Introduction to Computing.pdf

IT2221 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING The Egyptians The History of Computing...

IT2221 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTING The Egyptians The History of Computing − Measuring time, measuring floods, calculating the land area, bookkeeping, and calculating taxes are examples of practical The rise of technological change and innovation over the last decades problems that were solved by Egyptian mathematics. Their has brought immense significance to society. Computers, mobile numerical system used a base 10 number system which has devices, the Internet, the World Wide Web (WWW), and social media distinct symbols for one, ten, a hundred, a thousand, a ten are just among the advancements that have led to significant benefits thousand, and a hundred thousand. to society and improvements in the standard of living. They also have Rhind Papyrus, Computing is any activity that utilizes computers to manage, process, a famous Egyptian papyrus, a and communicate critical information that is an integral part of modern writing surface like paper. It industrial technology. includes examples of all types of arithmetic and geometric Early Civilizations problems. This would then allow students to participate in the The naive view of calculation must be overcome to utilize the power Pharaoh’s building program. of computing. Therefore, the contributions of early civilizations to computing are considered the foundation of computing today. Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/331577591296445561/ The Babylonians Figure 1. Egyptian numerals − This civilization thrived in Mesopotamia (Iraq) from about 2000 BC until about 500 BC. Clay cuneiform tables with The Greeks mathematical texts were found and deciphered in the 19th − Works by Pythagoras and Thales centered on Geometry were century, which contain tables for various mathematical two of the most remarkable contributions to early Greek operations such as basic arithmetic operations, cubes, and mathematics, approximately 500-600 BC. square roots. Pythagoras was a philosopher and mathematician who had For their numerical system, they only used two symbols (1 and spent time in Egypt to become familiarized with Egyptian 10) to symbolize numbers, and these symbols will then be mathematics. A secret society known as the Pythagoreans combined to form all other numbers. was established, which comprised men and women who believed in the transmigration of souls, and that number was Counting boards existed in this civilization to assist with the essence of all things. He is credited with the foundation of counting and simple calculations. It has similarities with an Pythagorean theorem, although the Babylonians were abacus which is believed to precede counting boards. The probably aware of this theorem 1000 years before. counting board was usually made of wood and had grooves that allowed beads to be placed at any point of the groove. Thales’ theorem in Euclidean geometry is his best contribution The abacus differed in that the beads in an abacus have holes to mathematics. It states that if A, B, and C are points on a that would enable them to be placed in a specific rod of the circle, where the line AC is the circle's diameter, then the abacus. angle