Some regard his inventions as the first attempt at mechanical
computation.
Blaise Pascal is often credited with the invention of the first mechanical calculator, the Pascaline, in 1642
(there is evidence that Leonardo DaVinci may have beaten Pascal by 150 years). According to Pascal??™s memoirs,
he developed the machine to help his father with his work as a tax collector. Pascal??™s device could only add
and subtract but it was possible to perform multiplication and division operations using a series of additions or
subtractions. What is noteworthy about Pascal??™s machine is that it was capable of calculating with eight figures,
and that subtraction was performed using complement techniques. Subtracting using complementary addition
is same technique that is used to implement subtraction in most modern computers.
4 INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE [CHAP. 1
CHAP. 1] INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER SCIENCE 5
Figure 1-1 The Pascaline, photograph by Yves Serra (http://pagesperso-orange.fr/yves.serra/).
Figure 1-2 The Jacquard Loom, photograph by Frank da Cruz
(http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/jacquard.html).
In the early 1800s inventors were just beginning to build the power-driven machinery that would fuel the
industrial revolution.
Pages:
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30