BOLDSTEPS INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL, NYANYA-ABUJA

SS1 FIRST TERM

COMPUTER PROJECT

TITLE:
COMPUTING DEVICE 1
(PRE-COMPUTER AGE TO 19TH CENTURY)

BY:
ASHIBOGWU OBAGELI VICTORIA

DATE:
5TH OCTOBER, 2023.

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 DEDICATION
This project is dedicated to the Almighty God, the God of all possibilities. I will also like
to dedicate this project to my family, especially my beloved mother, ‘Barr. Lizzy
Obande’ Whose motherly support has guided me from birth.
It is also dedicated to every one of my beloved teachers whose words of wisdom and
encouragement have impacted my life.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The realization of this work has been through the help of the one and only supreme God
and the different people God used. I will ever be grateful to them and pray that God
reward them.
I will not do without mentioning ‘Mr. Halifax’ my computer teacher whose teachings
gave me the knowledge to write this project and whose words where a motivating force.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page…………………………………..……………………………………………….1
Dedication…………………………………………………………………………...….….2
Acknowledgement …………………………………………………………………..……..3
Table of contents…………………………………………………...………………………4
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction……………………………………………………………………….………..5
Meaning of Computing Devices………………………..…..………………………..……………..5
CHAPTER TWO
ABACUS…………………………………………………………………………………………………...6
NAPIER’S BONE………………………………………………………………………………………….6

CHAPTER THREE

SLIDE RULE……………………………………………………………………………………………....7
PASCAL’S CALCULATOR……………………………………………………………..………………..7
CHAPTER FOUR
LEIBNIZ MULTIPLIER………………………………………………………………………8

JACQUARD’S LOOM…………………….………………………………………………….8

CHAPTER FIVE
DIFFERENCE ENGINE……………………….…………………………………………………………..9
ANALYTICAL ENGINE………………….………………………………………………………………9
HERMAN HOLLERITH MACHINE………….………………………………………………..9
BURROUGH’S MACHINE……………………………………………………………………………...10
OTHER EARLY COUNTING MACHINES DEVELOPMENT……..………………………………….10

SUMMARY……………………..………………………………………………………..12
CONCLUSION………………………..………………………………………………….12
REFERENCE ………………………...…………………………………………………..12

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 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Man has put every effort to have a better method of calculations. As a result of man’s search for fast and
accurate calculating devices, the computer was developed.
In ancient times, people used fingers to perform the calculations such as addition and subtraction. Even
today, simple calculations are done on fingers. Soon, mankind realized that it would be easier to do
calculations with pebbles as compared to fingers. Consequently, pebbles were used to represent numbers.
Before 1935, a computer was a person who performed arithmetic calculations. Between 1935 and 1945
the definition referred to a machine, rather than a person. The modern machine definition is based on von
Neumann's concepts: a device that accepts input, processes data, stores data, and produces output.

Meaning of Computing Devices

Computing is the process of using computer technology to complete a given task. E.g. Calculation,
designing. Etc.
A device is any internal or external hardware peripheral that is attached to a computer to send, receive or
process data. E.g. Printer drives etc. a device can also be called gadget, tool etc.
Computing devices are defined as machines used to acquire, store, analyze, process, and publish data
and other information electronically, including accessories (or peripherals) for printing, transmitting and
receiving, or storing electronic information. E.g. Computers, Smart phones, Tablets, DVD, CD etc.
Some of the 19th century devices are:
1. Abacus,
2. Napier’s bones
3. Pascal’s calculator
4. Leibniz multiplier
5. Jacquard’s Loom
6. Charles Babbage’s engine
7. Hollerith Census machine
8. Borrough’s machine.

