Early Aid to Counting: The Historical Development of Computers

The development of computer from the first attempt to date, is as a result of efforts made by some innovators; some of these widely acclaimed inventors is given below.

EARLY AIDS TO COUNTING

FINGER/STONES

Prior to the discovery of alternative means for counting, fingers, toes and stones were used in counting, and in the performance of simple arithmetic calculations such as addition of numbers, subtraction, etc. This simple way of counting was difficult to use for large counts because stones were very awkward. The methods were used until the invention of the Abacus device.

Abacus

The Abacus device was invented to replace the traditional method (fingers/stones) of counting. The abacus device is an instrument used for counting as far back as 500 B.C. With the objective of making calculations easier, and to suit the various number systems.

Among the countries that used the Abacus were Russia, Japan, China, Greece and Rome.

There exist different types of abacus device, thus: the Chinese abacus, Aztec abacus, Russian abacus and Japanese Soroban device. Around about the year 1200 the Chinese used this method to count.

The Aztec, a tribe of Central American Indians used rods stuck into a block of wood, on to which beads were threaded. Other countries like Russia, Japan and China; the beads were threaded on wires held in a wooden frame.

Napier's Bones

The next significant development after the abacus came in 1617 when John Napier, a Scottish mathematician, invented the Napier bones. These were simply rods on which numbers were marketed. These number enable the user to easily work out the answers to a restricted set of the multiplication tables.

The numbers to be multiplied are positioned on the top row and the left column. Answer is obtained at the interoperation of these two. This method, pioneered by Napier, is still used as a curiosity in Maths lessons at some local schools.

Though Napier invented these bones, it was perhaps Logarithms that made him famous. Tables of Logarithms were developed which enabled multiplication and division to be carried out very simply by addition and subtraction.