Prehistory of Computing

The earliest known tool for use in computation was the abacus, and it was thought to have been invented in Babylon circa 2400 BC. Its original style of uses was by lines drawn in sand with pebbles. Abaci, of a more modern design, are still used as calculation tools today. This was the first computer and most advanced system of calculation known to date.

In 1110 BC, the south pointing chariot was invented in ancient China. It was the first known geared mechanism to use a differential gear, which was later used in analog computers. The Chinese also invented a more sophisticated abacus from around the 2nd century BC known as the Chinese abacus.

In the fifth century BC in ancient India, the grammarian Panini formulated the grammar of Sanskrit known as the Ashtadhyayi which was highly systematized and technical.

In the 3rd century BC, Archimedes used the mechanical principle of balance to calculate mathematical problems, such as the number of grains of sand in the universe, which also require a recursive notation for numbers.

The Antikthera mechanism is believed to be the earliest known mechanical analog computer. It was designed to calculate astronomical positions.

Mechanical analog computer devices appeared again a thousand years later in the medieval Islamic world and were developed by Muslim astronomers.

During the middle ages, several European philosophers made attempts to produce analog computer devices. Influenced by the Arabs and Scholasticism, philosopher Ramon Llull (1232 to 1314) devoted a great part of his life to defining and designing several logical machines that, by combining simple and undeniable philosophical truths, could produce all possible knowledge.

Indeed, when John Napier discovered logarithms for computational purposes in the early 17th century, there followed a period of considerable progress by inventors and scientists in making calculating tools. The apex of this early era of formal computing can be seen in the difference engine and its successor the analytical engine, both by Charles Babbage.