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 CHAPTER TWO
ABACUS
The first calculating device was probably the Abacus it was invented around 500 BC.. The Chinese are
known to have invented it. The Abacus is describe as a representation of the human fingers.
Components: It is made up of a frame divided into two parts by a horizontal bar and vertical threads.
Each thread contains some beads. It is known as Soroban in Japan and Suan Pan in china.
Uses: For addition and subtraction

NAPIER’S BONE
John Napier a Scotsman mathematician in 1617 invented the Napier’s bone. Components: A set of
eleven rods, with four sides each which was used as a multiplication tool. These rods were made from
bones and were the reason why they were called Napier’s Bone.
Uses: Used to perform multiplication

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 CHAPTER THREE
SLIDE RULE
William Oughtred invented the slide in 1632. The Slide rule is a mechanical analog computer. In its most
basic form, the slide rule uses two logarithmic scales to allow rapid multiplication and division of
numbers.
Components: In most basic form, the slide rule uses two logarithmic scales to allow rapid multiplication
and division of numbers. Traditionally slide rules were made out of hardwood with cursor of glass
Uses: The slide rule is used mainly for multiplication and division, and also for "scientific" functions
such as roots, logarithms and trigonometry, but usually not for addition or subtraction.

PASCAL’S CALCULATOR
In 1642 Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician and scientist at age 19, invented the Pascaline, as an aid
for his father who was a tax collector. Pascal built 50 of this gear-driven one-function calculator (it could
only add) but couldn’t sell many because of their exorbitant cost and they were not that accurate.
Features: Numbers were entered by dialling a series of numbered wheels in this machine. A sequence of
wheels transferred the movements to a dial, which showed the results.
Component: the calculator had spooked metal wheel dials, with the digit 0 through 9 displayed around
the circumference of each wheel
Uses: Addition and subtraction of up to 8 digit number. It’s use is evident in odometer and electricity
meter.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

LEIBNIZ MULTIPLIER
Leibniz multiplier or (Stepped Reckoner) was invented by Gottfried William Leibniz in 1671. It was an
improvement on the PASCALINE. It contains a special kind of gear called “Leibniz wheel”. The
Leibnitz reckoning machine was the first two-motion calculator designed to multiply by repetitive
addition.
Features: The Leibnitz calculator incorporates a new mechanical feature called the stepped drum. The
step drum is a cylinder bearing nine teeth of different lengths.
Components: the device is made of copper and steel.
Uses: It can multiply, divide, add and subtract.

JACQUARD’S LOOM

In 1801, Joseph Marie Jacquard (French), a silk weaver, invented an improved textile loom. The
Jacquard loom was the first machine to use the punched card. These punched cards controlled the
weaving, enabling an ordinary workman to produce the most beautiful patterns in a style previously
accomplished only with patience, skill, and hard work. Jacquard’s loom was one of the first machines to
be run by a program.
Components: It consists of a loom that controlled the raising of the thread through punch cards
Uses: It is used to produce a textile design as per the program on the punch card.

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 CHAPTER FIVE

CHARLES BABBAGE’S ENGINE

DIFFERENCE ENGINE
In 1822, An English mathematics professor called Charles Babbage invented the Difference engine
Features and components: It was composed of 25000 parts, weighed 15 tons and stood 8 feet (2.4m)
high.
Use: Used for calculating differential equations

ANALYTICAL ENGINE
In 1832, Charles Babbage designed another machine called Analytical engine which was deemed to be
the first mechanical computer. The machine was steam-powered, though never completed, outlined the
basic elements of a modern day general purpose computer. It contains input in the form of punched card
containing operating instructions and a "store" for memory of 1,000 numbers of up to 50 decimal digits
long. It also contained a "mill" with a control unit that allowed processing instructions in any sequence,
and output devices to produce printed results. Augusta Ada, Countess of Lovelace (1815-1842) created
the instruction routines to be fed into the computer, making her the first female computer
programmer.
Use
It could store 1000 numbers of up to 50 decimal digits long. It was programmable.

Augusta Ada Byron, also known as Lady Love Lace was born on December 10, 1815 the daughter of the
illustrious poet, Lord Byron. Ada suggested to Babbage, writing a pan for how the engine might calculate
Bernoulli numbers. This is regarded as the first computer program. A software language developed by US
department of Defence was named “Ada” in her honour in 1979.

