The First Calculating Devices

Let us take a look at the history of computers that we know today. The very first calculating device used was the ten fingers of a man's hands. This, in fact, is why today we still count in tens and multiples of tens.

Then the abacus was invented. People went on using some form of abacus well into the l6^th century, and it is still being used in some parts of the world because it can be understood without knowing how to read.

During the I7^th and 18^th centuries many people tried to find easy ways of calculating. A mechanical way of multiplying and dividing was invented by J.Napier, a Scotsman. Now it is the modern slide rule works. Henry Briggs used Napier's ideas to produce logarithm tables which are used by all mathematicians today.

Calculus, another branch of mathematics, was independently invented by both Sir Isaac Newton, an Englishman, and Leibnitz, a German mathematician. The first real calculating machine appeared in 1820 as the result of several people's experiments.

In 1830 Charles Babbage, a gifted English mathematician, proposed to build a general-purpose problem-solving machine that was called "the analytical engine". This machine was showed at the Paris Exhibition in 1855. Babbage never finished this work, but many of his ideas were the basis for building today's computers.

B. Дополните следующие утверждения:

1. The first calculating device...

2. Then the abacus...

3. Easy ways of calculating...

4. Calculus...

5. The general-purpose problem-solving machine...

C. Ответьте на вопросы:

1. What was the very first calculating device?

2. What is the abacus?

3. What is the modern slide rule?

5. How did Newton and Leibnitz contribute to the problem of calculation?

6. When did the first calculating machine appear?

7. Whose ideas were the basis for building today's computers?

D. Переведите второй абзац текста.

17. A. Прочитайте текст и скажите, о чем идет речь в этом тексте.

Computers Then and Now

The world first electronic computer was build at the University of Pennsylvania in 1946, although computer-like machine was build in the 19^th century. Computers were sold commercially for the first time in the 1950s, and a lot of progress has been made since then. Computers are now much smaller and more powerful, and they can be bought much more cheaply.

Computers are used in many fields – in education, medicine, science, for example. They can be used to forecast the weather or to control robots which make cars. A lot of difficult calculations can be done very quickly on a computer.

A computer can’t think – it must be told exactly what to do. And they don’t make mistakes. Stories are heard sometimes about computers paying people much money or sending them bills for things they don’t buy. These mistakes are made by the programmers. Some years ago, a computer-controlled rocket belonging to the USA went out of control and had to be destroyed. The accident was caused by a small mistake in one line of the programme. This mistake cost the USA $ 18 million.

Progress is being made all the time. Today people know more about computers then they used to. And many believe we can look forward to the day when even our household jobs like cleaning will be done by computer-controlled robots.

B. Ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. How have computers been changed since 1950s?

2. Where are computers used?

3. What will computers be used for in the near future?

4. Could you give any examples when mistakes were made by the programmers? (from your experience or using the information from the text).

4. Переведите первый абзац текста.