Computer History Back in ancient times people used to use there fingers to count. Ten became the basis of number systems for everybody because of 10 fingers and 10 toes. When they ran out of fingers and toes to count on they used stones and scratches in trees to store and record information. Later somebody invented the abacus. The abacus is still in use today in many Asian countries. Some people that use the abacus are as fast as a human now using a calculator. They used the abacus to keep track of totals and as a way to store numbers and not have to remember them. In the 1600's John Napier who was a great mathematician invented a new way to count. Away that was a bit better then the abacus. The thing that he invented was called Napier's Bones. He also invented calculator rods. His machine that he invented could multiply. When you move rods a person could multiply two large numbers in a way. It really only helped assist the people that use it. Also in the 1600's Blaise Pascal !
             was a mathematician. He invented a shoe box size machine. His shoe box size machine could add quickly and replaced Napier's Bones. His device was mechanically geared. It was the first computer of modern times. Libenz the mathematician invented the Stepped Reconer. The Stepped Reconer was a very clever machine at the time because it could multiply and divide as well as it could add and subtract large numbers. This device was great at it's time. In the 1800's Joseph Jacquard invented a loom type of machine that used punch cards to store information. A punch card was kind of like a modern day disk. His loom could repeat patterns with different cloths. It was like a computer run Loom. The first calculating machine was invented by Charles Babbage. His machine was the very first modern computer. His computer used the binary number system to calculate. The binary number system is made up of one's and zero's. There are eight ...