All language subtitles for 1_From Abacus to Analytical Engine

When you hear the word computer,

maybe you think
of something like

a beefy gaming desktop
with flashing lights.

Or maybe you think of a
slim and sleek laptop.

These fancy devices
aren't what people

had in mind when computers
were first created.

To put it simply, a computer
is a device that stores

and processes data by
performing calculations.

Before we had actual
computer devices,

the term computer was used to

refer to someone who actually
did the calculation.

You're probably thinking
that's crazy talk.

My computer lets me
check social media,

browse the Internet,
design graphics.

How can it possibly just
perform calculations?

Well, friends, in this course,

we'll be learning how

computer calculations are
baked into applications,

social media games, etc,

all the things that
you use every day.

But to kick things off,

we'll learn about the
journey computers took from

the earliest known forms of

computing into the devices
that you know and love today.

In the world of
technology and if I'm

getting really
philosophical in life,

it is important to know
where we've been in

order to understand where we
are and where we're going.

Historical context can help you

understand why things work
the way they do today.

Have you ever wondered
why the alphabet

isn't laid out in order
on your keyboard?

The keyboard layout
that most of the world

uses today is the Cordelia,

distinguished by the Q-W-E-R-T-Y

keys in the top row
of the keyboard.

The most common letters that
you type aren't found on

the home row where your
fingers sit the most.

But why? There are

many stories that claim
to answer this question.

Some say it was developed
to slow down type is so

they wouldn't jam old
mechanical typewriters.

Others claim it was
meant to resolve

problem for telegraph operators.

One thing is for sure
the keyboard layout that

millions of people use

today isn't the
most effective one.

Different keyboard
layouts have even

been created to try and
make typing more efficient.

Now that we're
starting to live in

a mobile centric world
with our smartphones,

the landscape for keyboards
may change completely.

My typing fingers are crossed.

And the technology industry,

having a little contexts
can go a long way to

making sense of the concepts
you will encounter.

By the end of this lesson,

you'll be able to
identify some of

the most major advances

in the early history
of computers.

Do you know what an abacus is?

It looks like a wooden toy
that a child would play with.

But it's actually one of the
earliest known computers.

It was invented in 500 BC
to count large numbers.

While we have calculators like

the old reliable TI 89 or
the ones in our computers.

The abacus is actually
still used today.

Over the centuries, humans

built more advanced
counting tools,

but they still
require a human to

manually perform
the calculations.

The first major step forward
was the invention of

the mechanical calculator in

the 17th century
by Blaise Pascal.

This device uses a series
of gears and levers to

perform calculations for
the user automatically.

While it was limited to
addition, subtraction,

multiplication, and division
for pretty small numbers.

It paved the way for
more complex machines.

The fundamental operations of

the mechanical
calculator relater

apply to the textile industry.

Before we had streamline
manufacturing

looms we're used to we've
yarn into a fabric.

If you want to design
patterns on your fabric.

That took an incredible
amount of manual work.

In the 1800s, a
man by the name of

Joseph Jacquard invented
a programmable loom.

These looms took a sequence
of cards with holes in them.

When the loom
encountered a hole,

it would hook to
thread underneath it.

If it did or encounter a whole,

the hook wouldn't
thread anything.

Eventually the spun up a
design pattern on the fabric.

These cards were
known as punch cards.

While Mr. Jacquard reinvented
the textile industry,

he probably didn't realize
that his invention would

shape the world of computing
and the world itself today.

Pretty epic, Mr.
Jacquard, pretty epic.

Let's fast forward a
few decades and meet

a man by the name
of Charles Babbage.

Babbage was a
gifted engineer who

developed a series of
machines that are now

known as the greatest
breakthrough

on our way to the
modern computer.

He built what was called
a difference engine.

It was a very sophisticated
version of some

of the mechanical calculators
we were just talking about.

It could perform fairly

complicated mathematical
operations,

but not much else.

Babbage's follow-up to
the difference engine

was a machine he called
the analytical engine.

He was inspired about Jacquard,

use of punchcards to
automatically perform

calculations instead of
manually entering them by hand.

Babbage use punch cards and

his analytical engine to allow

people to pre-define a series

of calculations they
want it to perform.

As impressive as this
achievement was,

the analytical engine was still

just a very advanced
mechanical calculator.

It took the powerful insights
of a mathematician named

Ada Lovelace to realize

the true potential of
the analytical engine.

She was the first person to
recognize that the machine

could be used for more
than pure calculations.

She developed the first
algorithm for the engine.

It was the very first example
of computer programming.

Algorithm is just a series of

steps that solve
specific problems.

Because of Lovelace's discovery,

the algorithms could be

programmed into the
analytical engine.

It became the very first general

purpose computing
machine in history.

A great example that
women have had some of

the most valuable Mines and
Technology since the 1800s.