HERMAN HOLLERITH MACHINE

In 1880, a census Statistician Herman Hollerith, devised a card machine called “Tabulator. He set up a
company called “The Computing Tabulating Machine Recording Company” and later became
International Business Machine (I.B.M) which today is one of the largest computer manufacturing
companies in the world.
Features: He proposed to store information in the form of holes punched through a strip of paper.
Uses: It was used to process information obtained in the census of the population carried out in the
United State in 1890. With this machine, he was able to achieve in three years what will take seven years
to do manually

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BURROUGH’S MACHINE
Williams Burroughs (1857 – 1898) built his first experimental model of an adding machine with printed
output in 1884.
Features: The distinguishing features are the;
1. The high sloping keyboard,
2. Bevelled glass front,
3. Printing mechanism out-of-sight at the rear of the machine.
4. Registers,
Uses: The machine performed addition only.

OTHER EARLY COUNTING MACHINES DEVELOPMENT

In the process of the development of automating computers, many scientists and engineers have made
significant contributions.
1. In 1904, Sir John Ambrose Fleming worked to develop the first thermionic valve, which is also
known as vacuum tube. Thermionic valves were based on Thomas Edison's 'Edison effect' of light bulbs.
The first light bulbs were very short-lived and were prone to darken. This darkening was termed as
Edison effect. Sir John Ambrose Fleming worked to develop the first rectifier and in 1904, he developed
thermionic valves. Fleming named the device 'a valve' because it allowed electrical currents to pass only
in one direction. Since this is a two-element vacuum tube, it was also called as diode. These diodes were
the cornerstone of the first-generation computers.
2. In 1906, Lee de Forest, an American inventor, introduced a third electrode into the diode (vacuum
tube). The resulting triode could be used both as an amplifier and a switch and its ability to act as a
switch created a tremendous impact on digital computing.
3. In 1931, Vannevar Bush, an American electrical engineer, built the differential analyser to solve
differential equations. Nevertheless, the machine was cumbersome because this device used drive belts,
shafts and gears to measure movements and distances.
4. In 1938, Claude Shannon, a student at MIT, recognized the connection between the electronic circuits
and the Boolean algebra. He transferred the two logic states to electronic circuits by assigning different
voltage levels to each state. Shannon also provided electronic engineers with the mathematical tool they

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needed to design digital electronic circuits. These techniques remain the cornerstone of digital electronic
design to this day.
5. 1939-1942 - Atanasoff Berry Computer - built at Lowa State by Prof. John V. Atanasoff and
graduate student Clifford Berry. Represented several "firsts" in computing, including a binary system of
arithmetic, parallel processing, regenerative memory, separation of memory and computing functions,
and more. Weighed 750 lbs. and had a memory storage of 3,000 bits (0.4K). Recorded numbers by
scorching marks into cards as it worked through a problem.
6. 1940s Colossus a vacuum tube computing - machine which broke Hitler's codes during World War II
(WW II). It was instrumental in helping Turing break the German's codes during WW II to turn the tide
of the war. In the summer of 1939, a small group of scholars became codebreakers, working at Bletchley
Part in England. This group of pioneering codebreakers helped shorten the war and changed the course of
history.

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 SUMMARY

Computing is the process of using computer technology to complete a given task. E.g. Calculation,
designing. Etc.
A device is any internal or external hardware peripheral that is attached to a computer to send, receive or
process data. E.g. Printer drives etc. a device can also be called gadget, tool etc.
Computing devices are defined as machines used to acquire, store, analyze, process, and publish data
and other information electronically, including accessories (or peripherals) for printing, transmitting and
receiving, or storing electronic information. E.g. Computers, Smart phones, Tablets, DVD, CD etc.
Some of the 19th century devices are:
1. Abacus,
2. Napier’s bones
3. Pascal’s calculator
4. Leibniz multiplier
5. Jacquard’s Loom
6. Charles Babbage’s engine
7. Hollerith Census machine
8. Borrough’s machine.

CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the early inventions as listed above lay the foundation for a continuous
development in the field of computer science. Efforts are been made by man to make the
world a global village and a comfortable world for all.

REFERENCE

Computer Studies of Senior Secondary Education by Hiit Plc

www, dzplacide.overblog.com
inspire.education.gov.ng
compnote.blogspot.com

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