Introduction to Computing History

Introduction to Computing

• Introduction covers the fundamentals of computing history and the significant contributions of notable figures in the field.

The History of Computing

• Computing involves managing, processing, and communicating vital information using computers, crucial for modern industrial technology.

The Babylonians (2000 BC - 500 BC)

• Flourished in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) and created clay cuneiform tables with mathematical texts.
• Developed tables for basic arithmetic, cubes, and square roots.
• Utilized a base-10 system represented by two symbols (1 and 10) to combine and express other numbers.

The Egyptians

• Addressed practical problems like time measurement, flood calculations, land area measurement, bookkeeping, and tax calculations through mathematics.
• Employed a base-10 numerical system with distinct symbols for different values (one to a hundred thousand).

The Greeks (500 BC - 600 BC)

• Pythagoras, a philosopher and mathematician, learned Egyptian mathematics and founded a secret society (the Pythagoreans) focusing on the connection between numbers and the essence of existence.
• Credited with Pythagoras's theorem, although it predates him by 1000 years discovered by the Babylonians.
• Contributed to Euclidean geometry through Thales’ theorem, which states that the angle subtended at the circumference of a circle by the diameter is a right angle.