The History Of The Calculator

Essay by theholydefenderHigh School, 12th gradeB+, September 2004

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In the beginning of mankind, one tool has lasted threw the century and is still used today. This tool was the calculator. The calculator is a machine which makes doing math and number work easier. The first calculator to historian's knowledge that was widely used was the Abacus. The Abacus was an ingenious counting device based on the relative positioning of two sets of beads that move on parallel strings. The first Abacus was so underdeveloped that you could only count up to 5. (Could you even think of using a calculator today that could only add up to five? I didn't think so.)

Although the first Abacus was very basic as time went buy, the Abacus advanced, and became a more advanced and useful tool as time went by and there because more need for calculators. Although you maybe thinking that the Abacus is an elementary tool, it is still used today as a memory-helping device, instead of a calculator.

This shows how great of a tool the Abacus truly was, and how effectively is could be used in the past, and still is effectively used today.

As time went by civilization and calculators both evolved. The world became more industrialized, and the calculator became more effective, efficient, and functional tools for doing practical math. Calculators such as the "Napier's Bones", "Schikard's Machine", and "The Antikythera Calculator" evolved from the Abacus and were able to do a lot more complex problems then just the Abacus could do. The next real jump in the evolution of the calculator was called "Thomas Arithmometer". Based on he "Leibniz Stepped Drum" Calculator. This machine could perform Addition, Subtraction, Division, and Multiplication. "The Thomas Arithmometer" was build of a cylinder that had nine bar-shaped teeth of incrementing length parallel to the cylinder's axis. When...