FILAMER CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

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COMPUTER IN MATHEMATICS
MATH 414

DR. RAMY LLOYD L. LOTILLA REZZY ANNE R. DELA CRUZ

Professor Student

WEEK 1
PRECURSORS OF COMPUTERS
THE BIRTHPLACE OF THE ABACUS
It’s thought that the earliest version of the abacus was a board or slab spread with sand that
Sumerians used to write on sometimes between 2700 BCE and 2300 BCE. Indeed, the word “abacus”
comes from the Semitic word abaq or abk, meaning “sand” or “dust”. This morphed into the Greek
word abax, meaning “table” or “tablet”, before reaching its current form. This first ancient abacus was
suited primarily for addition and subtraction.

ABACUS
 One of the early precursors of the computer. It is an instrument containing beads used for
arithmetic calculations
 An abacus is a mechanical device used to aid an individual in performing mathematical
calculations.
 The abacus was invented in Babylonia in 2400 B.C.
 The abacus in the form we are most familiar with was first used in China in around 500 B.C.
 It used to perform basic arithmetic operations.

NAPIER’S BONES
 Invented by John Napier, it can perform multiplications and divisions. It
contains a set of 11 sticks (bones), and are used by placing them side by
side.
 Allowed the operator to multiply, divide and calculate square and cube
roots by moving the rods around and placing them in specially
constructed boards.

PASCAL’S CALCULATOR
 The device was called Pascal’s calculator or the Pascaline or the Arithmetique. Pascal continued
to make improvements to his design through the next decade and built fifty Pascaline machines
in total.
  The first Pascaline could only handle 5-digit numbers, but later Pascal developed 6 digit and 8
digit versions of the Pascaline.
 The calculator had metal wheel dials that were turned to the appropriate numbers using a
stylus; the answers appeared in boxes in the top of the calculator. 
 The machine could add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Multiplication and division were
somewhat difficult to do, by performing multiplication and division by repeated addition and
subtraction.

PASCAL’S CALCULATOR OR PASCALINE PASCALINE WITH COVER REMOVED

STEPPED RECKONER
 Invented by Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in 1672.
 The machine that can add, subtract, multiply and divide automatically.
 The Step Reckoner expanded on the French mathematician-philosopher Blaise Pascal’s ideas
and did multiplication by repeated addition and shifting.

ARITHMOMETER
 A mechanical calculator invented by Thomas de Colmar in 1820,
 The first reliable, useful and commercially successful calculating
machine.
 The machine could perform the four basic mathematic functions.
 The first mass-produced calculating machine.

COMPTOMETER
 The Comptometer was the first successful key driven adding and
calculating machine.  "Key driven" means that just pressing the keys adds
the numbers entered to the total - no other action is required - so it is very
quick for adding long lists of numbers. 
 The basic function of the Comptometer is addition. 
 There is a column of keys (in general 1-9) for each decade.  When a key is
pressed, that number is added to that decade, with carry to the next
higher decade, if applicable.  Pulling the lever forwards clears the total to
zero.

DIFFERENCE ENGINE
  Charles Babbage, an English mathematician, built a working model of an early computer-like
mechanical device that called the Difference Engine that can solve mechanical problems using
the capacity of 20 decimals.

ANALYTICAL ENGINE
 English inventor and mathematician Charles Babbage is the first to see the need for the
programming of computation to be mechanised.
 His Difference Engine, designed in the 1820s, is specifically for building mathematical tables but
his later Analytical Engine, developed from the 1840s on, is a general-purpose machine with a
program punched on cards. 

THE EVOLUTION OF THE BURROUGHS CALCULATOR

1911-1914: Shoebox model

In 1911 Burroughs decided to compete directly with Felt & Tarrant, creating a
a non-listing key-driven calculator. Burroughs deliberately styled the case of
their new calculator to look very similar to the Comptometer. It also had one
column/digit more, so that their salesmen could claim that the Burroughs
machine was better. Through litigation Burroughs were forced to change the
design in 1915, making Burroughs calculators with the shoebox casing
somewhat rare.

1915-1936: Leggy model

In 1915 the Burroughs Calculator was redesigned. The new version had a
different key mechanism that did away with the long lever that the Comptometer
has, and this allowed the machine to be shorter and the keys to be the same height.
It had a black case, with rounded corners and little legs, and with a green keyboard
plate. The rear legs could have extensions attached in order to tilt the keyboard
towards the user. This was quite a popular machine, because it was cheaper than the
Comptometer, and one of the cheapest machines that Burroughs made. That made
up for the lack of error correction mechanism, which made it somewhat unsafe to
use.

1928-1960: Baby Burroughs

The 6-digit "Baby" Burroughs Calculator was released in 1928. It no longer

had metal legs but had a flat base that rested on rubber feet. These changes
made it even cheaper. The case was originally painted black with a green
keyboard plate, but later other colours were produced too.

1928-1936 Electric model

An electrically driven version was produced at the same time, and this
was the first version that made errors from incomplete keystrokes impossible.

1934-1936 Duplex model

The Duplex model is electrically driven and has an extra register at the top of the keyboard for grand
totals. The design of the Baby Burroughs was not yet carried over to this model, as it still has the legs of
the 1915 calculator. Note that it finally has a row of carry suppression button at the front to simplify
subtraction.
1937 Standard Manual model

The full-sized manual model finally gets a redesigned case, though its
mechanism seems unchanged. It does not have carry suppression buttons. This
model appears in adverts from 1937, but it may have been introduced a year or
two earlier.

1937 Electric model

The electric model finally gets a redesigned case, matching the manual
version. This model appears in adverts from 1937, but it may have been
introduced a year or two earlier.

1937-1946 Duplex model

The duplex model also gets a redesigned case, matching the style of the
manual version.

1947 Duplex model

The case was restyled again. The standard manual and electric models
were also changed, but I have not found any advertisements featuring them. It
seems that the Baby Burroughs continued to be produced with at most a change in
colour.

REFERENCES:

 https://www.slideshare.net/shiva23082002/history-of-computer-technology-49871930
 https://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/historydisplays/TimeLine/TimeLine2/TimeLine2Main.php
 https://ftms.edu.my/v2/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/csca0101_ch01.pdf
 https://www.educalc.net/196488.page
 https://books.google.com.ph/books?
id=BHdmDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA25&lpg=PA25&dq=precursors+of+computer+which+is+abax&sourc
e=bl&ots=u5KHoKrigA&sig=ACfU3U1eTvNBB60s--
TNlxqMfNV77uknwg&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiorcLN1avqAhWC62EKHYITDDAQ6AEwC3oEC
AoQAQ#v=onepage&q=precursors%20of%20computer%20which%20is%20abax&f=false
 https://www.jaapsch.net/mechcalc/burroughs.htm