Their capacity to handle large amounts of data has extended the range and accuracy of weather forecasting. However, as any information can be numerically encoded, people soon realized that computers are capable of general-purpose information processing. The first computers were used primarily for numerical calculations. For details on computer architecture, software, and theory, see computer science. The second section covers the history of computing. The first section of this article focuses on modern digital electronic computers and their design, constituent parts, and applications.

Digital calculators: from the Calculating Clock to the ArithmometerĬomputer, device for processing, storing, and displaying information.Ĭomputer once meant a person who did computations, but now the term almost universally refers to automated electronic machinery.

Analog calculators: from Napier’s logarithms to the slide rule.

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