(February 13, 2013 at 4:05 am)apophenia Wrote: Is it an advanced mechanical device capable of operations that might reasonably called calculation? Likely, yes. Is it a computer in the modern sense? Likely no. What was the question again?
Aractus doesn't believe that the device calculated anything. The definition of computer used for the device is something that computes or makes calculations. At one time computers were biological devices. From the NASA website -
Human Computers
Quote:Virginia Tucker first received notice of her appointment at Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory while vacationing in California. A former high school teacher with a college degree in mathematics, she arrived the day after Labor Day 1935 to join four other women in Langley’s first “Computer Pool.” Before the development of electronic computers, the term “computer” referred to people, not machines. It was a job title, designating someone who performed mathematical equations and calculations by hand.
Where are the snake and mushroom smilies?
