model became more and more popular, allowing you to work on the network.
1996-2000: The Internet grows in importance
During these years, software scientist Tim Berners Lee developed the HTML markup language, the HTTP transfer protocol, and the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) to give each site a name and transfer content from the web server to the browser. Since 1995, many web editors have been available, allowing many people to create their own websites.
XXI century: further development
In 2003, Apple released the PowerMac G5. It was the first computer with a 64-bit processor. In 2005, Intel created the first dual-core processors.
In subsequent years, the main course of development was directed towards the development of multi-core processors, calculations on graphic chips and also tablet computers. Since 2005, they began to take into account environmental aspects in the further development of computer technology.
Latest technology: quantum computer
Today, scientists are working on quantum computers. These machines are based on qubits. How exactly quantum computers work, we told in our magazine and in.
The first prototype of calculators known today can be called the Antikythera mechanism, discovered in 1902 near the Greek island of Antikythera, on a sunken Roman ship. This mechanism was supposedly created in the second century BC and was used to calculate the movement of celestial bodies, could perform addition, subtraction and division operations.
The simpler progenitors of modern calculators include the abacus from Ancient Babylon, as well as its improved version - the abacus used in Russia since the 15th century.
In 1643, the French scientist Blaise Pascal created a summing machine, which was a box with interconnected gears that turned with special wheels, each of which corresponded to one decimal place. When one of the wheels made the tenth revolution, the next gear shifted by one position, increasing the digit of the number. The answer after performing mathematical operations was displayed in the windows above the wheels.
The wheels on Pascal's summing machine rotated only in one direction, which made it possible to perform summation operations, although other operations were possible, but required rather complex and inconvenient procedures for performing calculations.
After 20 years, in 1673, the German mathematician Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz created his own version of the calculator, the principle of operation of which was the same as that of Pascal's adding machine - gears and wheels. However, a moving part was added to the Leibniz calculator, which became the prototype for the movable carriages of future desktop calculators, and a handle that turned a stepped wheel, which was later replaced by a cylinder. These additions made it possible to significantly speed up repetitive operations - multiplication and division. The use of the Leibniz calculator, although slightly simplified the calculation process, gave impetus to other inventors - the moving part and cylinder of the Leibniz calculator were used in computers until the middle of the 20th century.
The 60s of the XX century were rich in events related not only to the development of calculators, but also to their movement into mass use:
- in 1961 in England, they began producing the first mass calculator ANITA MK VIII, working on gas discharge lamps and having a numeric keypad and keys for entering a multiplier,
- in 1964, the USA launched the FRIDEN 130 calculator, the first mass-produced transistor calculator,
- also in 1964, the USSR began production of the VEGA calculator,
- in 1965, the Wang LOCI-2 logarithm calculator developed by Wang Laboratories was released,
- in 1967 in the USSR they developed a calculator capable of calculating transcendental functions - EDVM-P,
- In 1969, the HP 9100A Programmable Desktop Calculator was released in the United States.
In 1970, calculators weighing about 800 grams, which were manufactured by Canon and Sharp, went on sale. These calculators could already be held in hand. And in the USSR in the same year they developed a calculator using integrated circuits - Iskra 111.
The first "pocket" calculator can be called the Bomwar 901B calculator, which was released a year later - in 1971. Its dimensions already fully corresponded to our ideas about pocket calculators, at least in length and width - 13.1 cm and 7.7 cm, respectively, and its thickness was 3.7 cm.
Also in the 70s, engineering and programmable calculators, calculators with alphanumeric indicators, and in 1985 a Casio calculator with a graphic display appeared.
Now we have access to a huge variety of calculators - simple, engineering, accounting and financial, as well as programmable. There are also specialized calculators - medical, statistical and others.
