Mechanize — from calculation to computing
How humanity automated calculation: from the first physical mechanisms to the separation of program and hardware, and the theoretical foundations of modern computing.
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The ideas to retain
1. From automating calculations to programming procedures
The first calculators: automation is not programming
The Pascaline, built by Blaise Pascal between 1642 and 1644, automated addition and subtraction through geared wheels. A few decades later, Leibniz's Step Reckoner extended the idea and…
Jacquard: when instructions separated from the mechanism
The next decisive advance did not come from mathematics, but from the textile industry. The Jacquard loom, developed in 1804-1805, used interchangeable punched cards to control complex…
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