• Question: @Ian why was a computer called a computer

    Asked by to Ian on 19 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Ian Stephenson

      Ian Stephenson answered on 19 Jun 2014:

      Because they perform computations.

      Before we had electronic computers, complex calculations like the working out sines and cosines, and particularly ballistic trajectories (If I fire this missile from this big gun, where will it land) were calculated by hand. They were done by teams of people who were called “computers” – they did computations.

      So when machines were developed to do the same job they were called mechanical computers, and subsequently electronic computers.

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